How to....duplicate screens on two laptops.....?

Hey everyone...
I am leaving on a trip in 3 days that I was hoping I could do this on...so I need information quick please.

Me and another guy are taking laptops on this trip. We are going with a bunch of friends, and we are taking a bunch of movies. The problem is...is that in a plane, and even in normal situations, we can't exactly get a whole bunch of people around one laptop screen (at least not comfortably). So what we were hoping we could do is......
network the two computers, and then somehow, run the dvd off of one of the laptops, and have the movie show up on both laptop displays.....if possible.
We are not sure at all if this is possible, but any feedback would definetely be helpful, if not a different solution to the problem.

Thanx!

[Uranium-235]

network the laptops? you're going to run a cat5 cable across the isle? Cause you certainly woulden't be allowed to use wirelss on a plane

oh and something else, if you post the same thread across 4 forums again, I'm banning you

ok wow.....so i wasn't just specifically talking about on the airplane.... we are actually going to europe, and will be taking an overnight trip on a train where it would also be useful. oh and also....im not an idiot man...duh i wouldn't be using wireless on the plane. it's called a 14 hour plane ride, and ya.....i probably would be running a short wire across the isle if i had to.

oh....and about kicking me off.... you've gotta be kidding me man....... i had no idea which forum to post my inquire in......i'm new here...and all i wanted was some quick info....... so i did what i thought might attract the kind of person i was looking for....

the kind of person that might actually have some useful information for me and might actually be able to help me....

so ya....thanx for wasting my time

it would be nice if someone that could give me any help would respondto my inquire......

thanx

[Jason425]

no... stfu... we're not kidding.. as soon as I saw you post the same crap 4 times I wanted to slap you...
not only that, but i'm almost certain that it's against 800 safety codes to run a wire across the isle...

ok wow.... so i will say that I am sorry for posting in 4 different forums. i've done it before at other message boards, and there wasn't a problem.

about the the whole airplane thing...thanx for letting me know that i can't network in a plane...didn't know that.... but really...i could care less about getting what i originally would have liked to be able to do in a plane. for one thing...i just want to know if it's even possible, and second...there are many other times on this trip (not in a plane, and maybe even not on this trip)... that i know this will be useful...

so i'm sorry to tick you guys off.... i guess that i got sorta frantic to find out since i'm leaving in two days... so i figured i would just post it in a couple forums.....didn't think people would care..... but i guess i was wrong....

so please.....if anyone knows how to do this.....
network the two computers, and then somehow, run the dvd off of one of the laptops, and have the movie show up on both laptop displays.....if possible.

is this not a valid question to ask? all of you guys are like smart computer people right?...all i was wanting to know is....is it possible? are there any other things that i could do?

i really thought that there might be some quick answer to this...but i guess i was wrong...

once again...sorry for posting on 4 forums and ticking you guys off.

[Uranium-235]

ahh, I think I found a solution

http://www.videolan.org/

ok, after a bit of testing, I finally got it working, but you have to have network hardware that supports multicast

first, you (and all your friends) download VLC:

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

then, the person with the DVD player, open VLC and go to File -> Open Disc

and select DVD (second option, next to DVD Menus)

then, at the bottom, select "Stream Output"...and click on the "Settings" to the right of that checkbox

A new menu will come up...

Click two checkboxes..."Play Locally"...and "UDP"

inside the UDP address box, put any IP Address between 224.0.0.0 - 239.255.255.255

these are known as multicast IP addresses, so for instance, for my test run to get a DVD stream over my network, I used 239.255.12.42 in that box

After you're finished with that, click OK and then you should be at the "Open" dialouge, then click OK again, and the DVD should begin playing...and streaming



Now for the clients...

Tell your friends to open thier VLC, and go to File -> Open Network Stream

Then Select UDP/RTP Multicast

and in the box, put the multicast IP address that you used earlier, and it should begin playing after a few seconds, depending on the speed of our network (which I suggest 100mbps+ for a DVD stream)

I actually tested this on my own network and got it working, so there you go

P.S. There might be some video disortion every once in a while, I think that would be expected with this kinda of streaming

hey..thanx so much

really sorry for ticking you guys off earlier. you have no idea how much this will help..

we're testing it today....leaving for england tommorrow!

once again..thanx a bunch

peace!

side note, if u both have wireless cards that support low power modes, or manual adjustment of the output levels (most orinoco clones like dell ones do) then set them to lowest and work your way up till you make a good signal,

AND a cell phone is stronger than a WiFi card, plus the freq that 802.11b/g uses is a consumer freq so there would definately not be anything on a plane that it would affect, a cell phone would be worse, and tests show that cellphones dont pose a problem