can you connect mac laptops to desk top computers?

[acidrock]

hey do any of you guys have any experience with connecting a laptop to a desktop computer and using laptop as the monitor and keyboard? -n

 

[Rincewind42]

hey do any of you guys have any experience with connecting a laptop to a desktop computer and using laptop as the monitor and keyboard? -n

You can connect most Mac laptops directly to a desktop using a standard ethernet cable (check your manual), but without additional software you can't use the laptop to control the desktop as if the laptop were a dumb terminal.

 

[ingenious]

You can connect most Mac laptops directly to a desktop using a standard ethernet cable (check your manual), but without additional software you can't use the laptop to control the desktop as if the laptop were a dumb terminal.

i didnt know this... tell me more

 

[dragula53]

donut

You can't use it to control your desktop...
unles they are both macintosh (or pc)

and use remote desktop to control it. but it still wouldn't be the same.

hook a monitor to it, and hook a mouse and keyboard, you can pretend it is a desktop. err.

I don't have anything else to say

moo

 

[Rincewind42]

i didnt know this... tell me more

Many of Apple's machines feature ethernet ports that auto-detect if they are connected to a hub/switch/router or another computer and automatically 'cross-over' the connection if necessary, so you can connect two computers without a problem.

This just allows you to setup a network connection between two computers easily. This (nor anything else put on most laptops) allows you to use them as a Monitor/Keyboard/Mouse for a desktop however, at least not without adding software to the laptop and the desktop. But it does allow you to easily copy files between two machines without having to know very much about networking.

 

[acidrock]

Many of Apple's machines feature ethernet ports that auto-detect if they are connected to a hub/switch/router or another computer and automatically 'cross-over' the connection if necessary, so you can connect two computers without a problem.

This just allows you to setup a network connection between two computers easily. This (nor anything else put on most laptops) allows you to use them as a Monitor/Keyboard/Mouse for a desktop however, at least not without adding software to the laptop and the desktop. But it does allow you to easily copy files between two machines without having to know very much about networking.

hey Rincewind42, you seem to know a lot about this stuff. So here's the thing you're saying I think that it would be through ethernet, I'm in college and have my eithernet connection connected to the internet. I thought there was only one port. Would this not work in this case? -n

 

[Rincewind42]

hey Rincewind42, you seem to know a lot about this stuff. So here's the thing you're saying I think that it would be through ethernet, I'm in college and have my eithernet connection connected to the internet. I thought there was only one port. Would this not work in this case? -n

Yes, you would have to choose between computer-computer and internet without additional hardware. If you get a hub/switch/router (as your campus administrator how you would connect two machines to the network). If your laptop & desktop have an Airport/Airport Extreme card then you can use internet sharing to connect (see the Sharing preference pane).

 

[7on]

This might be helpful
http://www.redstonesoftware.com/osxvnc/OSXvnc.html