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Comment by rahimnathwani | Hacker News Reader

If you already carry a an iPad in your laptop bag, but use Windows or Linux on your laptop, you can use the iPad as an external monitor using:

- a cheap HDMI USB capture device ($5 from Temu)

- a short HDMI cable to connect that to your laptop's HDMI output

- a USB to lightning or USB to type C adapter (depending on your iPad model)

- a free app to display the UVC camera input full screen, e.g. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/genki-studio/id6466343285

This isn't quite as convenient, but it's not much extra weight to throw in your bag.

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Potentially a good idea to avoid using Temu - https://apnews.com/article/temu-shein-forced-labor-china-de7...

China is a forced labor camp.

apple captures 60% of profits on its devices while the factory that builds them in China captures only 2%.

now you know why foxconn had suicide nets.

To be honest, this changes my mind on the situation. I've always tried to follow the money; those who control the money flow control all the power.

Is it a situation where Apple is squeezing the suppliers? I'm aware Walmart has very predatory practices with their suppliers, so something similar?

> Is it a situation where Apple is squeezing the suppliers?

yes. brutally.

from: https://www.macrumors.com/2023/02/14/only-half-of-indian-iph...

> "Apple engineers told that Chinese iPhone suppliers and government officials have a "whatever it takes" approach to win iPhone orders, work was often completed weeks ahead of schedule at "inexplicable speed". In India, [we] are not running at this pace. "There just isn't a sense of urgency," one Apple engineer remarked."

when you allow your supplier only 2% of the cuts. of course the ones at the bottom will be squeezed mercilessly. and apple maintains its huge margins.

https://apple.fandom.com/wiki/Criticism_of_Apple#Safety_prob...

https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/china-ap...

https://www.culawreview.org/journal/child-labor-and-the-huma...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/09/09/apple-a...

https://chinalaborwatch.org/somethings-not-right-here-poor-w...

https://9to5mac.com/2020/11/09/key-apple-supplier-pegatron-c...

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/15/tech/apple-iphone-india-w...

https://www.reuters.com/world/india/fire-apple-supplier-pega...

That's true of every online marketplace unless there's no 3rd party sellers.

Hey soared, I saw your post two years ago about "App lovin," and some possible claims of fraud. I'm a tech journalist. Can we chat? viktorlazlo1@proton.me

Or just buy a portable monitor (i.e. Asus Zenscreen).

It's bigger (15 inch), cheaper (less than $150), easier to use (just one USB-C cable).

And if we compare it to the Zenbook Duo, when your laptop becomes obsolete you can just buy any new laptop and still use your portable monitor.

I would also go with a portable monitor. Just keep in mind that a lot of them have quite low resolution, low brightness, poor colour accuracy and that some of them still need a power brick (if they require more than 15 watts).

My portable InnoCN 4k OLED disagrees.

I have the InnoCN OLED and I love it. I had to do a double take when I saw the price on Amazon and bought it immediately.

Same: it has touchscreen, EMR pen, it's portable, and comes with an easy to carry case- that's a steal at this price!

Is it the 15.6” model. Curious to know if it needs a power brick to deliver full brightness, and Aldi if it’s pentile?

"also" not "Aldi"

ViewSonic VX1655-4K-OLED, I don't have it yet, but it's not very expensive and should better than those not well-known brand.

Consumption (typical): 25w

So it’ll need a power brick to deliver 400 nits.

Both have their uses. Travelling with a tablet (in addition to a laptop) gets you a useful standalone device that's more portable than a laptop and better for certain tasks such as reading.

I have one, it is too much hustle to setup cable and tripod. I guess it is ok for longer stays (week+)

This laptop is a game changer.

There are some dual displays with integrated hinge. Uperfect delta.

If you're using a mac you can extend your screen wirelessly to the iPad. I found the image gets compressed a bit but it's still plenty usable for showing a browser during web development.

Yeah I was talking specifically about Windows and Linux, because I figured that people running MacOS would already know about Sidecar.

Note: you refer to 'mac' (the hardware) but Sidecar is tied to MacOS (software). A Mac running Windows or Linux won't support Sidecar. A non-Mac running MacOS (aka hackintosh) probably will.

If you're running old Mac hardware like a MBP 2015, you can install Ventura (and user Sidecar) using OpenCore Legacy Patcher.

Just assuming that some mac users don't know about Sidecar or Universal Control. And that most windows and linux users don't know that MacOS can take advantage of an iPad fairly seamlessly as an external monitor.

Works with USB-c cable for all day charge but also works without a cable. iPad 19.9" with Magic Keyboard as stand is spectacular second screen for all day dual screen work and then ... you also have an iPad with you. Ideal for week-long biz travel.

While we're on it, a Surface pro will only need a bluetooth pairing to work as a second display for the windows laptop.

Bonus points: it can a accept pen/touch and mouse/keyboard inputs as well, which makes it pretty useful.

Can this be done on an Android tablet too like Samsung?

Probably, as long as your tablet supports an external webcam.

You'll need an app to view the camera. Search Google for 'android uvc viewer'.

I've found it easiest to use something like deskreen. That way you don't need to rely on your tablet supporting hdmi input, you just need a browser.

You'll need a hdmi dummy plug on your PC though.

Samsung tablets can act as second screens for windows PCs AFAIK.

For Linux I've had some success with Microsoft's RD Client android app -> remote to Linux PC.

I'm on gnome though, which has some experimental setting which allows you to set remote desktop clients to act as a new display instead of cloning your existing display.

I've got a top of the line Samsung tablet and a recent windows PC. The second screen experience is absolutely terrible in many ways, the worst being inconsistent lag, sometimes measured in seconds. I do not recommend it at all.

>a cheap HDMI USB capture device ($5 from Temu)

I've tried a couple of these and the quality is pretty shitty. Maybe they've improved since then.

i’ve tried this with an android tablet and the lag is just unbearable have you noticed this? is it because my tablet ( samsung galaxy tab s6 lite) has usb c 2.0?

I've only tried it on an iPad Pro, and did not notice any lag.

You're not going to be able to send any useful screen contents over a usb 2 cable.

The outdated Display Port 1.0 can send up to 10.8Gbit/s, and the even older USB 2.0 could only send 480Mbit/s.

That'd let a raw 800x600 image per frame come through.

It'd be better just to stream over wifi.

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