Question about secondary display on new macbook pro

I watch movies off my laptop on my 50" Plasma. On my old PC I would hook it up and press FN & F6 (i believe) and it would swap the screen from my laptop to my Plasma then I would close the screen of my laptop and the movie would continue to play.

Now on the Mac I found out I can mirror the display which is what I want, but when I play a video I want my laptop screen/display to turn off so that it doesnt annoy me when im watching a movie in a dark room. Right now it goes all black but is still clearly on. I do have the top right corner set to turn off my display but when I do that while the movie is playing my secondary display (TV) turns off as well. I would perfer to be able to close the lid and not have it sleep/close the video but it seems on a Mac this is not possible due to the power settings.

Thanks,
Matt


ps: Im loving my new macbook pro 2.66!

 

The only way to use an external display with the Macbook display closed would be to wake up the Macbook after it has gone to sleep with the external display attached.

An alternative is to use 3rd party software, such as InsomniaX, which would prevent your Macbook from entering sleep mode when the lid is closed.

 

Can't you just turn the backlight off with the buttons? That's what I do.

 

yeah.. the easiest is just using the lower brightness button all the way down til it turns off the backlight.....

 

I agree with InsomniaX, as it works great for movies in a dark room. I use it with my Macbook, which I am able to close my laptop lid and watch a movie on a TV flawlessly. I'd go with InsomniaX.

 

THis is what I do. I plug in my USB dongle for a mouse. Then I close the lid to put it to sleep. Then I take the USB dongle out and the computer wakes up with the lid closed.

 

That'll work, and it sounds like a trusty DIY that you came across.

 

Not really a DIY...more like I found out the hard way...

I was at a library one time and I put my macbook to sleep while I went to grab lunch. When I came back i decided to go home so I just unplug the mouse and put the computer in my backpack, without realizing it turned back on.

When i got home the fans were at max speed and the whole thing was quite hot. Worked fine though after.

This was a long time ago with my old 2.16 ghz MBP.

 

Oh, well that's not good! I'm suprised it didn't go back to sleep though. I set my Macbook to sleep in my bag one time, and it mysteriously woke up while I was walking with it in my backpack, and it was terribly hot when I took it out, because I had a program set to continuously run while it was closed or open, and it didn't get proper air flow. Not good, but the notebook turned out just fine.

 

Yes I do the same thing. Just plug in the external monitor when the laptop sleep, and wait for a couple seconds, the monitor will turn on without turn the laptop's display.

 

I don't understand going through all that hassle... it'll cool better open and not be distracting if you just turn the backlight off with the keyboard...

 

In a dark room you can still see outlines of the image moving on the screen, which can be distracting.

 

I didn't do this on purpose. I accidentally found out this when disconnected an external montior and connected it again. If I use the macbook at home, I always connect it to an external monitor and use both displays.

 

dunno... i never see any outlines moving... but then again I don't do a mirror display, i keep them separate...

 

at home on my desk i use an external display as well... usually i use it by itself, but sometimes use the built in screen as well as a secondary monitor

 

I seem to always use my Macbook's screen and my external monitor, not mirrored or anything like that to get the most screen-estate as possible. I usually close the monitor while watching a movie, but that's about it for not using my main screen and external.

 

The only time I have both screens on is when watching por.... nevermind.

 

Yeah, it's probably best to keep it that way.

 

cool ill try the USB thing, I cant see it getting too hot watching a 2 hour movie.

thanks.

 

It could get a bit warm with the lid closed, because the air flow has stopped except for around the shell. The heat can dissipate into the air with it open, so it has to go somewhere when it's closed.