Sometimes there are situations in which at the most crucial moment a person has problems with computer equipment. For example, a situation may arise in which you need to use a laptop as a monitor. Can this be done and how?
Cable connection
The most reliable and stable way to make a monitor out of a laptop today is to use a cable connection. The connection type depends on the laptop model, however, it is almost always VGA or HDMI connectors. In rare cases, a laptop may have one connector, and a PC - another, and then a specialized adapter must be used to connect two devices.
After identifying the cable and connecting the two devices, you need to go to the display settings. To do this, you need to turn on your PC, wait for the desktop to load and go to the screen resolution properties. The display options will appear in the window that opens.
In order to use a laptop as a display, you must select a monitor by its name from the list of available displays. After that, you can choose one of the items - leave one of the monitors working, duplicate the image or expand the monitors. Confirm your actions with the "Apply" and "OK" buttons.
Pros and cons of cable connection:
The pluses include:
- reliability;
- stable connection;
- easy setup.
The disadvantages include the following points:
- it is likely that a person may not have a cable;
- mismatch between the connectors on the PC and laptop;
- the need to purchase an adapter.
However, many people use this method if you need to use a laptop as a display with a working PC monitor.
Wi-Fi connection
If your computer is running Windows 7 or later (this also applies to MacOS), you can install the Air Display software. It makes it possible to quickly connect a laptop to a PC via Wi-Fi. But for this, the program must be installed immediately on two devices. The program itself will tell you how to do it.
Alternatively, you can use the MaxiVista utility designed to do the same. There are two versions of this program:
- server room (installed on the main device);
- client (installed on a managed device).
The first time you run this utility, the server will automatically detect the laptop client. After the software is connected to the laptop, the program prompts you to perform several steps, and then use the laptop as a monitor. The main drawback of the utility is its paid use.
Instead, you can use RDesktop, the more popular TeamViewer, and other similar programs. True, these programs differ in more complicated configuration and not so rich functionality, however TeamViewer, for example, can be used for free without restrictions.
