Is there such a device??

motomoto

Junior Member
Nov 30, 2006
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Is there a such a thing as a "Dumb Laptop" or perhaps a "Wireless dumb terminal"? I would ideally like to buy a laptop that connects remotely to my more powerful desktop.

So the laptop will just functional as a display with a keyboard and a mouse. The CPU, the video processing, storage etc will be on the desktop. This would be perfect for gaming, where a powerful, easily upgradable desktop PC can be remotely controlled by a laptop like device with a nice LCD.

Software solutions for this, like remotePC or PCAnywhere, just don't provide the framerates for decent gaming.

Are there any technical limitations as to why such a device does not exist? Or does is not exist because I am the only nut who thinks this would be neat! I really like sitting on a recliner and gaming on my laptop, but I cannot seem to afford getting a laptop powerful enough to play todays games! The desktops however seem much cheaper...
 

Seekermeister

Golden Member
Oct 3, 2006
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I really don't know much about this, because everytime that I have attempted to setup a similar configuration, something went wrong. However, I understand that you can do this with an ad hoc connection. I have no idea of what level of performance to expect.
 

myocardia

Diamond Member
Jun 21, 2003
9,291
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No, they don't make anything like that. At least as far as I know. It can be done, you just won't be using the laptop at all. You'd have to buy an LCD monitor, and then buy a video card with dual outputs, and a set of extensions for mouse, keyboard, and monitor, along with a wall mount for the LCD that will swivel.

Why wouldn't you just buy a more comfortable chair to sit in, while you're sitting in front of your PC, though?
 

Kelnoen

Senior member
Sep 20, 2006
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It's not possible to transfer decent resolutions at decent framerates over any domestic wireless products.

Best your going to get is 25fps @ 640x480 probably but at huge cost.
 

Matthias99

Diamond Member
Oct 7, 2003
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Originally posted by: motomoto
why can't they build such a device into a laptop?

http://www.42u.com/autoview-wireless.htm (look at the picture)

then that laptop would never become obsolete! i could keep replacing/upgrading the backend desktop and always have a powerful laptop...

...because it costs $1200 (a $600 box on each end) and is limited to 1024x768@60Hz.

You need a pretty insane amount of bandwidth to push high-resolution digital feeds. And compressing/uncompressing them in real time might make the bandwidth requirement easier, but takes a ridiculous amount of computing power (or very expensive dedicated hardware, as in this solution).

Is it a nice idea? Sure. Microsoft (and others) have been pushing the "Smart Display" thing for at least a decade. But the technology to do it cheaply just still isn't there. When you have cheap gigabit wireless and/or a desktop that can encode compressed 1080p video on the fly while still playing your games without a hitch, this might fly.