3 ms·

No. Nothing like them at all. Please read more carefully. What I suggest does not have a processor. It just relays input/output.

pkinsky 11y ago
It relays input/output over a network without a processor?
- imakesnowflakes 11y ago
  It does not use a network. It uses direct RF link. Like wireless keyboards and mouses do. Imagine getting a wireless keyboard and mouse and a wireless hdmi adapter. You plug the transmitters of these wireless keyboard and mouse to your desktops usb. You attach the transmitter of wirless hdmi adapter to the hdmi port of your desktop. Now you can take the display, keyboard and mouse to anywhere the range of the radios allows and work from there. Pack the items at the receiving end into a compact/cheap package and I think you ll have a great product.
  - bigiain 11y ago
    That's a pretty narrow interpretation of "does not have a processor". Keyboards and mice have processors. HDMI adapters have processors. Wireless transmitters and receivers have processors. Linking all those processors together requires - you guessed it, a processor. By the time you get there, the cost difference between a dedicated micro processor chip like a mouse or keyboard controller compared to a fairly powerful SOC like the ARM chip on a RaspberryPi is down in the "cup of coffee or two" range. You could pretty much do exactly what you describe with a RaspberryPi and some software - instead of two or three dedicated mouse/keyboard/monitor tx/rx pairs, you plug those peripherals into the 'Pi and use WiFi and software. (Note: a RaspberyPi isn't the ideal candidate for this, they made design decisions way back that limit the network throughput, so I don't _think_ you'll get full HD video over the WiFi adaptor because of the way it's sitting on the relatively slow and congested USB bus, but that's not a fundamental flaw in the idea, just an implementation detail the 'Pi designers chose to make back in '12 or '13 that you wouldn't need to follow now...) For very little more than a Raspberry Pi (plus power supply and USB WiFi adapter), you can get many "mini pc"s now - I've got an Ainol Mini PC which is an entire Windows 8 machine, with WiFi/USB/HDMI/power-supply(including an internal battery good for ~10hours) - and you can get them for around $80US ex China now. I'm not sure how much more "compact/cheap" you're thinking of, but I wonder how big the market of people who would use your hypothetical gadget but only buy one at a pricepoint somewhere under $80 is - when the alternative is a full blown, if somewhat under powered PC.
    - imakesnowflakes 11y ago
      >That's a pretty narrow interpretation of "does not have a processor". Keyboards and mice have processors. HDMI adapters have processors. Wireless transmitters and receivers have processors. Damn. Is it really possible that you cannot infer what I meant by the "processor" from the context? >Linking all those processors together requires - you guessed it, a processor. Wrong. There is no "linking" required at the device. Each of these can communicate independently.. And the solution involving pi is adds unnecessary overheads and limitation, which will greatly degrade the usability of this device.

pkinsky 11y ago

It relays input/output over a network without a processor?

imakesnowflakes 11y ago
It does not use a network. It uses direct RF link. Like wireless keyboards and mouses do. Imagine getting a wireless keyboard and mouse and a wireless hdmi adapter. You plug the transmitters of these wireless keyboard and mouse to your desktops usb. You attach the transmitter of wirless hdmi adapter to the hdmi port of your desktop. Now you can take the display, keyboard and mouse to anywhere the range of the radios allows and work from there. Pack the items at the receiving end into a compact/cheap package and I think you ll have a great product.
- bigiain 11y ago
  That's a pretty narrow interpretation of "does not have a processor". Keyboards and mice have processors. HDMI adapters have processors. Wireless transmitters and receivers have processors. Linking all those processors together requires - you guessed it, a processor. By the time you get there, the cost difference between a dedicated micro processor chip like a mouse or keyboard controller compared to a fairly powerful SOC like the ARM chip on a RaspberryPi is down in the "cup of coffee or two" range. You could pretty much do exactly what you describe with a RaspberryPi and some software - instead of two or three dedicated mouse/keyboard/monitor tx/rx pairs, you plug those peripherals into the 'Pi and use WiFi and software. (Note: a RaspberyPi isn't the ideal candidate for this, they made design decisions way back that limit the network throughput, so I don't _think_ you'll get full HD video over the WiFi adaptor because of the way it's sitting on the relatively slow and congested USB bus, but that's not a fundamental flaw in the idea, just an implementation detail the 'Pi designers chose to make back in '12 or '13 that you wouldn't need to follow now...) For very little more than a Raspberry Pi (plus power supply and USB WiFi adapter), you can get many "mini pc"s now - I've got an Ainol Mini PC which is an entire Windows 8 machine, with WiFi/USB/HDMI/power-supply(including an internal battery good for ~10hours) - and you can get them for around $80US ex China now. I'm not sure how much more "compact/cheap" you're thinking of, but I wonder how big the market of people who would use your hypothetical gadget but only buy one at a pricepoint somewhere under $80 is - when the alternative is a full blown, if somewhat under powered PC.
  - imakesnowflakes 11y ago
    >That's a pretty narrow interpretation of "does not have a processor". Keyboards and mice have processors. HDMI adapters have processors. Wireless transmitters and receivers have processors. Damn. Is it really possible that you cannot infer what I meant by the "processor" from the context? >Linking all those processors together requires - you guessed it, a processor. Wrong. There is no "linking" required at the device. Each of these can communicate independently.. And the solution involving pi is adds unnecessary overheads and limitation, which will greatly degrade the usability of this device.