Laptop screen as desktop moniter

kaimera

Thinking of putting together a little fileserver for college next year.

those of us in the house have laptops so to save we'd have a tower with no moniter and hope to use the a lappy as pc screen when needed.

can it be done and if yes, cen sort cable and easily purchased?

SouperComputer

i had though for a while i could.

But it seems not.

LCD's use LVD and CRT's use TTL

you need an adaptor that costs as much as a new panel...... i think.....

http://www.google.ie/search?q=laptop+lcd+dektop&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official

J-blk

I remember wanting to do something like this waaaaay back.... Unfortunately, I never found any real info on it and I think SouperComputer is right - it's not possible (at least spending "normal" amounts of money).

If you only want to use the tower as a file server, maybe some remote desktop software would do the trick? GoToMyPC is the free one I can think of and Norton's PC Anywhere spings to mind as a commercial solution (I think Microsoft have a dedicated product as well rather than just the XP Remote Desktop client/host app)...

Of course, you can only do basic tasks with all of these (so no, you won't be playing a game or watching a DVD running on the tower for example) but you can use files/folders, use Windows apps and even reboot/shut down the tower. Still, there's a lot more of a learning curve with these apps than just being able to connect the laptop to the desktop. Just an idea...

J-blk

Idea #2: if any of the lappies has a video in (composite or S-Video) either on the main graphics card or a TV tuner, then, you can connect the TV-out of the graphics card in the desktop PC to that input and view your desktop.

The resolution will be crap but if all you want is to do some maintenance tasks on the desktop when needed, it will suffice.

lardboy

I did a similar thing when my company threw out the old computers, I took my old work desktop and bunged in a 120G HD, Win Server 2000 and now use this as a media server. I used a screen when setting it up, but binned it after that and now just use RealVNC to control it. It automatically starts up when the computer boots up, so even after a crash you can get back into the computer. Been running it for a year or so and haven't needed to use a screen at all. As long as you have one to set up, you'll be fine. Borrow one, it's as much as you'll need.

Edit: Of course, I've asssumed tat you've some way of networking. Hopefully wireless, in which case, set a static IP on the server and bob's your wotsit.

rsynnott

In general, once basic setup is complete, a server has no need of a monitor... Drag a CRT in, set it up, remove CRT.

kaimera

solid replies guys.

some remote_access sw seems the dealy. I'll look into some here at work.

and yea, we're looking at a wireless network in the house.

thanks

Peteee

rsynnott wrote:

In general, once basic setup is complete, a server has no need of a monitor... Drag a CRT in, set it up, remove CRT.

mm remote desktop seems to be the way to go. The very point of this is so I dont have to drag in a big CRT (tis nearly the reason that i'm getting the lappy, sick of dragging my dekstop half way across the country etc etc)

Wireless it is.

Also kai i just remebered that we're prolly gonna have to buy a usb 2.0 pci card for it, its only USB 1.1, and that wont be much good if we're usin it with an external HD!!!

kaimera

usb2.0 cards are piss cheap lad. Not to worry.

blorg

I have this very setup at home with a headless Shuttle acting as a media server. I use a laptop connected through Remote Desktop/Terminal Services (built in to XP), both through wired ethernet and WiFi. Works great, and _very_ simple to setup and use. You need XP Pro or 2000 for the server component but can use just about anything (from Win95 up) for the clients. It's very nippy, just like sitting at a monitor over the wired connection and actually even fast enough for video.

Peteee

kaimera wrote:

usb2.0 cards are piss cheap lad. Not to worry.

I know that, but it means a trek *ALL* the way up to pc world. Who knows what we'll end up buying from their highly priced emporium of computer related goods! Just remind me to leave my credit card at home!

kaimera

...you have a credit card ya m00k.

we shall purchase said novelty material items on the proverbial internet