# Connect Macbook Pro 2010 to External Monitor - help please



## D37 (Sep 29, 2011)

I need a bigger screen to work on since I'm on the my 15' macbook pro all day for work... I've found it to become annoying.

I have this 15' macbook pro from 2010 - MacBook Pro "Core i5" 2.53 15" Mid-2010 Specs (Mid-2010 15", MC372LL/A, MacBookPro6,2, A1286, 2353*) @ EveryMac.com

I want to connect it to a 27' external monitor. I was looking at these monitors for ex. 
- Samsung Syncmaster 27" LED Monitor (S27A550H) : 25" & Larger Monitors - Best Buy Canada 
- Acer 27" Widescreen LED Monitor With 5ms Response Time (H274HL) - Black : 25" & Larger Monitors - Best Buy Canada
- any cheaper and better monitors?

How does it work when you want to connect to a external monitor:



what cable will I need?
can I have my macbook pro monitor closed when it's connected to this 27inch screen?
will it look good (not distorted or anything) if I connect my macbook to a larger screen?
can i buy a mac keyboard and have it connected while my macbook pro is connected to the external?




*Also, do you guys find 27inch monitors to be too big? giving you a headache? (a friend said big monitors give him a headache and that I should go with a 21inch monitor...*


Thanks for your help in advance.


----------



## Joker Eh (Jan 22, 2008)

Dor the cable it all depends on what connections your monitor will support. One end of the cable will be a mini display port or some sort of adapter. It looks like from your choices those only have VGA/HDMI. Here is your cable.

Canada Computers | Cables & Adapters | iCAN Mini DisplayPort Male to HDMI Male 32AWG Cable (Gold) - 6ft. (MDPM-HDM-32G-06)

You can have it closed.
It will look good not distorted.
Yes on the keyboard. 

Most of the time I will have my MBP closed and a keyboard and touchpad connected to it. I have also at times had my MBP open and used the larger monitor as a 2nd screen.

You want a better monitor because you asked about size.
Canada Computers | LCD/LED Monitors | Asus PA246Q, 24.1" Widescreen P-IPS Professional Monitor, 1920x1200, 6ms(GtG), 50000:1, VGA, DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort

16x9 is terrible, stick with 16x10. And this one is matte, IPS, and has Display port connection. You would need a different cable than the one I linked above. Also this monitor can turn vertical if you need to. Just giving MHO.


----------



## D37 (Sep 29, 2011)

Thank you.

The monitors I'm looking at support VGA and HDMI. I see that there are cables for mini-display port to VGA and mini-display port to HDMI. *Which cable would be better?*

The resolution on those monitors are 1920x1080... are there higher resolution monitors (besides the apple display) that would suit the macbook pro?

I've also been looking maybe using two 24inch monitors side by side.. is this possible?


----------



## D37 (Sep 29, 2011)

Joker Eh said:


> You want a better monitor because you asked about size.
> Canada Computers | LCD/LED Monitors | Asus PA246Q, 24.1" Widescreen P-IPS Professional Monitor, 1920x1200, 6ms(GtG), 50000:1, VGA, DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort
> 
> 16x9 is terrible, stick with 16x10. And this one is matte, IPS, and has Display port connection. You would need a different cable than the one I linked above. Also this monitor can turn vertical if you need to. Just giving MHO.


How come 16x9 is terrible? Is my mac 16x9 ?


----------



## Joker Eh (Jan 22, 2008)

D37 said:


> Thank you.
> 
> The monitors I'm looking at support VGA and HDMI. I see that there are cables for mini-display port to VGA and mini-display port to HDMI. *Which cable would be better?*
> 
> ...


Look at my edit above post. Hmm, don't know if that is possible as I have the 13" and it is not so not sure if 15" can.

Go HDMI if you have to.


----------



## Joker Eh (Jan 22, 2008)

D37 said:


> How come 16x9 is terrible? Is my mac 16x9 ?


Nope. I like other find that you don't get enough vertical space. 16x9 is good for TV just not for work. I have tried to use one and gave it away the very same day. And I don't like the glossy screens those monitors have.


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Take your MBP to the store and see if they'll let you try them out, but you may need to take and adapter with you, or I'm sure the'll sell you one. 

In my experience the Samsungs always outperform any Acer monitor, IF you want something easy on the eyes and usually a better display.

And I must admit that I prefer the 16 x 10 over the 16 x 9 monitors but most have gone wide screen (16 x 9) these days so you may not have much choice, even IF you even notice the difference.


----------



## D37 (Sep 29, 2011)

Joker Eh said:


> Nope. I like other find that you don't get enough vertical space. 16x9 is good for TV just not for work. I have tried to use one and gave it away the very same day. And I don't like the glossy screens those monitors have.


So the macbook is 16x10? 

I will have to go to the computer shop and check out the 16x10 compared to the 16x9 screens. I'm having a hard time finding a 16x10 LED monitor online.


----------



## D37 (Sep 29, 2011)

pm-r said:


> Take your MBP to the store and see if they'll let you try them out, but you may need to take and adapter with you, or I'm sure the'll sell you one.
> 
> In my experience the Samsungs always outperform any Acer monitor, IF you want something easy on the eyes and usually a better display.
> 
> And I must admit that I prefer the 16 x 10 over the 16 x 9 monitors but most have gone wide screen (16 x 9) these days so you may not have much choice, even IF you even notice the difference.


How are the ASUS monitors in your opinion? 

Yeah I noticed that there isn't much selection of 16 x 10.


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

I guess my answer is that I'd have to Google on what an "ASUS monitor" actually is. I have no such experience at all obviously.


----------



## D37 (Sep 29, 2011)

It's interesting that the mac display is 16:9 - Apple Thunderbolt Display (27-inch) - Apple Store (Canada) Though I'm reading that 16:10 is better...


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

I'll have to admit, at least for myself and many others, that various display capabilities of: size, resolution, aspect ratio and connections can be quite confusing.

Your MBP according to everymac.com has a 1440x900 display which equates to a 16 x 10, but it's output has all kinds of options and if I have the correct model according to: MacBook Pro "Core i7" 2.8 15" Mid-2010 Specs (Mid-2010 15", BTO/CTO, MacBookPro6,2, A1286, 2353*) @ EveryMac.com

While there, click the "ports" option and have a look at all the variable options, including various connections you'll see at:
MacBook Pro Ports & Connectors (Mid-2010 15", MacBookPro6,2, A1286, 2353*) @ EveryMac.com

And if that isn't enough and to possibly make things even more confusing, you could even buy and use "SwitchRes X" to get any extra display options you might want.

As for your MBP and from another support site:
"1440 by 900 is a 16:10 aspect ratio. This is standard for widescreen monitors.

1280 by 800
1440 by 900
1920 by 1200

are the standard 16:10 resolutions.

1280 by 720 is a 16:9 HDTV resolution, so that would have minimum distortion."

Confused now??? You're not alone!!! 

Best to connect to a display that you're interested in and try them out and see what suits you would be my suggestion again.


----------



## Joker Eh (Jan 22, 2008)

D37 said:


> How are the ASUS monitors in your opinion?
> 
> Yeah I noticed that there isn't much selection of 16 x 10.


Check sites like Newegg for reviews. You will see Asus gets some high marks. I am happy with mine.

I just find 16x9 everything looks squished. There is no room. You have why you buying this monitor? For a TV or computer screen?


----------



## dragon109 (Oct 24, 2009)

*Monitor Resolution to Screen Dimensions*

The one thing I've noticed is no one is talking about the resolution of the monitors you've selected to purchase.

HDMI and these monitors only support 1920px x 1080px which is the resolution of HD TV.

Therefore you have 1920 pixels spread across the width of the large (27") monitor. This is a low pixel density, as an example, it is the same number of pixels of apple fits into the 21" iMac. Why is this an issue?

The pixels will be big and you will be able to see them because the resolution is low for that size of screen. All type will be big, menus will feel big, pictures will feel big.... but if you sit close, you will see the pixels and things may look jagged. An apple 27" (and Dell's 27") high end monitors have 2560px across! See the difference! On these monitors, the desktop graphics will appear the size they should when you're sitting at your desk. Bigger screen, should mean more pixels. This would give you a ton more screen real estate for windows, palettes, and more.

If you don't need HUGE real estate for your screen (ie., you're not a graphic designer, you just do basic gaming, or general computer stuff) then go for a smaller monitor (21-24") that can do 1920x1024 and you will get a crisper image, easier to read type at a proper distance from your chair, and you won't need a monster monitor on your desk.

If you want real estate, don't look at the monitor size in inches, compare the pixel resolution.

Also... if you don't plan on hooking up a blue-ray player to the screen, see if you can get one that has a DVI connection instead of HDMI. Then get a a MiniDisplay to DVI connector.

Hope that helps!
(PS, I'm a graphic designer and have a 30" apple monitor at 2560px X 1600px and love it, but I need the screen real estate)


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

A good post and your "Monitor Resolution to Screen Dimensions" comments can be and often is very confusing for many users that I also mentioned and referred to some of the options available and the Mac's capabilities and various possible available resolutions.


----------



## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

HDMI does not "only support 1920x1080."

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI:

Video signal	480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p, 1440p, 1600p, 2160p, etc​
Also, "HDTV" is not exclusively defined as 1080p.


----------



## dragon109 (Oct 24, 2009)

Hey Chas,

Thanks, I wasn't aware. Then I guess I should have put "These monitors are HDMI and only support 1920x1080" instead.


----------



## elvtnedge (Aug 10, 2007)

Just a question. If you use the mini display port to HDMI to a HDTV that cable wouldn't carry audio as well would it? I assume you'd need an optical out cable


----------



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

Some of the minidisplay to HDMI cables support audio as well...and you need a newer macbook as the older ones wouldn't do it.

As for the original question IMO 24" 1920 * 1200 monitors are the sweet spot between size, resolution and cost. The high resolution 27" monitors are expensive (see Apple's for example) while the 24" 1920 displays are much cheaper. Most 27" that you're likely to see are using the 1920 spec and just making the pixels larger which wont' give you more space just larger icons that will look less clear then if you had a smaller screen with the same pixel density.


----------



## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

Andrew Pratt said:


> Most 27" that you're likely to see are using the 1920 spec and just making the pixels larger which wont' give you more space just larger icons that will look less clear then if you had a smaller screen with the same pixel density.


Or conversely, that you can sit at a longer and perhaps more comfortable distance from.


----------



## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

We have OWC HDMi cable modules that mix the audio into the cable from those Minis not supporting the integral audio stream themselves.
USB and I think optical combine into the HDMi out cable - slick. Works


----------

