Let's build up the bucket list of what would be desirable to a user who's on the go:
Maximum productive functions and capabilities with all devices, whether they are tablets, phones or laptops
Easy ready access to files and media: such as music, documents, movies, pictures and applications
A complete media experience
Decent battery life to survive the day with these functions taking place
I want to have a light backpack with a small pencil bag full of a few pens, Japanese highlighters, a stylus. I also want to have a gaming mouse and my USB charger and that's it.
My MacBook is 'decent' at gaming, but only decent. I can play Borderlands 2 on Medium and Guild Wars 2 with medium-low settings quite comfortably. But that's a lot of baggage. A MacBook Pro, a MacBook charger, gaming mouse, iPad Mini and my notebook. That adds up to over 30 pounds in my backpack and while that's not 'heavy' per se, it's also quite risky to carry around over $3000 worth of electronics in a bag that's a swift sucker punch and a fast runner away from disappearing from your life.
So I want to have the 'best of both worlds'. I want to have console/PC gaming experience on the go and access to a desktop's worth of multimedia without having to unplug my MacBook at any point. If I'm in the library or taking a study break or on a trip with my girlfriend, I want to be able to load up my 100GB of ripped movies in HD quality and play them. Or if I want to level and try to get some rare weapons in Guild Wars 2 or Borderlands 2, I want to do that also.
I also want it, in the comfort of knowing that if my bag gets lifted, the thief only gets away with taking my $300 tablet and notebook and not my MacBook Pro along with my $300 tablet.
So why am I posting this here? Simple. I'm not sure the iPad Mini is the best device for the job. I love my iPad. I really do. It's a much better form factor for all around tablet use, it gets great battery life and despite the popular opinion, the resolution doesn't seem low to me. However: If I'm replacing my gaming with a majority of PC games being streamed, I won't need the refined advantage of iOS vs. Android because I won't be playing the likes of Ravensword or Real Racing 3.
So this thread will serve as an experience share, idea critique, review and demonstration of what it's like to stream a PC's functions to an Android/iOS tablet.
The Equipment:
2012 MacBook Pro i5 2.5, 16GB of ram, 750GB Seagate Hybrid drive
*Note: While this isn't a gaming computer by far, it's serving as a placeholder. If lag is minimized and the experience is fruitful, I will build a cheap gaming tower to replace this machine. The important test is not the computer itself but what will be used to access it.
iPad Mini 16GB - Jailbroken on 6.1.2 WiFi only
ASUS Nexus 7 32GB WiFi model - Rooted with custom kernel on stock rom
UCSD's wireless network + my 15 mbps Time Warner cable internet connection for uploading
Bluetooth keyboard + Mouse combo
USB gamepad + USB OTG cable
Maybe Dual Shock 3? They can pair up to the Nexus 7 quite well
Splashtop 2 for iOS
Splashtop THD for the Nexus 7
The activities I will test:
In OSX Environment : Steam + Borderlands 2, Guild Wars 2 OSX client, VLC Media Player, editing documents on Office 2011
In Boot Camp Windows Environment : Same activities, Photoshop might be thrown in
I'm open for recommendations
I will upload videos on Youtube of me accessing my MacBook remotely using both the Nexus 7 and the jailbroken iPad Mini and I will not merely town hop in each game. I'm going to go into combat/fight scenarios and test the latency when you have to attack/kill AI characters. I'm considering loading up World of Warcraft as well but I haven't touched that game in about 4 years.
UPDATE 1:
This isn't boding well for Splashtop. We're off to a bad start already. I downloaded the Splashtop streamer and checked out the app in the app store. $4.99. Not a big deal right? So I decided to bite so I can invest into this experience properly. I get the iTunes email, the app downloads and I log in with the credentials I created on Splashtop on my MacBook Pro. Sure enough, there's my MacBook Pro on the device screen all pretty and MacBook-like. So I click it, thinking I'll be greeted with my desktop and be able to try out some basic functions and see how the app works out of the box.
Nope. Clicking my MacBook swiftly takes me to a choice of 'packs' called the Access Anywhere Pack and the Productivity Pack. What the deuce is this? So what did I pay $4.99 for? Apparently jack diddly. You pay $4.99 just so you can SEE that your MacBook is indeed streaming. Without the subscription, you can't open it, you can't access it, send it messages, turn it off. You basically paid them just to be able to log into your Splashtop account. And do.... Nothing.
Okay fine, I'll bite. I'll get your stupid Access Anywhere pack but I'm doing it at $1.99 a month because I'm not going to make the mistake of diving into a year long commitment at the risk of it sucking and me having to go through your RMA process to get my money back. I click $1.99, I'm greeted with a notification from the App Store asking me to confirm if I want to subscribe or not, I click Continue. I immediately get another email from iTunes telling me that I agreed to a subscription. I checked my Visa and sure enough, I got charged $1.99.
But I still cannot access my laptop on this stupid app. I log out, connect again, I'm greeted with the pack options again. I click on Settings and click on "See my purchases" and it takes me to the SAME stupid pack option page. What the hell did I pay them $1.99 for if I cannot even do anything? We're at $7 so far invested and we have yet to even test the product.
So I do some searching: As it turns out, if you registered for Splashtop using a different email address than the one you used for iTunes, you have to send them a support ticket and WAIT for them to activate your account. SERIOUSLY? Even though I clicked the subscription button in your stupid app, I was given the iTunes confirmation and email and you even CHARGED my card, you still don't KNOW that I subscribed? Why not update this very simple but ground breaking flaw in your software? If you are charging your users nickels and dimes to maintain the application, why isn't it MAINTAINED?
So here I am, waiting around to use an app that I overpaid for so this review is on pause. The worst part is, I will potentially have to pay $4.99 again to access it from a Nexus 7.
One favorable advantage the Nexus 7 has over the iPad Mini at this point is that the Nexus 7 can use a USB OTG game pad or Bluetooth gamepad with button mapping. Without jailbreak, this isn't possible on an iPad Mini and even if it is, it's not nearly as functional as it is on the Nexus derivative. Essentially, the $2/month 'productivity pack' is not necessary in Android flavor.
Maximum productive functions and capabilities with all devices, whether they are tablets, phones or laptops
Easy ready access to files and media: such as music, documents, movies, pictures and applications
A complete media experience
Decent battery life to survive the day with these functions taking place
I want to have a light backpack with a small pencil bag full of a few pens, Japanese highlighters, a stylus. I also want to have a gaming mouse and my USB charger and that's it.
My MacBook is 'decent' at gaming, but only decent. I can play Borderlands 2 on Medium and Guild Wars 2 with medium-low settings quite comfortably. But that's a lot of baggage. A MacBook Pro, a MacBook charger, gaming mouse, iPad Mini and my notebook. That adds up to over 30 pounds in my backpack and while that's not 'heavy' per se, it's also quite risky to carry around over $3000 worth of electronics in a bag that's a swift sucker punch and a fast runner away from disappearing from your life.
So I want to have the 'best of both worlds'. I want to have console/PC gaming experience on the go and access to a desktop's worth of multimedia without having to unplug my MacBook at any point. If I'm in the library or taking a study break or on a trip with my girlfriend, I want to be able to load up my 100GB of ripped movies in HD quality and play them. Or if I want to level and try to get some rare weapons in Guild Wars 2 or Borderlands 2, I want to do that also.
I also want it, in the comfort of knowing that if my bag gets lifted, the thief only gets away with taking my $300 tablet and notebook and not my MacBook Pro along with my $300 tablet.
So why am I posting this here? Simple. I'm not sure the iPad Mini is the best device for the job. I love my iPad. I really do. It's a much better form factor for all around tablet use, it gets great battery life and despite the popular opinion, the resolution doesn't seem low to me. However: If I'm replacing my gaming with a majority of PC games being streamed, I won't need the refined advantage of iOS vs. Android because I won't be playing the likes of Ravensword or Real Racing 3.
So this thread will serve as an experience share, idea critique, review and demonstration of what it's like to stream a PC's functions to an Android/iOS tablet.
The Equipment:
2012 MacBook Pro i5 2.5, 16GB of ram, 750GB Seagate Hybrid drive
*Note: While this isn't a gaming computer by far, it's serving as a placeholder. If lag is minimized and the experience is fruitful, I will build a cheap gaming tower to replace this machine. The important test is not the computer itself but what will be used to access it.
iPad Mini 16GB - Jailbroken on 6.1.2 WiFi only
ASUS Nexus 7 32GB WiFi model - Rooted with custom kernel on stock rom
UCSD's wireless network + my 15 mbps Time Warner cable internet connection for uploading
Bluetooth keyboard + Mouse combo
USB gamepad + USB OTG cable
Maybe Dual Shock 3? They can pair up to the Nexus 7 quite well
Splashtop 2 for iOS
Splashtop THD for the Nexus 7
The activities I will test:
In OSX Environment : Steam + Borderlands 2, Guild Wars 2 OSX client, VLC Media Player, editing documents on Office 2011
In Boot Camp Windows Environment : Same activities, Photoshop might be thrown in
I'm open for recommendations
I will upload videos on Youtube of me accessing my MacBook remotely using both the Nexus 7 and the jailbroken iPad Mini and I will not merely town hop in each game. I'm going to go into combat/fight scenarios and test the latency when you have to attack/kill AI characters. I'm considering loading up World of Warcraft as well but I haven't touched that game in about 4 years.
UPDATE 1:
This isn't boding well for Splashtop. We're off to a bad start already. I downloaded the Splashtop streamer and checked out the app in the app store. $4.99. Not a big deal right? So I decided to bite so I can invest into this experience properly. I get the iTunes email, the app downloads and I log in with the credentials I created on Splashtop on my MacBook Pro. Sure enough, there's my MacBook Pro on the device screen all pretty and MacBook-like. So I click it, thinking I'll be greeted with my desktop and be able to try out some basic functions and see how the app works out of the box.
Nope. Clicking my MacBook swiftly takes me to a choice of 'packs' called the Access Anywhere Pack and the Productivity Pack. What the deuce is this? So what did I pay $4.99 for? Apparently jack diddly. You pay $4.99 just so you can SEE that your MacBook is indeed streaming. Without the subscription, you can't open it, you can't access it, send it messages, turn it off. You basically paid them just to be able to log into your Splashtop account. And do.... Nothing.
Okay fine, I'll bite. I'll get your stupid Access Anywhere pack but I'm doing it at $1.99 a month because I'm not going to make the mistake of diving into a year long commitment at the risk of it sucking and me having to go through your RMA process to get my money back. I click $1.99, I'm greeted with a notification from the App Store asking me to confirm if I want to subscribe or not, I click Continue. I immediately get another email from iTunes telling me that I agreed to a subscription. I checked my Visa and sure enough, I got charged $1.99.
But I still cannot access my laptop on this stupid app. I log out, connect again, I'm greeted with the pack options again. I click on Settings and click on "See my purchases" and it takes me to the SAME stupid pack option page. What the hell did I pay them $1.99 for if I cannot even do anything? We're at $7 so far invested and we have yet to even test the product.
So I do some searching: As it turns out, if you registered for Splashtop using a different email address than the one you used for iTunes, you have to send them a support ticket and WAIT for them to activate your account. SERIOUSLY? Even though I clicked the subscription button in your stupid app, I was given the iTunes confirmation and email and you even CHARGED my card, you still don't KNOW that I subscribed? Why not update this very simple but ground breaking flaw in your software? If you are charging your users nickels and dimes to maintain the application, why isn't it MAINTAINED?
So here I am, waiting around to use an app that I overpaid for so this review is on pause. The worst part is, I will potentially have to pay $4.99 again to access it from a Nexus 7.
One favorable advantage the Nexus 7 has over the iPad Mini at this point is that the Nexus 7 can use a USB OTG game pad or Bluetooth gamepad with button mapping. Without jailbreak, this isn't possible on an iPad Mini and even if it is, it's not nearly as functional as it is on the Nexus derivative. Essentially, the $2/month 'productivity pack' is not necessary in Android flavor.
Last edited:
