Applet to switch LCD off?

LordCoven

LordCoven

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Does anyone know if there's an applet available which will allow you to switch the screen on a PowerBook off manually? That'd be a pretty good feature for power preservation IMHO. Plus, it'd also be cool if you could set it so that it didn't go to sleep when you close the lid, so that you could, say, continue listening to MP3s or such like. Does anyone know if that's possible?

Cheers,
C
 
1) I've not heard of anything to turn off your monitor, except to let it go off by itself.

2) You do not want the computer to run while it's closed because (I'm pretty sure it's this, it's something related to this) the heat from the processor will mess with the monitor, and the processor & hard drive would have to keep running while you're playing MP3's. I know people use their laptops with external monitors, and I'm not sure how that factors in, but there's a very good technical reason the computer goes to sleep when you close it.
 
Sounds like a plausible explanation. The alu books do tend to get a smidgen hot over the HD (front left). Esp. when tethered to the mains.
Thanks for the info :)
C
 
I use my PowerBook for presentations and if I have a keyboard and mouse and video projector plugged in then I just leave the lid locked on the PowerBook and all works fine. I leave iTunes playing up until I am ready to start the show. I've checked many times and the PowerBook is no hotter than normal.

Does this help?
 
I haven't actually tried, so this might sound like a really stupid question to you, webweave :) ... but do you just start iTunes and then close the lid? Does it only work when an external monitor is attached?

Cheers,
C
 
On the Paris Expo, Steve pointed out that the new books all do support lid-closed operation. In case they really get hotter than the old ones, I wonder how this works...
 
powerbooks work with lids closed provided:
a.) plugged into mains
b.) external keyboard/mouse attached
c.) external monitor attached

to turn the monitor off just turn the display brightness right down (F1 key), this turns the back light off (you will notice the apple logo goes dark on the lid as well)
 
rhg: it would be cool if it was just a matter of a system update - then we can all benefit :)

Cheers for all the info everyone :)
C
 
If I don't have the projector pluged in I plug in the S-video to RCA adapter. This fools the PowerBook into thinking there is a monitor pluged in.

So to recap for LC, I plug in the S-RCA adaptor with the PB open start iTunes then close the lid.
 
profx has a good point, since I think the lcd backlight takes up way more power than actually colourizing the pixels.

PS What's up LC :p
 
Hey there Michael :)

Well, I've been doing the brightness down thing since the iBook - but I was wondering whether there was something more convenient (how lazy am I? :))

C

PS: Michael - is your forum still being used? I posted something mid September, but no-one else seems to be using it any more?
PPS: Hope you had a great hols :)
 
Huh, very lazy!

You can connect an external monitor, start up the computer and shut the lid immediately, and it will use the monitor. But if you don't have an external monitor, just turn the screen off. It shouldn't be that hard, I believe the controls are right on the keyboard.
 
Sometimes... humor is also cultural, so what's funny to you may not be funny to me. And online, it's hard to hear the inflection of your voice.
 
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