94 | MAXIMUMPC | AUG 08 | http://www.maximumpc.com
New Use for an Old
Notebook
Reading about hacking a
PDA to extend your desktop
in the July issue (“Hack Your
Hardware”) piqued my inter-
est. However, not having
an old PDA lying around,
I settled for the next best
thing, an old notebook. Talk
about desktop real estate on
the cheap! A Google search
uncovered two software
solutions that both work
over the network: a freeware
application called ZoneOS
ZoneScreen (http://tinyurl.
com/5gmw6j), and an app
called MaxiVista ($30-$70,
http://www.maxivista.com).
ZoneScreen only works with
XP, which limits options on
older hardware. MaxiVista
will work on extremely
obsolete hardware and is
very customizable. With the
demo version, I was able to
extend my desktop onto an
old ThinkPad—and by old,
I mean a Pentium 133MHz
with 16MB of RAM and
Windows 98! After optimiz-
ing the settings (an automat-
ed feature), I was able to use
it effectively, with very little
lag between screens.
MaxiVista can even
invert the screen on the
extended desktop, meaning
I could mount this notebook
upside-down and have a
nifty fold-down display next
to my other monitor. This is
a great (and cheap) solution
for more desktop space and
puts older legacy hardware
to good use.
—Louis WegnerOnline Editor Norman Chan
Responds: Thanks for the
tip, Louis. ZoneScreen and
MaxiVista are both pretty
sweet applications—espe-
cially since they work over a
network connection and sup-
port multiple laptop monitor
extensions. Imagine the space
you’d gain by stringing three
portables off the side of your
main monitor!A Reader Re-Volts
In your July 2008 “Hack
Your Hardware” story, you
describe replacing an LED
with one of another color.
You suggested testing the
LED’s polarity on a 9V bat-
tery. I would strongly advise
against using a 9V battery!
Other than blinding yourself
or a passerby, 9V can easily
fry the LED.
A typical LED operates
at 2V (red) to 3V (blue and
white), and a 9V battery
without any current-limit-
ing resistor can damage the
LED. I suggest using a 3V
button-type battery like a
CR2032 instead, as it would
be much safer for testing an
LED’s polarity.
New LEDs usually
have leads that are differ-
ent lengths. Typically the
shorter one is negative and
the longer one is positive.
The ridge around the base is
also flatter on the negative
side, but it can be difficult to
find the flat side on a small
3mm LED.
—WilykatOnline Editor Norman Chan
Responds: Good catch,
Wilykat! Using a 9V battery
to test LEDs is, indeed, poten-
tially dangerous. Testing
with a 3V coin battery (likethe CMOS battery on your
motherboard) is a safe option,
though your best bet is to
buy LEDs with the polarity
indicated by different lead
lengths.Reader Jessica Forster enjoys lounging in her
“gam-ing” basement with a copy of Maximum PC.PHOTO OF THE MONTHIt Was This or Two Cats
Snuggling Under a Printer
To enter, send your tech-related, high-res digital photo to
[email protected].We tackle tough reader questions on...
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LED Safety
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