I want to buy an Apple Mac Mini, and wondered if there was a piece of hardware -- a portable touch-screen display, or a Mac-compatible tablet PC -- that could work as portable screen. Adé Rotowa
Microsoft tried this idea in 2002 with its Mira portable displays, which flopped horribly. However, Mira was based on Windows CE, the operating system used in Pocket PC handhelds and Windows Mobile phones. These can have touch sensitive screens and handwriting recognition as standard, and connect to Windows desktops and servers using Microsoft's RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol). Logically, I thought, it ought to be possible to do something similar with a Mac Mini, and a quick search finds that Austrian Mac consultant and columnist Teddy the Bear has done it using the free VNC (Virtual Network Computing) software, according to Wired News (see The Portable Mac OS X Geek).
However, accessing a Mac via PocketVNC or PalmVNC on a handheld may be trickier than it sounds and will probably limit you to a very small screen. I think you'd be better off with a convertible PC. This looks like a standard notebook PC, but turns into a pen-driven tablet PC if you fold the screen over the keyboard. Unfortunately, while there are lots of models running Microsoft's Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Apple does not offer one. For portability, you should there go for a MacBook rather than a Mini.
Of course, it should be possible to use VNC to connect a Tablet PC to a Mac Mini, but that would involve buying two computers -- a very expensive option. The suggestion box is open if anyone has a better idea.
