My Dual Screen Setup

For quite some time I've watched a student using an external monitor together with his MacBook Pro 13 inch. I thought to myself, that looks interesting... So I hooked up my MacBook Pro with a HD TV and found out that OS X Mountain Lion is very bad at multiple display.

When Apple introducing new multiple display done right in OS X Mavericks, I was very delighted. After a long thought, I've decided to make a dual screen setup for my office. I don't think it is crucial for my work, but sometimes I do feel that it might help a little bit. 

I've decided to get two external monitors instead of one. This is because I feel a little bit awkward looking back and forth between retina and non-retina display. It will be like... beautiful - ugly - beautiful - ugly... It would also makes my eyes tired of focusing back and forth (because the MacBook Pro is near and the external display needs to be further away to look beautiful)

With two external displays setup, I could clam shell my MacBook Pro and use those two external displays. No more problem with beauty and the beast, and no more problem with focusing far and near. 

In order to use my MacBook Pro in clam shell mode, I have to get a keyboard and a mouse or a trackpad. So I bought a Logitech K750 keyboard because am attracted with its solar charging ability. I hope there is no need for me to change its battery in the future. The setback, it would use up one USB port (which I only have two at my disposal).

Then I bought Apple trackpad because I've been accustomed with the trackpad on the MacBook Pro. Another reason I don't opt for an Apple mouse is because it uses a lot of battery, and it's touch functions feel a little bit unpolished.

Finished with the trackpad and keyboard. Now I look up for the monitors. Only to find out that it is quite expensive. Errkkk... I halted my plan for a month and rethink. However, I decided to buy them after all. Bought two of the cheapest 24 inch with HDMI. They are BenQ 2460.

Finally, what I need is a simple gadget to hold my MacBook Pro in clam shell mode. Browsed the net and it would cost me another USD50. Well, I don't want to waste that kind of money just for a holder, so I bought a set of book ends, taped it together and there I got my DIY MacBook Pro stand. It saved me USD40+.

So here is my setup.

Very happy with all the purchase and setup. Although it is not a dual Apple Thunderbolt display that I secretly wanted, the setup is sufficient. Now I can fully utilise the OS X Mavericks multiple screen function and be happy with it. Setbacks? Probable setback would be it consumes a lot of space. I guess you can't have it all.

Final note. There is still room for a Mac Pro behind the dual display. 

DVI and It's Confusion

Technologies were made to help humanity. However, sometimes it can also brings confusion to the users. DVI is an example where the technology keeps on improving, gave birth to loads of standards and finally might give problems to end users.

There are a lot of DVI's, basically there are 5 types of them. These are the info about them.

• DVI-I (Single Link) = Digital & Analog, up to 1920x1080.
• DVI-I (Dual Link) = Digital & Analog, up to 2048x1536
• DVI-D (Single Link) = Digital, up to 1920x1080.
• DVI-D (Dual Link) = Digital, up to 2048x1536.
• DVI-A = Analog

Well, that looks a little bit simpler. Now, what you have to do is make sure the display can accept the link and the kind of signal that you wanted to send. 

Even though there are reports saying that you can have a high resolution (2048x1536) using a single link with 85Hz, that is usually using a DVI-I cable where the display uses some support from the analog signal to fill in some blank spaces. Well, that's good engineering, but the easiest way to overcome this uncertainty is to go for dual link if your computer and monitor supports one.

With all the confusion in the air, the ones that come out with DVI came out with another present to add to the lack of certainty. Here comes DVI M1-DA (Dual Link + USB). 

The new one is basically the DVI answer to the new HDMI 1.4. Where HDMI 1.4 can support network signal, the DVI can support USB. They don't put network on DVI because you won't need a network-enabled monitor, but having extra USB on the monitor might help. However, by the looks of things, the connector for DVI M1-DA couldn't be connected to a normal DVI. 

Well, the DVI is a confusing technology. People doing DVI should've made their connection future proof before trying to make it as standard. Even so, DVI is still the best for a computer monitor environment. However, do opt for HDMI if it is for connecting TV, it is more hassle free and has cheaper connectors. We'll talk about HDMI later in the future.

Time Capsule 2TB and 3TB

My heart have been to and fro towards the Airport Time Capsule. The idea of seamless and automatic backup is very attractive. Working with all the important data, protecting them could be seen as crucial in my line of work. However the price tag has been pushing me back couple of times. 

Apple AirPort Time Capsule

AirPort Time Capsule comes with 2 sizes of storage, 2TB and 3TB. The former is £249 and the latter is £349. There is also another device, Airport Extreme which when connected with a USB hard disk can do what AirPort Time Capsule could do. 

The AirPort Extreme is £169, still quite pricey for a wireless access point. Another problem would be that AirPort Extreme only has one USB port, therefore you have to choose whether to connect it with a printer to enable wireless printing or the hard drive.

There is another messy way to use the Time Machine, that is by connecting a portable hard drive to the Mac you're using directly. However, you have to connect the wires each time you want to backup. Therefore doesn't fit the purpose of seamless and automatic update. 

I've read somewhere that you can also connect a Mac Mini (or any other Mac) with an external hard drive and treat that as a Time Machine location. That seems quite okay if you have a Mac Mini that you want to leave turned on all the time. 

There is another way (I think) that can work. Using a network HDD and connect it with the router. It might be usable by Time Machine, but there is also a possibility that it uses a different file sharing protocol that might block the Time Machine application to connect with it. 

I also read from the Internet (I hope it's not from Apple haters) saying that usually a Time Capsule only lasts for 1.5 - 2 years. However, I hope that is not the case. Or maybe they use it extensively with a lot of Macs all at once. That might also be the case.

So there are 6 choices you can make to use the Time Machine application.

1. AirPort Time Capsule 3TB = £349
2. AirPort Time Capsule 2TB = £249
3. AirPort Extreme + External HDD combo = £169 + External HDD price
4. Wired external HDD = External HDD price
5. Mac mini + External HDD combo = £499 + Monitor + Mouse + Keyboard + External HDD price.
6. Wireless HDD = £150 +/- (don't know whether this will work)

Well, that's a lot for you to consider. For me, I won't be using a wired solution because that goes away from the point of automatic backup. Because there might be a day when you are too tired to turn on the computer and backup. 

I won't buy the top of the range £349 and the Mac mini option because of the price tag. That leaves me with option 2, 3 and 6. Since 6 is not proven and I need to do some research about it first and update this post later. I really hope that option 6 is doable because if it is doable, it will be the most cost effective of all.

From the look of things, currently I'm more prone to choose the 2nd choice because the wire mess that the 3rd option might make. Well, let's look and see. I'll sure to update about this matter in the future.

-- update --

I have a good news and a bad news. The bad news is, as far as i know there isn't any wireless hard disk that can be connected to the network and work together with Time Machine. But the good news is, there are a lot of Network Attached Storage (NAS) that can be used with Time Machine. The price is cheaper.

So what you need is an Internet router, connect the NAS device using the LAN wires and setup your time machine. A 3TB NAS is around £130 and a 2TB NAS is around £100. However, please make sure it'll work with Time Machine before buying one.

I guess that is the best choice there is to utilise Time Machine on a Mac. It might not be an Apple solution, but still is a cheap and viable solution.