Actually the title of this thread is misleading as the streaming from pc concept of the shield was my inspiration to this.
To start at the beginning, I wanted the ability to play games or use my desktop pc in my TV room but in a small form factor (As I already have hdmi/usb 1.1 ran to that room to use with the TV itself, so this could be a bit more costly if you are running wires from scratch).
So doing research it seemed like the best bet was streaming via the new nvidia shield tablet, but the cost seemed a bit much, and I would have to upgrade my router in order to achieve optimum performance. The other issue is I wouldn't really using the touch interface that much as the android side of things was pretty much useless to me. I wanted keyboard/mouse action or gamepad (Already have wireless xbox360 controller)
So going back to the drawing boards, I figured I look up 10" ish monitors with HDMI input. I found out quickly that these things don't really exist at a reasonable price. I then looked up tablets that supported hdmi in, these don't exist either.
So in my search, I stumbled upon the joy and wonder that is the Motorola Atrix Lapdock (Or in my case the Bionic Lapdock), they come with a micro usb male and micro hdmi male connectors. Apparently people have been buying these things up to use with Raspberry Pi. It only cost me 55 bucks. This thing has a 11.6" display using 1366x768 resolution, keyboard, trackpad, two usb ports, and speakers, and can run on battery. A laptop with no guts essentially.
$55 - Lapdock
$8 female micro hdmi to female micro hdmi adapter w/ micro usb female to USB female (Ships from china, takes forever)
$8 Micro hdmi male to HDMI female adapter
$3 USB male to USB male adapter
I already owned a 15' hdmi cord and usb extention cord. (I have usb going from pc room to entertainment room already, however it utlizes Cat5e, and limits usb to 1.1, but this is all I need)
The lapdock has speakers, but they are a bit weak, so I decided to buy a usb to 3.5mm adapter ($9) to use with headphones.
I had to cut the red power wire on the usb extention cord, to avoid issues with the lapdock attempting to charge whatever on the other end.
The lapdock has two USB ports, so I put the wireless mouse dongle in one and the usb 3.5mm adapter in the other. You can disable the trackpad if you don't want to use it, and everything works perfect.
I have it so, when I open the lid, it automatically treats the lapdock as the primary monitor and shuts off the existing monitor, it will also make the usb DAC 3.5mm the default sound. (I could make the lapdock the primary sound as well).
When I shut the lid, it reverts to the primary monitor in the other room, and defaults to the desktop sound.
pictures:
http://imgur.com/G3huu4o
http://imgur.com/G3huu4o,bQsGVBz#1
Short version:
I now have an ultranonportable laptop with desktop guts, so I can play my games while watching TV, and most importantly spend my time with the wife.
To start at the beginning, I wanted the ability to play games or use my desktop pc in my TV room but in a small form factor (As I already have hdmi/usb 1.1 ran to that room to use with the TV itself, so this could be a bit more costly if you are running wires from scratch).
So doing research it seemed like the best bet was streaming via the new nvidia shield tablet, but the cost seemed a bit much, and I would have to upgrade my router in order to achieve optimum performance. The other issue is I wouldn't really using the touch interface that much as the android side of things was pretty much useless to me. I wanted keyboard/mouse action or gamepad (Already have wireless xbox360 controller)
So going back to the drawing boards, I figured I look up 10" ish monitors with HDMI input. I found out quickly that these things don't really exist at a reasonable price. I then looked up tablets that supported hdmi in, these don't exist either.
So in my search, I stumbled upon the joy and wonder that is the Motorola Atrix Lapdock (Or in my case the Bionic Lapdock), they come with a micro usb male and micro hdmi male connectors. Apparently people have been buying these things up to use with Raspberry Pi. It only cost me 55 bucks. This thing has a 11.6" display using 1366x768 resolution, keyboard, trackpad, two usb ports, and speakers, and can run on battery. A laptop with no guts essentially.
$55 - Lapdock
$8 female micro hdmi to female micro hdmi adapter w/ micro usb female to USB female (Ships from china, takes forever)
$8 Micro hdmi male to HDMI female adapter
$3 USB male to USB male adapter
I already owned a 15' hdmi cord and usb extention cord. (I have usb going from pc room to entertainment room already, however it utlizes Cat5e, and limits usb to 1.1, but this is all I need)
The lapdock has speakers, but they are a bit weak, so I decided to buy a usb to 3.5mm adapter ($9) to use with headphones.
I had to cut the red power wire on the usb extention cord, to avoid issues with the lapdock attempting to charge whatever on the other end.
The lapdock has two USB ports, so I put the wireless mouse dongle in one and the usb 3.5mm adapter in the other. You can disable the trackpad if you don't want to use it, and everything works perfect.
I have it so, when I open the lid, it automatically treats the lapdock as the primary monitor and shuts off the existing monitor, it will also make the usb DAC 3.5mm the default sound. (I could make the lapdock the primary sound as well).
When I shut the lid, it reverts to the primary monitor in the other room, and defaults to the desktop sound.
pictures:
http://imgur.com/G3huu4o
http://imgur.com/G3huu4o,bQsGVBz#1
Short version:
I now have an ultranonportable laptop with desktop guts, so I can play my games while watching TV, and most importantly spend my time with the wife.