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iPad as a main monitor with AirDisplay app and mac mini anyone?

aziatiklover

aziatiklover

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 12, 2011
2,704
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8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4
Since im using my mac mini with my 42" samsung lcd together, and was just wondering if anyone has tried using their ipad as a main monitor? How does that work for yall?
PS: i only use my mac mini only when i need to download content like movies, musics, books, or back up my iDevices other than that i consume more content on my iDevices.
 
Wirelessly posted

I was actually thinking of this when I saw the front page story, I'll buy it when I get home and try it out.
 
aziatiklover said:
PS: i only use my mac mini only when i need to download content like movies, musics, books, or back up my iDevices other than that i consume more content on my iDevices.
Click to expand...

That's sort of how I use my laptop too, only when neccessary. I would love to find a simple and efficient way of using the iPad as a screen.
 
Another interesting note with air display is the recent update that allows the new iPad to display at a substantially higher and more clear resolution. I haven't had a chance to check it out myself but it definitely has me thinking the new iPad would be much more useful as an additional display for your desktop or laptop machine. Good luck!
 
Hi, i had the same idea a year ago ;)

I had this setup:
- Mac Mini
- Bluetooth mouse and keyboard paired with the Mac Mini
- iPad with AirDisplay, connected to the Mac Mini by AirDisplay (WIFI connection)

So my iPad (1) screen acted as a monitor for my Mac Mini.

I dont use this setup anymore, the bluetooth connection was not strong enough (sitting 1 meter from my Mac Mini).
I experienced too much lag on the (iPad) screen and occasionally experiencing Wifi connection drop outs. Very annoying when in the middle of process like photoshop or just browsing the web.

Another problem was that AirDisplay extends the Mac Mini screen to the iPad by default. I wanted to mirror the Mac Mini screen to my iPad, not an extension.
So before mirroring, you need to enable the mirror option in the AirDisplay settings on the Mac Mini. That's a hard thing to do when the iPad only acts as an extension: you only see a blank extended screen. :) To do that, a dedicated screen for the Mac Mini is necessary.
But when acting as a mirror screen, it works. Until your connections falls away and the setting is back on 'extention' in stead of 'mirror'.

Al in al it is a cool setup, but far from not perfect!

My old setup:

b93122db33484385822cff88d00b659c_7.jpg
 
If you wanted to use your iPad as your main monitor, I would suggest using Logmein Ignition on the iPad in order to mirror the computer. Your bluetooth peripherals still linked to the computer will show up on your iPad monitor and you'll be able to do most things on the iPad. The iPad screen is too small for a monitor however. It's great for iOS but not so great displaying desktop OS. Most times I wish that my Macs had iOS built in so I could have multiple devices that functioned the same way. It frees up devices to have access to the same content in multiple places which is what I'm going for.
 
JP2012 said:
Hi, i had the same idea a year ago ;)

I had this setup:
- Mac Mini
- Bluetooth mouse and keyboard paired with the Mac Mini
- iPad with AirDisplay, connected to the Mac Mini by AirDisplay (WIFI connection)

So my iPad (1) screen acted as a monitor for my Mac Mini.

I dont use this setup anymore, the bluetooth connection was not strong enough (sitting 1 meter from my Mac Mini).
I experienced too much lag on the (iPad) screen and occasionally experiencing Wifi connection drop outs. Very annoying when in the middle of process like photoshop or just browsing the web.

Another problem was that AirDisplay extends the Mac Mini screen to the iPad by default. I wanted to mirror the Mac Mini screen to my iPad, not an extension.
So before mirroring, you need to enable the mirror option in the AirDisplay settings on the Mac Mini. That's a hard thing to do when the iPad only acts as an extension: you only see a blank extended screen. :) To do that, a dedicated screen for the Mac Mini is necessary.
But when acting as a mirror screen, it works. Until your connections falls away and the setting is back on 'extention' in stead of 'mirror'.


Al in al it is a cool setup, but far from not perfect!

My old setup:

Image
Click to expand...

Thanx for your review. Yea that was my consern about if it would be straight mirroring or an extension. So can we just save the mirroring set up all the time as default or it will be reset once i exit the app on the ipad?
 
whtrbt7 said:
If you wanted to use your iPad as your main monitor, I would suggest using Logmein Ignition on the iPad in order to mirror the computer.
Click to expand...

What difference does a remote access solution like logmein have to AirDisplay?
AirDisplay functions within your LAN, logmein works outside your LAN, on WAN.
I dont see the benefit in logmein to AirDisplay?

----------
aziatiklover said:
Thanx for your review. Yea that was my consern about if it would be straight mirroring or an extension. So can we just save the mirroring set up all the time as default or it will be reset once i exit the app on the ipad?
Click to expand...

My experience was that usually the mirror setting was saved, but occasionally it was back on default (extension) again.

Also flipping the orientation of the iPad accidently had a extension setting as result.

For me it had too many frustrating habbits and did not work flawless to keep this set up.
 
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whtrbt7 said:
If you wanted to use your iPad as your main monitor, I would suggest using Logmein Ignition on the iPad in order to mirror the computer. Your bluetooth peripherals still linked to the computer will show up on your iPad monitor and you'll be able to do most things on the iPad. The iPad screen is too small for a monitor however. It's great for iOS but not so great displaying desktop OS. Most times I wish that my Macs had iOS built in so I could have multiple devices that functioned the same way. It frees up devices to have access to the same content in multiple places which is what I'm going for.
Click to expand...

Yea been using logmein when im away from the house but never thought about using it as a monitor app for the mac mini, and im sure it will be annoying to have to enter your password everytime u log in.
 
moogs said:
Nice $500 10" display you got there :cool:
Click to expand...

A multitasking display on a go NOT BAD! ;) like i say i get on my mac mini just when i need to get contents. So turning my ipad on my hand as a display will take couple second and im set instead of turning my lcd which does take a while lol.
 
Hey guys I'm kinda interested in this setup as well....want to replace my Macbook Pro with a iPad 3+Mac Mini...what are your thoughts? anyone using iPad 3+Mac Mini?

Currently I have a Macbook Pro 2011 2.0GHz i7 8GB Ram 180GB SSD+500GB HDD.
-My Macbook Pro is in Like New condition, no scratches, or dings. Also has a plastic case all around + keyboard cover since day one so Im hoping with over $2800 Spent(Upgrades+Software Purchased ill include with it) ill get about $2000 back...if I'm lucky....n the MacMini+iPad 3 64GB 4G setup should cost me about $1700....

Would like to get to replace my MacbookPro:
- 2011 Mac Mini 2.5GHz (Can get for about $400-$450 used locally)
4GB Ram
500GB HDD
I don't need a optical drive as I have only used my MacbookPro's the first day to install Windows 7 on bootcamp....but then I bought VMWare Fusion and in the future won't need disk either as I can jus use a .iso
Already have a 19" Monitor+10Ft HDMI Cable.
Magic trackpad (Can get for about $50 used/open box locally)

- iPad 3 64GB 4G (Can get for about $750 used locally)
- this keyboard case So it can be used as a MacMini Keyboard as well ($180):
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/552506690/brydge-ipad-do-more

PS: Used/second hand items don't really bother me as I am perfectly fine with them as long as they are in excellent condition....It gives me a option to enjoy something for a great deal of discount.

Since the iPad 3 has a Retina Display Resolution I can see the screen fitting via AirDisplay quiet well compared to the person who posted above with a iPad 1...which has the small resolution.

Reason i want to replace is because I don't really do much on my laptop other than school work...when I bought it, I went all out thinking about editing photo's, watching movies and moderately playing games but I find my self playing all my games on my iPhone lol....as for Photo editing...dont do very much and the little that I do it can be done on the Mac Mini as well. Plus iPad is much more portable with its long battery life I can take it everywhere and even setup "TeamViewer" or LogMeIn to access my Mac Mini from outside.

Cloud Storages I have:
- 25GB Skydrive Storage
- 14GB Dropbox (Can be well managed through GoodReader App)
- 5GB iCloud....(not planning to store much on it anyway)
- I have about 3GB of music that I listen to often plus over 10GB Music thats just stored on my Macbook Pro
- I have 60+GB of movies I bought through iTunes....good number of them can be streamed through iCloud now rest I can always jus move over to my iPad or jus watch them using AirVideo which works excellent to stream movies while at home.....
- I have about 20GB's of Documents/Notes/Lectures/PowerPoints/PDf files all together.

Soon ill be starting my school again and during that its more of a Co-op hands on learning so therefore I won't be using my laptop all that much.....

Any/All Feedback is greatly appreciated:)
 
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I have a 1st gen iPad air and I have a Mac mini otw, I'm new to osx and was wondering if I could use the iPad as a monitor and just use touch input?? thanks in advance
 
I use Duet Display program and app to make my IPP a second monitor for my laptop. It requires usb/lightning connection, but it's very performant.

Not sure how this would work as an only display though.
 
Ok..... Dug up this topic from 2012. Way to go. I posted on the original topic back then so I guess I'll post again with an update. For the free solution, just use TeamViewer. The paid solutions are Logmein, splash top, duet, astropad, and several other Vic apps. This will allow for remote access to the Mac mini and have touch controls accessible on the iPad. The only issue with this is to set up the software on a Mac mini but maybe the Apple Store will lend you a hand and let you install it when you buy one. Otherwise borrow a tv or monitor from a buddy.
 
andyw715 said:
I use Duet Display program and app to make my IPP a second monitor for my laptop. It requires usb/lightning connection, but it's very performant.

Not sure how this would work as an only display though.
Click to expand...

According to the link below Duet can be used as an only display, but it appears this functionality comes at the price of having to sacrifice FileVault encryption.

http://help.duetdisplay.com/faq/124720-can-i-use-duet-as-the-only-display-for-my-mac

Due to this limitation I'm currently looking into alternative products. Otherwise Duet seems very nice.
 
I was doing this for a while using Duet. Works fine, no issues really. But no matter what, it's not as stable as a 'non-driver' monitor setup. There are several USB monitors from various manufacturers that use the 'Display-link' driver for Windows and Macs. This is essentially what Duet and even wireless options for the iPad are.
 
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