Dual Monitors using two laptops - Hard Wired Does anyone know how to do this.

[Longwood50]

I have a Dell and Lenova laptop and for some excel work I want a second monitor to make pulling parts of the excel sheet over to the new sheet easier.  I did this for many years but only on a desktop with a monitor. 

 

I know it is suppose to be possible to do.  However I read that at HDMI does not work because the ports are only ports to go out not receive data.

I tried an ethernet chord but could not get that to work

I see supposedly you could do it wireless but my older dell apparently does not support that

Any ideas as to how to hook together two laptops so that the screen can be expanded. 

 

[Peterw42]

If I understand your post, you want to use a 2nd laptop as a 2nd screen for the 1st laptop ?

If thats the case, the answer is no.

Either laptop would probably support a 2nd screen, but that has to be a screen, not another laptop. Have a look at Lazada, you can get a monitor for 500-1000 baht.

[Longwood50]

2 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

If I understand your post, you want to use a 2nd laptop as a 2nd screen for the 1st laptop ?

On the internet it says it can be done.  But I have tried and can not get it to work.  I did get it to connect wirelessly to my television as a second monitor but the screen is so big that using it to swipe cells back and forth doesn't work very well. 

 

[Peterw42]

3 minutes ago, Longwood50 said:

On the internet it says it can be done.  But I have tried and can not get it to work.  I did get it to connect wirelessly to my television as a second monitor but the screen is so big that using it to swipe cells back and forth doesn't work very well. 

 

What you are describing is mirroring (whatever appears on screen 1 is also on screen 2), in the case of the TV, its not a 2nd monitor (as in you can move something from screen 1 to screen 2).

You could possibly put a screen mirroring app on both laptops and achieve the same image on both, but that doesn't achieve a 2nd monitor function.

[Longwood50]

2 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

What you are describing is mirroring

Oh, they described it on the internet is two monitors but yes the only way I could get two different windows was to split screen it. 

That makes sense.  Thank you. 

[Purdey]

My first choice would be to use an HDMI cable to my TV. Saves having to buy a monitor. Windows 10 and 11 will allow you to connect two laptops.

Windows 10 Wireless connection

1. On the the device you’re using as a second screen, open Settings
2. Click ‘System, then ‘Projecting this PC’ from the left pane

3. From your main computer, press the Windows Key + P, and click the ‘Connect to a Wireless Display’ link at the bottom. 4. Make sure you have your Wi-Fi turned on for this to work
5. From the options that appear, choose ‘Extend’
6. Click ‘Connect to a wireless display’, then choose the name of your other laptop when it appears

 

Windows 11 Wireless connection

1. On the device you’re using as a second screen, open Settings and select ‘Apps’ from the left pane
2. Click ‘Optional features’
3. Click the blue ‘View features’ button
4. In the search bar, type ‘display’ and tick the box next to ‘Wireless Display’ and click ‘Next’
5. Look for "Wireless display" and tick
6. Click ‘Install’ from the next screen. Wait for it to finish installing, which should only take a few seconds
   Next, click ‘System’ from the left pane, then scroll down and choose ‘Projecting to this PC’
7. Adjust the settings here to your liking, striking a balance between security and accessibility.
8. On your main device, hit the Windows Key + P to open projection options, then choose ‘Extend’
9. Choose your second screen laptop, and the two should now be connected

Hope this is helpful.

[JayClay]

The built-in features of Windows never seemed to work for me so I use an application called Spacedesk.

 

On the laptop you want to use as you main screen computer, install  Space Desk Server

 

On the laptop you want to use as the second screen install and run spacedesk client. Your main laptop should name or ip address should show in the client software. Click the computer name/ip address and then you can use the second laptop as a screen for the main one.

 

Unless you have some extremely exotic laptop this cannot be achieved in hardware, unless you use an additional usb HDMI capture device, but I don't know how well that would work.

Edited November 28, 2022 by JayClay

[gamb00ler]

As far as I know, only Mac OS has the capability you seek.  Often what Mac does intrinsically can be achieved by using a third party app on Windows.

 

https://www.macrumors.com/2021/06/09/airplay-mac-to-mac-external-display/