Using Laptop as 2nd Monitor?

[flyfunner5]

I have two laptops:

Work laptop: no HDMI cable, but somehow has a VGA cable.
Personal laptop: has VGA cable, much older laptop (about 4 years)

Question: Is it possible to make the personal laptop in essence just a monitor, that I can connect to my work laptop. I want to use the bigger screen on the personal laptop to do more work on my work laptop. I read that the HDMI slots on laptops are output only? So I can't use HDMI (not that I could anyways since work laptop only has VGA slot).

How about free programs? Not just a file sharing, but something that uses the 2nd laptop as only a monitor that I can seamlessly use (i.e. drag and drop windows, mouse over, etc.,)?

Thanks!

 

[skit75]

The VGA slots on laptops are also Output only, generally speaking.

 

[flyfunner5]

That's a shame. I wish this weren't so complicated.

 

[skit75]

It isn't complicated. Laptops weren't designed to consume external physical video/audio sources. They are digital consumption output devices, by design. The cheap prices of LCD's makes sure that won't change. You could possibly get a capture card with a pass-thru on it but you would spend more on that than you would just getting another stand-alone LCD display to accomplish what you need. The LCDs in question would be very very cheap considering the smaller resolutions of most laptops(typically 1366x768 or 1600x900).