6 ms·

I would personally pay a lot for an e-paper based laptop specifically for text editing. For writers, or programmers, I don't think you can beat e-paper. No eye-

I would personally pay a lot for an e-paper based laptop specifically for text editing. For writers, or programmers, I don't think you can beat e-paper. No eye-strain, outstanding battery life, perfect visibility in direct sunlight...

niutech 11y ago
Grab a Kindle and use it as a notepad [1] or as an external screen [2]. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Notepad/dp/B004LSLN0I http://www.amazon.com/Notepad/dp/B004LSLN0I [2] http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150434 http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150434
masklinn 11y ago
Pixel Qi tried and failed, though you can still buy 3Qi panels (IIRC 7" or 10") from tripuso (who bought the rights when Pixel Qi folded) and swap the display of a corresponding-size notebook.
- Vexs 11y ago
  Nice! I've never heard of those. Pretty expensive for a 10" monitor though, found them on aliexpress/alibaba for ~100$. Adafruit stocks them too for 180$, but with a driver board included.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
- deelowe 11y ago
  Weren't those netbook sized?
creshal 11y ago
eInk Carta panels apparently exist in sizes of up to 13.3". I wonder whether it's possible to get them with standard LVDS/eDP connectors to plug into off-the-shelf laptops…
smackfu 11y ago
Poor response time is the main negative.
- robgibbons 11y ago
  That's why I think a system aimed solely at text editing would be perfect, basically like a Kindle but in the form factor of a full-size laptop. I'm imagining literally just a CLI or rudimentary text editor with an e-paper interface... no video or images, just text. Very spartan. Response time is more than good enough for something like that.
  - vilhelm_s 11y ago
    Wouldn't it take 250ms between typing a character and it showing up on the screen? That seems kindof annoying. I could also imagine that searching through a textfile to find the place you want to edit would be pretty frustrating if you had to do it at Kindle speed.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
    - david-given 11y ago
      Not necessarily. On the Kindle it takes about that long because it uses greyscale mode, which is slow, and also flashes the screen first to reduce ghosting, which doubles the time. In 1-bit mono mode you can flip a pixel in ~100ms, which is plenty fast enough for text entry, although scrolling might not be good. Early LCDs had terrible ghosting (anyone remember trying to play Doom on an early mono LCD and the image instantly turning into incomprehensible hash?), but I can't find any references for actual numbers for the pixel flip time. I'd be interested to know how they compare to eink. Does anyone know?
      - simcop2387 11y ago
        No idea about the actual numbers, but people have gotten ps1 games working on e-ink displays. I'd think that'd indicate it's probably perfectly doable for text editing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fbD753xE-U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fbD753xE-U
hauget 11y ago
Likewise. I'd also LOVE something like a cheaper/smaller version of Sony's Digital Paper to replace my notepads/sketchbooks. SIDE NOTE: I keep a Thinkpad x220 with a retrofitted IPS display and a 9cell battery for dedicated writing/programming. It's got fantastic viewing angles, an amazing keyboard and 10hrs+ battery life! You can find great deals for a used x220/x230 (and its IPS display) on ebay. Worth every penny!
veritas3241 11y ago
I've always wanted something like this as well. I saw an article a while ago where a guy had a Heroku app (i believe) and pointed his kindle browser to the app and was using it as a word processor. Latency wasn't too bad either.
david-given 11y ago
I'm actually thinking of buying a cheap hackable ereader with USB OTG support and putting Debian on it, precisely for this purpose. (It looks like the Nook is probably my best bet, but it unfortunately doesn't have a powered USB port so I'd need to find an external power supply of some description for the keyboard. Any other suggestions gratefully appreciated.)
j_s 11y ago
I'm trying to figure out how to turn my MailStation (320x128 monochrome LCD + keyboard for dial-up email) into a typewriter, but I don't know the easiest way to get the text out of the machine. https://www.google.com/search?q=earthlink+mailstation&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=earthlink+mailstation&tbm=is...
- pkamb 11y ago
  The AlphaSmart seems to have similar hardware to your MailStation, and has a bit of a cult following as a device for writers. Plus easy text export. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaSmart https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaSmart
  - mattkevan 11y ago
    I really like writing on my eMate 300. Distraction free (as it does little else) great keyboard, all-day batteries and the word processor is surprisingly fully-featured. Also guaranteed to cause comment as practically no-one has seen one before.
- smellf 11y ago
  You may want to try something like what this guy has done: http://biosrhythm.com/?p=910 http://biosrhythm.com/?p=910 The key piece of hardware is the Keyrah: http://www.vesalia.de/e_keyrahv2.htm http://www.vesalia.de/e_keyrahv2.htm
lfam 11y ago
There is something like that available: http://www.solcomputer.com/sunlight-readable-netbook.html http://www.solcomputer.com/sunlight-readable-netbook.html The specs are modest, but I bet it can handle your one requirement: "text editing".
- j_s 11y ago
  I believe a $60 used OLPC has the same screen tech, but the keyboard is squishy. http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Display#Screen http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Display#Screen
superuser2 11y ago
Pretty frustrating lag in typed characters showing up, though.

niutech 11y ago

Grab a Kindle and use it as a notepad [1] or as an external screen [2]. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Notepad/dp/B004LSLN0I http://www.amazon.com/Notepad/dp/B004LSLN0I [2] http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150434 http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150434

masklinn 11y ago

Pixel Qi tried and failed, though you can still buy 3Qi panels (IIRC 7" or 10") from tripuso (who bought the rights when Pixel Qi folded) and swap the display of a corresponding-size notebook.

Vexs 11y ago
Nice! I've never heard of those. Pretty expensive for a 10" monitor though, found them on aliexpress/alibaba for ~100$. Adafruit stocks them too for 180$, but with a driver board included.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
deelowe 11y ago
Weren't those netbook sized?

creshal 11y ago

eInk Carta panels apparently exist in sizes of up to 13.3". I wonder whether it's possible to get them with standard LVDS/eDP connectors to plug into off-the-shelf laptops…

smackfu 11y ago

Poor response time is the main negative.

robgibbons 11y ago
That's why I think a system aimed solely at text editing would be perfect, basically like a Kindle but in the form factor of a full-size laptop. I'm imagining literally just a CLI or rudimentary text editor with an e-paper interface... no video or images, just text. Very spartan. Response time is more than good enough for something like that.
- vilhelm_s 11y ago
  Wouldn't it take 250ms between typing a character and it showing up on the screen? That seems kindof annoying. I could also imagine that searching through a textfile to find the place you want to edit would be pretty frustrating if you had to do it at Kindle speed.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - david-given 11y ago
    Not necessarily. On the Kindle it takes about that long because it uses greyscale mode, which is slow, and also flashes the screen first to reduce ghosting, which doubles the time. In 1-bit mono mode you can flip a pixel in ~100ms, which is plenty fast enough for text entry, although scrolling might not be good. Early LCDs had terrible ghosting (anyone remember trying to play Doom on an early mono LCD and the image instantly turning into incomprehensible hash?), but I can't find any references for actual numbers for the pixel flip time. I'd be interested to know how they compare to eink. Does anyone know?
    - simcop2387 11y ago
      No idea about the actual numbers, but people have gotten ps1 games working on e-ink displays. I'd think that'd indicate it's probably perfectly doable for text editing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fbD753xE-U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fbD753xE-U

hauget 11y ago

Likewise. I'd also LOVE something like a cheaper/smaller version of Sony's Digital Paper to replace my notepads/sketchbooks. SIDE NOTE: I keep a Thinkpad x220 with a retrofitted IPS display and a 9cell battery for dedicated writing/programming. It's got fantastic viewing angles, an amazing keyboard and 10hrs+ battery life! You can find great deals for a used x220/x230 (and its IPS display) on ebay. Worth every penny!

veritas3241 11y ago

I've always wanted something like this as well. I saw an article a while ago where a guy had a Heroku app (i believe) and pointed his kindle browser to the app and was using it as a word processor. Latency wasn't too bad either.

david-given 11y ago

I'm actually thinking of buying a cheap hackable ereader with USB OTG support and putting Debian on it, precisely for this purpose. (It looks like the Nook is probably my best bet, but it unfortunately doesn't have a powered USB port so I'd need to find an external power supply of some description for the keyboard. Any other suggestions gratefully appreciated.)

j_s 11y ago

I'm trying to figure out how to turn my MailStation (320x128 monochrome LCD + keyboard for dial-up email) into a typewriter, but I don't know the easiest way to get the text out of the machine. https://www.google.com/search?q=earthlink+mailstation&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=earthlink+mailstation&tbm=is...

pkamb 11y ago
The AlphaSmart seems to have similar hardware to your MailStation, and has a bit of a cult following as a device for writers. Plus easy text export. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaSmart https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaSmart
- mattkevan 11y ago
  I really like writing on my eMate 300. Distraction free (as it does little else) great keyboard, all-day batteries and the word processor is surprisingly fully-featured. Also guaranteed to cause comment as practically no-one has seen one before.
smellf 11y ago
You may want to try something like what this guy has done: http://biosrhythm.com/?p=910 http://biosrhythm.com/?p=910 The key piece of hardware is the Keyrah: http://www.vesalia.de/e_keyrahv2.htm http://www.vesalia.de/e_keyrahv2.htm

lfam 11y ago

There is something like that available: http://www.solcomputer.com/sunlight-readable-netbook.html http://www.solcomputer.com/sunlight-readable-netbook.html The specs are modest, but I bet it can handle your one requirement: "text editing".

j_s 11y ago
I believe a $60 used OLPC has the same screen tech, but the keyboard is squishy. http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Display#Screen http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Display#Screen

superuser2 11y ago

Pretty frustrating lag in typed characters showing up, though.