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Show HN: Use an old tablet as an extra monitor

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Re: Show HN: Use an old tablet as an extra monitor

#101

Post by PickledJesus »

gourneau wrote: post #78

If you are on Windows and have extra laptops of devices hanging around SpaceDesk https://www.spacedesk.net/ to a great free app (not open source). I use it with on my Windows Dev machine (WSL2 FTW) and use old laptops as external displays. It works well even on WiFI.

Thanks, I just got SpaceDesk working on a cheap Amazon tablet over USB-C (after realising I had to set PTP mode on the tablet...) Should work really nicely as a second monitor when travelling, I have it on 60fps and high settings and the latency is barely perceptible.

Re: Show HN: Use an old tablet as an extra monitor

#102

Post by joombaga »

lexlash wrote: post #70
jrm4 wrote: post #22

Love this sort of hackery, but also -- it just kind of shows how very goofy all the limitations we have on this are. If you go with the idea that a computer should be a general purpose machine -- we have so many things that aren't computers. "Wireless external monitor" should be a trivially easy built-in to all operating systems, and that it isn't is kind of ridiculous.

RIP to FireWire target disk mode for Apple laptops and target display mode for iMacs. The new docs promote AirPlay screen mirroring and networked shares over usb-c but it’s nowhere near the same. :/

You can still do target disk mode over usb-c. I used it when I switched from Intel to M1.

Re: Show HN: Use an old tablet as an extra monitor

#104

Post by cheeko1234 »

danielvf wrote: post #90
wkat4242 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah for this reason I replace the battery of old tablets that I use as control panels, with a DC-DC converter. Simply removing the battery isn't enough because most tablets refuse to run on usb power alone.

URL to an example of what you use?

https://www.instructables.com/Powering-a-Android-Device-From...

https://old.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/13ovuqn/ive_...

You can use an LM2596 to step down the voltage.

Re: Show HN: Use an old tablet as an extra monitor

#105

Post by bazmattaz »

bdcravens wrote: post #45

I never keep tablets around long - I usually sell them (and all electronics) once they're no longer useful. eBay is my Marie Kondo :-)

Same. I’m a big believer of one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

I hate having gathering dust in my drawer if I can sell it for $50 on eBay and make someone happy in the process

Re: Show HN: Use an old tablet as an extra monitor

#106

Post by [deleted] »

jrm4 wrote: post #22

Love this sort of hackery, but also -- it just kind of shows how very goofy all the limitations we have on this are. If you go with the idea that a computer should be a general purpose machine -- we have so many things that aren't computers. "Wireless external monitor" should be a trivially easy built-in to all operating systems, and that it isn't is kind of ridiculous.

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: Use an old tablet as an extra monitor

#108

Post by mcpherrinm »

cracauer wrote: post #26

Tablets should have a HDMI/Displayport in so that you can directly use them as displays.

You can plug a USB HDMI capture dongle into tablets and do this.

Any webcam viewer would probably work to view it, though there's dedicated apps intended for this like https://orion.tube/ on iPad. I know there's options on Android but don't have a modern android tablet to test them.

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