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This would have been super helpful like 20 years ago when I was on the data center floor trying to debug rack-mount (headless) Linux servers. The center had lik

This would have been super helpful like 20 years ago when I was on the data center floor trying to debug rack-mount (headless) Linux servers. The center had like one KVM "crash cart" that needed to be plugged into a spare outlet in the rack that wasn't always easy to come by. I'm sure we could have improved on that setup but we were an inexperienced skeleton crew on a shoestring budget and not the best management. I always thought it would be great to have a "laptop without a motherboard" to manage these, and this is close enough given the price of the redundant hardware now.

bombcar 1y ago
We actually HAD literally that - I don't recall which model it was, but someone found a laptop that internally had PS/2 and VGA I believe, and had rewired it to have cables hanging out of it. Advantage - battery still somewhat worked so you could get a few minutes (often all you needed) with just that.
axiolite 1y ago
> I always thought it would be great to have a "laptop without a motherboard" That's basically what a rack console is. At 1U it was skinnier than laptops from prior decades. They're not exactly a laptop form factor, but to get them smaller you would have had to accept a much lower screen resolution, which would risk some systems not being able to display (e.g. your server may have booted-up to 1280x1024 while your laptop could only do 800x600), or would have needed to be quite expensive to add an ultra-high DPI screen. Still, at various times there were briefly devices like that available for purchase at closeout prices... like the failed "Motorola ATRIX lapdock": https://www.cnet.com/reviews/motorola-laptop-dock-review/ https://www.cnet.com/reviews/motorola-laptop-dock-review/ https://www.amazon.com/AT-Laptop-Dock-Motorola-ATRIX/dp/B004M17D62 https://www.amazon.com/AT-Laptop-Dock-Motorola-ATRIX/dp/B004... I'd say the USB-HDMI capture card is a better solution all-around. I even prefer it to USB "crash carts" because you aren't dependent on the manufacturer keeping their proprietary software software updated for each subsequent Windows/Linux/Mac release.

bombcar 1y ago

We actually HAD literally that - I don't recall which model it was, but someone found a laptop that internally had PS/2 and VGA I believe, and had rewired it to have cables hanging out of it. Advantage - battery still somewhat worked so you could get a few minutes (often all you needed) with just that.

axiolite 1y ago

> I always thought it would be great to have a "laptop without a motherboard" That's basically what a rack console is. At 1U it was skinnier than laptops from prior decades. They're not exactly a laptop form factor, but to get them smaller you would have had to accept a much lower screen resolution, which would risk some systems not being able to display (e.g. your server may have booted-up to 1280x1024 while your laptop could only do 800x600), or would have needed to be quite expensive to add an ultra-high DPI screen. Still, at various times there were briefly devices like that available for purchase at closeout prices... like the failed "Motorola ATRIX lapdock": https://www.cnet.com/reviews/motorola-laptop-dock-review/ https://www.cnet.com/reviews/motorola-laptop-dock-review/ https://www.amazon.com/AT-Laptop-Dock-Motorola-ATRIX/dp/B004M17D62 https://www.amazon.com/AT-Laptop-Dock-Motorola-ATRIX/dp/B004... I'd say the USB-HDMI capture card is a better solution all-around. I even prefer it to USB "crash carts" because you aren't dependent on the manufacturer keeping their proprietary software software updated for each subsequent Windows/Linux/Mac release.