MacBook Screen Dimmer

Is there any way that i can prevent my screen from going to sleep after i dont touch it for awhile when not plugged in. I dont want the backlight to go off sometimes when im watching movies.

Also, is it possible to close the macbook without it going to sleep?

Go to your System Preferences, click on Energy Saver, and move the slider to "Never" under the option to put the display to sleep

Another solution if you don't want to keep going to System Preferences. Click on the Battery Status icon in the top right and select "Better Performance" when you need the screen to constantly stay on and then go back to "Better Battery Life" when you're done to conserve battery life.

As for preventing the Macbook from going to sleep when closing the lid. I was doing some searching and found that there is a little program that keeps the Macbook from going to Sleep, but the problem with that is that it doesn't work with the new Core2Duo Macbooks, only the original CoreDuo ones. I can't tell if you have the original or the second gen, but if the former, then you should be able to find it with a simple Google search.

(1) Yes -- Go to System Preferences, Energy Saver. Choose Options. Unclick the box marked "Automatically reduce the brightness of the display before going to sleep." You will have to do this twice, once for Power Adapter and once for Battery (in the "Settings For:" box).

(2) This is not advisable due to heat build up, but there are ways to accomplish it. Do a search and you should be able to find some options.

Get a laptop cooling pad if you want to run it closed. To wake it after closing the lid, insert any USB device (keyboard, mouse ect) and that way you can use an external monitor or finish a download with the lid closed completely and the inside screen off.

ToddG said:

(2) This is not advisable due to heat build up, but there are ways to accomplish it. Do a search and you should be able to find some options.

Click to expand...

The heat issue is only a problem with iBooks but the Macbooks and Pros are engineered to be able to run with the lid closed in a dock without any heating issues. Anyone know a program that works?

If you watch videos in iTunes, the backlight doesn't go off. I don't know about any other program though. I assume QuickTime works the same way though...