[SOLVED] Laptop as Desktop?

I have a 2021 Samsung Galaxy Book Pro laptop. Currently it has Debian SID installed, but it tends to be my distro-hop machine.

Has anyone used a laptop as a Desktop? What I’d like to do is turn it on, close it and use my 27" IPS monitor and external keyboard and mouse. I already have a USB dongle with many inputs. Basically, ignoring the laptop and using it as a PC. I don’t care about the battery as it stays plugged in 90% of the time.

Is this doable? Is this practical?

Yes. Many, many people do this.

It is easier with a docking station but a USB hub can work too.

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Its been a while since I’ve done this but it was doable. If I remember right you need to go to you power manager settings and set it to do nothing when you close the laptop screen.

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I use a ten year old HP g7 Laptop in such a usecase. Fixed at the backside of the Monitor, without batterie (was already broken, like the internal keyboard), it just works for my needs.

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I’ll be looking at a docking station. I currently have a USB-C Hub.

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You should be able to try it out with a USB hub.

My work laptop is sitting beside me. I open it up less than once a month.

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It’s nice to know that a battery isn’t necessary. It still works fine. Probably has lots of life left. But it won’t last forever.

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This is the one I have…

That basically is a docking station in a hub form factor. It has HDMI out, USB C+A ports and memory card readers. As long your PC is capable of providing enough power to it, it should work fine.

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Definitely doable.

For example: I use an ancient MacBookPro (mid-2011) laptop routinely as a desktop equivalent. It is one of several computers (all running EOS/i3wm) that are connected into a KVM box (around $40-50, nice metal construction) through which I can use, for input, the same full size Keychron external keyboard + USB mouse + large pen stylus tablet for input, and output seen on a nice sized wall-mounted monitor. The three computers also include an old iMac and a little MacMini.

By pushing a button, I can select which CPU is receiving the input from keyboard, mouse and pen tablet while the output is seen on the same monitor. If I keep the laptop flipped fully open, then I also have its own screen real estate - which comes in handy as a separate auxiliary work space. When I need portability, the MacBookPro gets unplugged from the KVM junction and is ready to go elsewhere in the house or into the world.

Fuller disclosure: as a 2011 laptop, the MBP got a little long in the tooth, so I upgraded the RAM to 16gig, swapped the old hard drive for a larger SSD, and replaced the battery with aftermarket - all of which breathed new life into this otherwise nice hardware.

But yes, it’s every bit as good as true desktops when connected as described. While also perfectly functional on its own. Daily driving - not a problem.

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