Not sure if my topic title was clear enough.
Basically I need a new laptop, and was wondering if I could buy a cheap netbook, and simply use my laptop to connect to my desktop. I haven’t really had much experience with remote desktop software, so I don’t know how good it is, but I do use my laptop for several hours a day so the software does have to be good enough for vigorous use.
I am currently a student and work part time and will be using my laptop primarily to:
– surf internet (shouldn’t really need to remote in for that)
– program (should be able to easily run any compiler)
– use virtual OS software (will most likely be running some form of Linux virtually)
If anyone has any experience doing something similar to this, please let me know. If the remote software is effective enough, it seems like a great option. This way, I can get a cheap laptop that can do everything I need and have a much longer battery life than the more powerful laptops.
✅ Answers
I really do not understand what you are trying to accomplish here or why you would want to remote to a desktop constantly. What good will it do you to manage data remotely when you have a laptop right in your hands? Are you hoping you will get things done faster by using the desktop to process your data? Truth is remote desktop software is slow, it requires tons of bandwidth and it lags quite badly so by the time you are done fighting with it you could already be done doing what you want on your laptop.
If you just want to store data at home and access it remotely then use VPN, it is secure ans simple to setup.
I have tons of experience with both but again I don’t understand exactly why you would want to remote to it all the time. It really is more of a pain than anything else.
I would not recommend remote as a permanent, oft used solution. It is in no way sustainable. A couple of points that hinder it are most connections aren’t fast enough, or the graphics power is lacking, or interference. I would go notebook, and you can surf the internet and program in that. But if you really need virtual OS software, on the go, go for a laptop.
You need stable software running on the remote pc and a fast reliable internet connection where you are using your netbook –
a lot of free remote desktop software requires user input at both ends; ideally you need software that runs as a server on the remote pc – Logmein has a free version but the features are limited
https://secure.logmein.com/US/products/free/
a better solution may be to use Windows Live Mesh which has remote desktop and file syncing plus gb free storage
https://www.mesh.com/welcome/default.aspx
if in fact you need just to sync files, have a look at Dropbox
(gb free)
https://www.dropbox.com/