Apple and DELL Monitor Compatibility

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Hey all, still fairly new to the Mac family and this forum. I purchased a Powerbook G4 when I switched about 2 years ago and I'm just really getting in deeper. I'm loving the machine more and more.

So I ended up buying a DELL monitor the model is E228WFP and I had a problem with it. When I hooked it up either VGA of DVI and went to the highest resolution, the monitory would start flickering or refreshing about every 3 - 5 seconds. When I would lower the resolution, it would stop, but there would be a thick black border around the actual viewport and it was a pain because the images were so large.

I was told by a friend who is an avid mac user that there shouldn't have been a problem. The highest resolution to this monitor was 1680x1050 and the spec sheet for the Powerbook states the following:

Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously
supports up to 1440 by 900 pixels on the built-in
display and up to 2048 by 1536 pixels on an
external display


I've asked around and have found some threads with this issue but never answered. Does anyone knows why this might be happening. It was a nice 22" monitor and when I hooked it up to my dinosaur PC the monitor worked with that but not the Mac.

When I called tech support, which was somewhere in India, they told me I needed a new video card, but I don't think the Powerbook has that, or does it? Wouldn't that mean the whole motherboard would have to be swapped out?

When I look on flickr for Mac and Dual displays, I see others using DELL monitors which are much bigger for Powerbooks. What gives? Any suggestions?

Thank you all in advance and I look forward to hearing some responses. By the way, I've already returned the monitor back to DELL and got a refund, but still looking to buy the right one.

Cheers!
 

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