iPhone/iPad as mousepad recommendations?

[The Stig]

So after recently buying a new laptop for my sister, I have now tweaked and revived her old one for my mum's use by making it near idiot proof and fortified. However, as the screen is basically fucked, so it's now hooked up to her 40inch TV.

Everytime she needs to change TV program, etc, she needs to get up from sofa and crouch down on laptop (our HDMI cable is only 1m lol), not very good for her back overall. We got a chair to put the laptop on but it looks super dangerous for the laptop/overall safety if something was to get caught on the cable.

I want to enable her to control the PC via using her iphone/ipad as a mouse, as she's super comfortable with using them. I've found Touchpad, which seems to be the "go to" one:

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/touch...297623931?mt=8

Does anyone recommend this or is there a better (preferably free) alternative? I picture my mum comfortably sitting on the sofa, picking up one of the i-devices and then switching videos or turning off the laptop via a desktop shortcut I gave her. The cursor on the screen is already enlarged for easier viewing. I just wanted to make sure before putting down money on Touchpad if it's highly recommended, so am asking here for feedback incase anyone has a similar setup.

[hey]

I just use a wireless mouse.

Also, 2/3m hdmi cables are less than $2.

[Cayos]

I second the wireless mouse ideas. And yea, cables are extremely cheap as long as you don't buy them from a local store.

10ft cable for $5, 15ft for $6.50
http://www.monoprice.com/products/su...02&cp_id=10240

[The Stig]

A mouse was the first thing on my mind but she flatout refuses/gets confused with it lol, or finds it extremely awkward to use. Ironically she is absolutely confident/comfortable with doing all sorts of things with the ipad, but not with a monitor and mouse.

Anyways, I got recommended a free app at work that logitech makes called Touch Mouse! http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/touch...338237450?mt=8

Gonna try that when I get home from work. I have high hopes in it as it's logitech

Regarding HDMI cables, there's hardly any independant "PC stores" here, and I believe they will charge the rip off price -- but looking on amazon they seem to do a 1.8m cable for £1. Regardless, that's a last resort next to the mouse. The laptop is a bulky 15.6 deal and there's a distinct lack of room, but of course things can change but I'm trying to avoid all the hassle.

We'll give the app a shot first

[hey]

I second the wireless mouse ideas. And yea, cables are extremely cheap as long as you don't buy them from a local store.

10ft cable for $5, 15ft for $6.50
http://www.monoprice.com/products/su...02&cp_id=10240

Amazon is 1/3 the price, why do people keep recommending monoprice?

One of the reviews from that app:

This is a useful piece of software and I would have given it 5 stars before I was hacked using it. Read my email to logitech regarding it: I have this software downloaded and have been attacked on 2 occasions today. Somehow people gained control of my laptop using the software as it said "Iphone connected" and at this point someone typed on my screen and controlled my mouse remotely. It was definitely not my own iPhone as it was switced off at the time. I was in a public library but my screen could not have been visible to anyone. There needs to be better security with the software with the ability to select an option that only allows one particular iPhone to be linked to the laptop. Please look into this before more laptops are exploited. Thank you

You might want to look into that.

[The Stig]

I did read that and gave it a thought but I concluded that just seems retarded lol

Assuming I understood how this works:

1. The logitech software only broadcasts the device (laptop/PC) as available providing you're connected to the same network, as it's over wifi. This dude was in the library, with potentially 100s of people connected to the WiFi. Someone could just have been curious and actually did connect to the laptop
2. Screen isn't visible. Without the screen being visible you could only do so much. Probably a bit of trolling by randomly moving the mouse or typing
3. My home internet/router is protected by some obscure password -- based on the "security" flaw described, the following conditions needs to be met:

- Someone knowing the password to connect to the wifi first
- This person having an iphone/ipad
- With the application installed
- My laptop in question isn't going anywhere public
- To be able to do extensive damage, will need to be able to see the screen --> if the screen can be seen, then the cops would've been called already

Of course I'm not entirely dismissing it, but on the grounds of what I need the app for, it seems safe enough. If the laptop was to be taken outside (with its 5minute battery life) I would disable the program beforehand.

But I'll warn users of the laptop about this. If it goes outside the house, let me know and I'll disable the app. What do you think of my evaluations? :D

[hey]

I figured it was probably caused by him having his wifi open. That's why i said look into it instead of stay away. That's still really bad security design either way.

By the way, you don't need to see the screen to open command prompt and fuck things up.

But I'll warn users of the laptop about this. If it goes outside the house, let me know and I'll disable the app. What do you think of my evaluations?

As long as people are aware, or it's never leaving the house, it doesn't seem like there's anything to worry about.

[The Stig]

Spot on, yeah, I also think there's nothing to worry about.

By the way, you don't need to see the screen to open command prompt and fuck things up.

True, but I just think area wise a person with that much intelligence to do damage might be better put to use elsewhere, or prey on a better target .

I agree security wise it does seem bad. I'm unsure why a big company like Logitech would overlook it, but I guess one can say it's not really their department.