macbook pro hooked up to external monitor slow refresh rate help

I have a late 2006 Macbook Pro hooked up to an Asus VE247 24" monitor.

I've been having problems with the monitor refreshing the screen. For example, when I am using photoshop, it takes a while for me to see the results of whatever button I pressed (aligning two photos as one example). Or, if I press "Undo," it doesn't show me what I undid until I click on another button to do something else. Also, in Firefox, when I open up a menu (the File menu for example) and mouse over a menu choice with an arrow next to it, the rest of the menu doesn't come up until I click on it.


I never had this problem until I hooked up the external display.


A little background about the monitor (from System Profiler on my Mac):

Resolution: 1680 x 1050 @ 60 Hz

Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)

Mirror: On

Mirror Status: Hardware Mirror

Online: Yes

Rotation: Supported



And about my macbook pro:

Resolution: 1680 x 1050

Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)

Main Display: Yes

Mirror: On

Mirror Status: Master Mirror

Online: Yes

Built-In: Yes


Also, the refresh problem is also happening on my macbook pro screen when I have the external monitor plugged in.

How can I fix this? Please help. Thanks in advance.

Let me know if you have any questions or need any more information.

Sounds like your Macbook's GPU just isn't up to the job refreshing both displays at that resolution. Try lowering the resolution and see if the problem persists or not.

- Simon

Buy a computer with a beefer gpu or lower the resolution.

Thanks for the responses. I tried almost every resolution setting, and the problem persists at every setting.

I am thinking about getting a new computer, but I don't have the money for a new mac right now (and i love my mac), so I'd have to switch to pc. That's why I'm trying to figure this external monitor problem out first.

By the way, using the screen on my macbook pro is no longer an option because I dropped it not too long ago (long story) and cracked the screen (so now i see colorful lines and black and white bars).

The only other option I can see then is using it in clamshell mode. details of clamshell mode here Apple Portables: How to use your computer in closed clamshell (display closed) mode with an external display

Hope this helps

- Simon

clamshell mode

Well, my computer is for some reason working perfectly right now (and i didn't change any settings or do anything different), but if it starts acting up again, I will try the clamshell mode.

Glad it's working for now, hope it stays that way ehh!

- Simon

=(

For a while I hadn't had any problems with display and the refresh rate, but it started again. I tried clamshell mode, and it still does the same thing. I'm thinking it is time for me to buy a new computer because it is impossible to do some of the work I need to do on the one I have now. Unless someone has a solution?