How to connect a windows laptop as an external monitor

[ashishkpandey]

Hi everyone!

I have been a long time lurker of Mac Rumors for all things Apple! But have finally come across a problem I couldnt solve by scouring the internet for solutions, so I need the help of the community on this.

I have a MB Air (early 2015) and a HP Pavilion 20 (all in one desktop). I would like to use the windows desktop ONLY as an external monitor as most of my work is done on the Mac.

The Pavilion doesnt have HDMI/VGI/DVI since it works more or less like a laptop. It does have 2 USB 3.0 ports and an ethernet port.

After much research I stumbled upon screenrecycler app which solves my query but the problem with it is that it is not compatible on OS X 10.11 or higher. Is there any way I can connect the the thunderbolt to the USB 3.0 and make this happen.

Im looking for any kind of solution, be it hardware (ethernet/thunderbolt) or software (LAN/wifi), to my problem.

What is the community's take on this?


Cheers!

 

[theluggage]

After much research I stumbled upon screenrecycler app which solves my query but the problem with it is that it is not compatible on OS X 10.11 or higher. Is there any way I can connect the the thunderbolt to the USB 3.0 and make this happen.

Unfortunately, since your PC has no video input, something like ScreenRecycler would be your best option but, as you say, it doesn't support OS X 10.11. If there's a 10.11-compatible alternative I'd love to know. Note, however, that the ScreenRecycler display is a bit laggy and motion artefact-prone: its brilliant for a software-only fix, and hits the spot for parking online documentation, tool palettes etc. but you wouldn't want it as your primary display.

Going out on a limb, I suppose you could achieve it with something like this:

https://www.startech.com/uk/AV/Converters/Video/usb-3-0-video-capture-device-hdmi-dvi-vga~USB3HDCAP

...but my gut feeling is that its not going to be practical and, at that price, you could just buy an external display...