So I’ll be picking up a new Samsung 32” smart monitor for my mini pc tomorrow. That’ll leave me with an unused 27” Acer monitor.
Is there a way to use my laptop as a “PC” (meaning lid closed, external keyboard/mouse)?
Of course. That is what a dock is for. Depending on your exact laptop and what ports it has will drive the best solution.
But there are tons of different universal docks out there.
If you don’t want to buy a dock, you can simply disable sleep on lid close. You will probably need to still open it to turn it on if the button is on the inside.
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you could probably get away with no dock and lid closed if A) no peripherals for you i.e. keyboard, mouse B) vga/hdmi laptop-to-monitor connection miraculously works without interference
if need usb slots, a stable power supply, and peripherals get a dock. spousal unit has done this with a T440 laptop for years, using it as a desktop PC.
at the end of the day the answer to your questions is do I want to use my laptop like a laptop with a big screen? or use my laptop like a desktop PC?
PS- I am in the market for an Acer 27" 
edit: spell
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I once removed the lid/screen of a laptop, to permanently connect the laptop to an external screen. Worked perfectly.
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