Splashtop Remote and LogMeIn Ignition

Setup VGP-BPS13A/B and Features

Splashtop turns a mobile device--be it a smart phone or an iPad--into a remote viewer. First, download VGP-BPS13 and install a free client for your Mac or Windows computer. The installation process took only 5 minutes, and there is nothing to configure. Next, install the Splashtop Remote app on your mobile device. With your Android or iOS device and PC on the same Wi-Fi network, open the mobile app and connect to your computer just by tapping its name.

Splashtop provides a few unique gestures for controlling your remote desktop. Like GoToMyPC for iPad VGP-BPS13B/B and LogMeIn Ignition, you can tap once to left-click, press two fingers to scroll in a browser window, and perform other simple commands. However, you can also hold down three fingers to choose video resolution or switch displays if your PC has multiple monitors. The gestures in Splashtop worked well for most controls except the browser window scroll. (Sometimes, the app would perform a right click instead.) Unfortunately, the "twist" gesture that used to work on the iPad is now disabled, likely because it never really worked that well.

Don't take the "remote" part of Splashtop Remote's name too literally. To access our computer outside a local network, we had to access our router's settings, configure an IP address to use a static name, VGP-BPS9 and then set up port forwarding--we used a small app from DynDNS.com to accomplish this. Splashtop's website warns that this is not for the feint of heart. The company has not announced any plans to make this process easier.

Value

One advantage Splashtop Remote has over its competitors is price: It costs just $5 for the iPad or Android app and $1.99 for the iPhone VGP-BPS9A/B and iPod touch. LogMeIn Ignition costs $30, and while the iPad app for GoToMyPC is free, you still have to pay $10 per computer per month for the client.

Verdict

For just $5, Splashtop Remote is an inexpensive VGP-BPS9/S and easy program to use, and it provides a simple interface for controlling your computer across a local network. However, those looking for a way to access their home PC on the road would be better served with GoToMyPC for iPad or LogMeIn Ignition, which are easier to set up and provide better performance from afar.

Setup

We tested LogMeIn Ignition on the iPad and the Samsung Epic 4G; a version of the app for Android 3.0 "Honeycomb" tablets such as the Motorola Xoom is expected soon. LogMeIn is a bit more complex than GoToMyPC; you have to go through a few more setup screens. When you log in using the Ignition app, you first sign into your account, then enter the username VGP-BPS9/B and password for the remote computer. This adds an extra step for security, but it's not that intuitive and it adds extra time. The entire process took about two minutes.

Pricing

On top of the $30 app, if you want to stream music from your host computer, you'll need to sign up for LogMeIn Pro2, which costs $70 per computer per year. However, you can also install LogMeIn Free VGP-BPS13A/Q and use the apps only for remote viewing, not audio. Once you do, you can continue to use the Ignition app without paying any monthly fees. By comparison, GoToMyPC requires that you use a paid version of the software on your host computer for $10 per month.

Verdict

LogMeIn Ignition has a lot going for it. It works with both iOS and Android devices, gestures were smooth, VGP-BPS13/B and it's less expensive over the long haul. However, we slightly prefer GoToMyPC client for iPad only because the interface is better and more stable and it takes fewer steps to connect. That's the important feature when you're in a pinch.

Performance

LogMeIn Ignition works a shade slower than GoToMyPC for iPad. On the iPad, there was a slight delay in connecting VGP-BPS13B/Q and in the screen refresh time, both when using the same 3G hotspot network and over Wi-Fi. Yet, we typed a Word document

without any trouble. Interestingly, Ignition was blazing fast on the Android-powered Epic 4G, .

Gesturing on the iPad VGP-BPS13A/S and Android versions both worked well, even for the two-finger scrolling on a website and for selecting text by pressing and dragging. By comparison, gestures on GoToMyPC's iPad app were less reliable.

On Android, LogMeIn Ignition offers some interesting extra perks. Like Splashtop Remote, the app lets you stream audio VGP-BPS13/Q and video. Unfortunately, this did not work too well on a Samsung Epic 4G; the audio played for a while, then stuttered and stopped. LogMeIn told us they are working on the issue. We did play a YouTube video of a Charlie Sheen interview and the video looked reasonably smooth (for a smart phone), but the audio sounded too digital and even stuttered. Still, that's better than GoToMyPC's app, which wouldn't play audio at all.

Note that when you connect with an Android phone, the resolution changes on your remote computer to only 800 x 600. In a few cases, the host screen took on a mirroring effect where the top of the screen looked like a double image. When we logged out VGP-BPS13AS and back in, the problem went away.

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