External Monitor/Macbook Pro

I have a 24 inch external monitor.
Which I LOVE.
However I want to be able to shut the lid to my
Macbook Pro (Leopard) but continue to have the display on my external and use the dvd drive while the lid is shut. This was no problem on windows. I am new to mac so maybe I am blind and cant find the setting.
Currently when I shut the lid everything shuts down.

 

1) Close the lid
2) Comp goes to sleep

3) Hit a button on your wireless keyboard or mouse to wake the comp
or
3) Use the menu button on the remote control to wake from sleep and activate front row.

 

that did the trick

 

Bear in mind the MBP gets noticeably hotter with the screen closed.

 

But it should be safe. Pretty sure Apple designed this with that in mind.

 

While I can't say anything counter to that, I wonder if they really have... They seem to prevent you from running apps (such as games) full screen on an external display.

You can't even have front row on an external display :-/

I would be worried a bit about the heat, depending on what you do.

 

Yes you can

For the heat... I am not a temperature measuring type, but I can't say I noticed any excessive hotness while playing a DVD with the lid closed (which is pretty much all I do with the lid closed).

 

How? Is that new to leopard?

It always takes over my laptop display.

 

I dont have leopard.

I was using Front Row on my external monitor last night, with the remote control, no problems.

Edit: I remembered I have my menu bar set to appear in my external monitor when it is connected... that deterimines where FR appears. It's in the display preference pane

 

Looks like they did.

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/graphics.html

 

Once your MBP wakes up from sleep, you open the screen lid and it'll be off. No need to run the notebook with the lid closed.

 

It looks cool when its closed and have a 24inch monitor going.
Plus if the lid is open it blocks my speaker.

Front row works fine on leopard with the lid closed.
But I did move the menu bar to the external.
Also I have been using it all day, lid closed and no more heat then a full day of computing.

 

The only thing, is that for gaming I would use that method, but once I actually start gaming, I open the screen again so that airflow is better.

Just to be safe that it doesnt overheat or get damaged.

 

Ah.... cool :-D

Yeah, that workaround was what some were doing in 10.4. Still makes FR useless unless I can use it on my 2nd display without having my laptop display turn off.

The only program I can view full screen without it turning off the other monitor is Quicktime. iTunes full screen still shuts off the other monitor. Apples support of dual screens sucks.

 

some heat may escape through the keyboard, but it really shouldn't be a large amount, if you have ever taken a MacBook Pro apart, you will see that right under the keyboard is just another solid piece of aluminum, and since the processor and gpu are on the bottom side of the logic board, it is unlikely that any heat will acually escape from the keyboard anyway, as air is being sucked away from the keyboard by the fans.

 

This does not work for me. If I hit a key on the external keyboard (Microsoft Natural Ergo 4000, USB), the computer does not wake up.

Is this because I attach the keyboard BEFORE I closed the lid? I take it I have to attach the keyboard after I close the lid to be able to wake up the laptop, since the USB port probably powers down during sleep mode and the only way to awake the port (and therefore, the computer) is to plug something in...

Not sure, but I know the only way for me to get the external monitor (without spanning or mirroring) to display with the lid closed is to restart the laptop and close the lid while it is starting up and the external LCD is attached

 

works fine everytime with my bluetooth keyboard. i never tried with usb

the other method is to wake the computer with the remote control

 

Mine is the latest MBP that does not come with the FrontRow remote

 

OK, let's say I close the lid, click on my mouse, it wakes up, I open the lid, the screen is dark. How do I turn the screen on afterwards?

 

You have to go into display preferences and hit the "Detect Displays" button. Then the laptop display springs to life!

 

What if I have accidently clicked my mouse when the lid was closed and there was no external monitor plugged in? It happened to me a few times and I had to press power button and R to restart.

 

I'm still waiting for my BT mighty mouse and KB to arrive. I was a little concerned about heat and screen damage when operating the MBP with the lid closed.

I called applecare and spoke to a product specialist who assured me that I can run my MBP with the lid closed 24/7 if I wanted to with no harm. He went on to say that with the lid closed the MBP's design allows the heat to dissipate predominantly from the bottom and rear.

Anyways, it makes me feel a little better, not that I'll be using my MBP with the lid closed 24/7.