Macbook and 1080p

triggerthat · 10 Feb 2009 at 20:40

Hi guys,

Am considering picking up a macbook (2Ghz or there abouts) off eBay and I would like to know if it can play 1080p and output this resolution on an external monitor (via HDMI)?

Metalface Mark · 10 Feb 2009 at 20:54

Yeh it will do no problem.

asim18 · 10 Feb 2009 at 20:56

1080p MKVs? Forget it.

Metalface Mark · 10 Feb 2009 at 20:57

asim18 said:
1080p MKVs? Forget it.

Why do you say that? They can do it standing on their head easily.

rp2000 · 10 Feb 2009 at 20:59

triggerthat said:
Hi guys,

Am considering picking up a macbook (2Ghz or there abouts) off eBay and I would like to know if it can play 1080p and output this resolution on an external monitor (via HDMI)?

No Macbooks have HDMI so at the very least you will need some sort of adaptors, depending on which macbook you get (old or aluminium).

I think a mobile 2GHZ CPU would struggle with 1080P high bitrate content to be honest.

rp2000

triggerthat · 10 Feb 2009 at 21:01

Getting an adaptor would obviously be the case.

I did play a few 1080p trailers at the Apple shop and the 2GHz model did play it fine, but I was very skeptical!

Metalface Mark · 10 Feb 2009 at 21:02

My dell 1530 did 1080p mkv with 2ghz and 8600gts without any trouble, its similar spec to the alu macbooks.

triggerthat · 10 Feb 2009 at 21:05

Metalface Mark said:
My dell 1530 did 1080p mkv with 2ghz and 8600gts without any trouble, its similar spec to the alu macbooks.

The ones I am looking at are the older Macbooks

I suppose it's because of the dedicated GFX making it easy for them to play 1080.

Metalface Mark · 10 Feb 2009 at 21:20

Ah, you might well struggle with that then, if you can save up the extra though, the alu macbooks are worth it, they are really a stunning bit of kit.

triggerthat · 10 Feb 2009 at 21:21

Metalface Mark said:
Ah, you might well struggle with that then, if you can save up the extra though, the alu macbooks are worth it, they are really a stunning bit of kit.

Yeah - they do look nice, but quite expenisve. Was considering spending £450 on a Macbook and then next year get a MBP.

Caged · 10 Feb 2009 at 22:56

My 2GHz MacBook won't play 1080P MKV files reliably without dropping frames all over the place, but if I boot into Windows 7 and use CoreAVC then it works fine. I'm guessing that this is down to VLC but I can't find anything decent to play these files.

triggerthat · 11 Feb 2009 at 03:45

Caged said:
My 2GHz MacBook won't play 1080P MKV files reliably without dropping frames all over the place, but if I boot into Windows 7 and use CoreAVC then it works fine. I'm guessing that this is down to VLC but I can't find anything decent to play these files.

Hey, try http://elan.plexapp.com/

LordSplodge · 11 Feb 2009 at 08:32

asim18 said:
1080p MKVs? Forget it.

Do you own a Mac and speak from experience or are you just trolling?

As for the OP - skip the second hand Mac and go for a new Alu MacBook - it's worth the extra cost.

E1mo · 12 Feb 2009 at 18:21

Try plex

Plex massively increased the franerate of 720p mkv files on my blackbook. Highly recommeded. This is in comparison to vlc and perian.

yashiro · 12 Feb 2009 at 18:32

If a Macbook cannot play a 1080p h264 then it's totally a driver/application issue.
The hardware is more than capable.

"andy" · 12 Feb 2009 at 18:44

surely that cheap intel gfx chip isnt great for it ?

my laptop is same spec as the macbooks the OP is looking at and even though it does play true hd stuff it struggles

and then theres the fact he wants it via HDMI...

Draeconis · 12 Feb 2009 at 19:04

If he's getting a new 2Ghz White MacBook, they have the 9400m integrated, which is much better than then old x3100 Intel offering, and use almost no CPU playing a 1080p film.

If it's an older model though, I can't see it running very well. Then of course there's finding a microDVI-HDMI converter which I don't think exists (though I have not asked Google)