Using Laptop Screen as a monitor

Question

I am planning to buy a Mac Mini. I have a Windows laptop and wanted to get a Mac. But my job requires me to move every 3-4 months, so don't want to get a monitor that I will have to carry around all the time. My plan was to get the Mac Mini and use my Windows laptop as a monitor whenever I use the Mac Mini... But i am not sure if this is possible... Maybe some external card or something...? Please let me know if this is possible at all...?

Solution 1

Do you want a second monitor, or a second workspace? If you're shooting for something to hold an extra browser, notepad, etc I would use Synergy2 to share the mouse and keyboard between both computers.

Synergy2 works between Windows, Linux and Mac so you're good to go no matter what you use.

I've used this in the real world. When I would arrive at work, I would plugin my laptop next to my desktop monitor and power on. For the rest of the day I would have 'two' screens to work on using my desktop's keyboard and mouse. When I was done, I would just remove the laptop.

Solution 2

How about ScreenRecycler? I've not used it myself, but it seems to fit the bill.

Solution 3

I've used this to use a windows laptop as a second monitor for a windows desktop. Don't know if there's a version to run on a mac.