Dumb Terminal

[RAM555789]

So I'm looking for I guess you could say, a modern like version of a dumb terminal. I want a product that has the look and feel of a laptop, but the actual PC is separate. The dumb terminal would be for video display, and keyboard only, and other peripherals I would simply plug into the desktop. The reason I want something like this is I need the portability of a laptop, but I still want the power of a desktop, in a mini ITX case I would bring around with ease.

[Dujith]

Get a NUC and do a remote desktop / steam for gaming. Plus side being you can plug everything in the NUC. 

But you say like a laptop? does that mean you want something with a screen attached?

[RAM555789]

3 minutes ago, Dujith said:

Get a NUC and do a remote desktop / steam for gaming. Plus side being you can plug everything in the NUC. 

But you say like a laptop? does that mean you want something with a screen attached?

2

Google dumb terminal and look at the pictures, then imagine that more similar to a modern-day laptop. That's what I am looking for, also I might go with a NUC, or I might build my own still trying to decide how small I need to go.

[Dujith]

1 minute ago, RAM555789 said:

Google dumb terminal and look at the pictures, then imagine that more similar to a modern-day laptop. That's what I am looking for, also I might go with a NUC, or I might build my own still trying to decide how small I need to go.

You could have just posted a picture instead of saying i have to google it  Besides i'm old enough to have worked with those (tho even then they were on the way out)

As they are from the CRT era you wont get anything that looks like it, since even the small ones were big because of the tube.

 

If you want something portable and small with a screen you could get a simple laptop like the HP Stream series. My youngest daughter has one on which she plays some steam games from my pc. Since the thing itself is a simple celeron, but even the Intel IGPU is more then enough for stream decoding. 

[Mira Yurizaki]

If we strictly were going by what dumb terminals were back in the day, that would require a serial port connection, which most consumer computers these days don't have. At least, not one readily available. Not to mention the OS has to default to outputting on the serial port as well. Linux is likely to do this, but not Windows.

 

So for a "modern day equivalent", it'd basically be getting a Chromebook with Remote Access installed (both on the Chromebook and target hardware) or some device that's compatible with some other remote access tool like TeamViewer, VNC, or, if we're going real low tech, Telnet or SSH.

[Catsrules]

I would just get a cheap laptop or tablet then run parsec or any other remote desktop applications you want.  I don't know of any specific device that is for a mobile remote terminal. There a a lot of desktop terminals search around for "thin client". But I haven't heard of the mobile thin client before. I am sure someone somewhere made something like that, but most applications you better off using a laptop or tablet that has some smarts in it so it isn't a brick when it looses connection.

 

 

[zombienerd]

I built myself a "Lap Desk" for Couch gaming.  My tower is on the floor next to the couch, I took a piece of plywood, bolted a 1440x900 monitor to it, a standard keyboard, a mouse, zip tied all the cables together, and I put it on my lap like a laptop, but it's connected to an older gaming rig (Athlon x4 860 with GTX 750) for couch sessions.  

It's a bit heavier than a laptop (about 10-12lbs), but less hot - and definitely cheaper than the alternative was.

[RAM555789]

I'm trying to say I'm looking for a laptop like an object, that is only a keyboard and mouse. I don't an actual laptop though, just something that looks like a laptop but I would hook a desktop up to it.

[zombienerd]

3 hours ago, RAM555789 said:

I'm trying to say I'm looking for a laptop like an object, that is only a keyboard and mouse. I don't an actual laptop though, just something that looks like a laptop but I would hook a desktop up to it.

I've been looking for that since 2001.  Preferably wireless sync with a battery.

 

No such device exists.