Flat touch monitor to display BIG screen

Here's what I want to do
I want a touch screen where I can open a browser window and get click's big screen going. I want to display it in our office.

I don't want to run it off a PC, I want it standalone.

Any ideas, more importantly links to sites I could buy something at?

I've thought about ChipPc or this thin client
http://www.devonit.com/ceptor-launch?pi_ad_id=37812329042&gclid=CNu6q97727wCFStnOgodUE4AVw

anyone else doing this?
the devonit thin client runs $99
that plus an HDMI screen seems like an easy way of running big screen?

Hi Charlie12,

You may not be aware that the ceptor thin client must be connected to a PC somewhere. Imagine for a moment that you have a fully configured PC in front of you, plugged in to your monitor and connected via bluetooth to your keyboard and mouse. You could move that computer system unit across the room if you had a long enough hdmi cable. Now swap this little box for the HDMI cable, and you are physically disconnected from the computer. You can hide it anywhere you want, but you still need to connect via wifi to that computer in order to do anything.

By itself the ceptor doesn't do anything, you always have to connect it to a computer. So what good is that? Well for some enterprise environments this is huge, because they will host "virtual computers" on a server "in the cloud". Voila, no need to put a physical computer in front of every person. Big savings for the right business.

But in your case it doesn't meet your requirement of not having to connect a PC in order to display the big screen on your big screen. (Unless you are in an environment with virtual PCs on servers already.)

That said, you are definitely on to something here with your idea of connecting a monitor to a tiny gizmo without needing to hook up a desktop PC to the monitor in order to display a clicky web page. Only, instead of the ceptor which is a portal into a computer, there is another gizmo about the same size that is a fully functional computer which you can use to browse the web and display the clicky big screen. That little gizmo is called a "Android Mini PC RK3188". Search for that on Amazon (clicky doesn't like us to post URLs).

The RK3188 device is different from the ceptor in that it is a self contained computer running android OS (sort of like a tablet computer or phone but without a display until you plug it into your monitor's HDMI jack).

Similar to the ceptor, you can plug it into the monitor and connect a mouse and keyboard to it using USB or bluetooth. What's different is that the ceptor is programmed to be a portal into a virtual PC elsewhere in the "cloud" while the RK3188 is programmed to be a fully functional android platform all by itself.

That means using the RK3188 you will be able to connect a keyboard and mouse, use them to fire up a web browser, navigate to the clicky big screen page, and then stick the keyboard and mouse in a drawer and let the RK3188 and monitor display the big screen all day long until you disconnect.

disclaimer.. I don't own either of these two devices, and in fact never heard of either one of them until you posted your question. But I am familiar with what they both do, and I think there is real potential in the RK3188 device to meet your requirement.

Anyways you can find out for less than a hundred bucks, and if you buy it on amazon and it doesn't work out you can return it. By the way it's got some excellent reviews and they say the browser on it works flawlessly. One reviewer, instead of connecting to a regular keyboard and mouse, connected the RK3188 to a little controller called the Logitech Mini Controller for Logitech Revue and Google TV, which is a small controller with built in keyboard and trackpad. Now you're cooking, because you can plug in the logitech controller, fire up the display, and then unplug and stash the controller more easily than a keyboard and mouse because it is pocket sized. You can find a link to that in the first product review on the RK3188 in Amazon.

thanks for posting this interesting idea. If you go try this or do something like it, please post back with how it worked out for you. I already want one for myself. :)

cheers

ed

Charlie12,

Dude, I'm slappin' my own forehead here for not mentioning an alternative configuration I actually do own and it only costs $35.

That is a chromecast streaming media player. You use it with the chromecast plugin for the Chrome browser. You can plug the chromecast device into your big screen TV, then bring up a chrome browser on your PC, navigate to the clicky big screen in a chrome browser window, and then with a click you can chromecast that browser window to the big screen via wifi. To do this you need a TV with an HDMI jack, the chromecast device ($35), the Chrome browser with chromecast plug-in installed, and a wifi network in your office.

Now, this technically doesn't relieve you of the need for a PC (which is probably why I didn't think of it earlier), but the point is you don't have to dedicate a PC or even physically connect one to the big monitor. For very cheap and without extra gear to keep track of, any PC you already have in the office can chromecast the clicky big screen to the big screen display. Then just minimize the chrome window and use the PC for whatever else you do every day.

I just tried this using my own PC, TV, and chromecast device, and it works fine. If you wouldn't mind driving the display from your PC, then I would heartily recommend you try this easy peasy $35 solution before you spend $100 to try out the other solution.

best regards

ed