The PC thread

[El Barto]

That's the beauty of Rufus. It technically has nothing to do with pirating, well, it probably does but that's not my point. I like having a local account on my machines. I like being able to make bootable install media where I can strip out that aspect of the install procedure. Just hardcode my local account into the process. Nice and simple.

And yeah, I do have Windows 11 installed on machines that 'don't meet spec'. Thing is, those are machines that got the automatic 10 license. I use Rufus to strip out the mandatory crap and guess what, the OS runs just fine on those machines. It's a handy tool.

Yeah, I've used Rufus before. Not in a while, but back in the XP days, when you'd have to reinstall on a fairly regular basis, it was nice to be able to use a stripped down version without the added bloat.

[Chino]

Hey all. I'd like to pick your brains for a minute. Have any of you ever come across a remote laptop of sorts?

I've been going back and forth on whether I want to pick up a Playstation Portal. It's basically a Playstation controller with a screen in the middle. It's got no storage or horsepower of its own. The PS5 in the home does all the processing and it just dumps the image to the Portal over wifi.



This has made me realize that I'd love this feature in a laptop form factor. My office PC does everything I need it to except leave the office. I don't want to shell out a pretty penny on a standalone laptop, but I'd wouldn't mind spending a few hundred on what's basically just a laptop shell that's displaying whatever my home PC is doing.   

Do any companies make such a device?

[XJDenton]

Why not just buy a tablet with a reasonable keyboard cover and install something like anydesk?

[ReaperKK]

Why not just buy a tablet with a reasonable keyboard cover and install something like anydesk?

This. Or if you're going to just game on it I highly recommend the Steam Deck. I got one and it has the horsepower to play games fairly decently, or you can always stream from your PC to the Deck just like PS Portal. I have my deck hooked up to my living room tv and stream from my main PC, it works amazingly well.

[Chino]

Why not just buy a tablet with a reasonable keyboard cover and install something like anydesk?

I didn't think of that option. I really like the form factor of a laptop and having it on your lap. Can you get that with any of the tablet setups out there?

This. Or if you're going to just game on it I highly recommend the Steam Deck. I got one and it has the horsepower to play games fairly decently, or you can always stream from your PC to the Deck just like PS Portal. I have my deck hooked up to my living room tv and stream from my main PC, it works amazingly well.

This has nothing to do with gaming. I'll do that at my desk. I want this so I can do spreadsheet and CAD stuff on the couch while the wife and I watch stuff.

[cramx3]

Sounds like you just want to use Windows Remote Desktop then?  It's free part of windows, you may have to install it.  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/clients/remote-desktop-allow-access (I can't seem to post a link? the forum seems funky today)

I know they make phone apps to do this as well, I used to use a remote desktop for my phone to my PC, but it's been many many years and I don't have that set up anymore, but it should be really simple.

[Chino]

Sounds like you just want to use Windows Remote Desktop then?  It's free part of windows, you may have to install it.  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/clients/remote-desktop-allow-access (I can't seem to post a link? the forum seems funky today)

I know they make phone apps to do this as well, I used to use a remote desktop for my phone to my PC, but it's been many many years and I don't have that set up anymore, but it should be really simple.

Right. This is exactly what I want to do. I don't want to pay for, or need, a full functioning laptop, but I want that form factor. I was just wondering if anyone made what's basically a laptop shell (a screen and keyboard) that doesn't nothing but remote play my home PC. Pretty much the exact same concept as the Playstation Portal, but for a PC.

[cramx3]

Right. This is exactly what I want to do. I don't want to pay for, or need, a full functioning laptop, but I want that form factor. I was just wondering if anyone made what's basically a laptop shell (a screen and keyboard) that doesn't nothing but remote play my home PC. Pretty much the exact same concept as the Playstation Portal, but for a PC.

I'd imagine you could get a cheap tablet or like a chrome book to run remote desktop.  Since a phone can do it, got to think an android laptop could too.

[El Barto]

And if you just don't want to spend money on more computer than you actually need, don't discount buying somebody's used laptop with 9 month old tech because they had to upgrade to 1 month old tech. A functional laptop is a great thing to have for any number of reasons. Power failure. Long flights. Car repair. Camping. I bought a 10 year old Thinkpad Helix for one bill because the form factor is great and it's fairly ruggedized. It won't game, but it'll do everything else I need.

[ReaperKK]

I'd imagine you could get a cheap tablet or like a chrome book to run remote desktop.  Since a phone can do it, got to think an android laptop could too.

Chrome book would be my suggestion too. I use chrome remote desktop and it works brilliantly from my phone.

[Chino]

Cool cool cool. Thanks for the input, guys.