6 ms·

Does anyone know if it's possible to use a ReMarkable tablet as an external laptop monitor? In the summer I like to sit outside coding, but the sunlight outshi

by runeks 6y ago

Does anyone know if it's possible to use a ReMarkable tablet as an external laptop monitor? In the summer I like to sit outside coding, but the sunlight outshines my laptops LCD display. So I'd like to use an eInk display as an external monitor. And I gather ReMarkable is the best bet because of their hackability.

smt88 6y ago
The refresh rate on e-ink is so low that coding on one would probably be excruciating. You should think of it as a replacement for paper, not a replacement for a monitor. If your laptop isn't very bright, you're mostly out of luck. You can work in the shade, try polarized glasses, buy a brighter laptop, or find a portable monitor that is brighter than your built-in panel.
- diggan 6y ago
  > If your laptop isn't very bright ... buy a brighter laptop ... and a portable monitor that is brighter As someone who works with my laptop outside in the sun a lot, the trick is not to have a brighter laptop but to have one with a matte display instead of glossy, and use bright backgrounds for everything. Even when I'm in direct sunlight, matte display and light themes make me able to see my code without any squinting or troubles. > The refresh rate on e-ink is so low that coding on one would probably be excruciating If you've edited files in vim over a spotty SSH connection and wasn't phased too much by it, you could probably survive the e-ink refresh rate as well.
  - smt88 6y ago
    I was under the impression that matte displays are uncommon these days, but I agree that's a good option if they're buying a new laptop.
    - diggan 6y ago
      Probably. It seems the X1 Carbon (the laptop I have) has most editions with anti-glare screen though. Found this site that could be helpful for people looking for matte displays: https://www.productchart.com/laptops/sets/1 https://www.productchart.com/laptops/sets/1
  - tubularhells 6y ago
    Or used intellij over a Citrix terminal for a bank client, for that matter.
joshspankit 6y ago
There is a VNC client which would allow to to do just that
- lovelyviking 6y ago
  Are you talking about this one: https://github.com/matteodelabre/vnsee https://github.com/matteodelabre/vnsee Or you know another one? Did you manage to conntect it with Mac?
  - joshspankit 6y ago
    If you’re still curious about connecting to a Mac, check my other comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25128588 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25128588
AlanYx 6y ago
If you're looking to use an e-ink tablet as an external monitor, you should also consider the larger BOOX e-ink tablets. The BOOX Max (starting from the last gen) and the new Max Lumi offer HDMI input for external monitor use.
mlboss 6y ago
For monitor you need high refresh rate. Dasung monitors are the only option right now. My only regret with dasung monitor is that I didn't buy is sooner. I can work long hours now without my eyes getting tired. http://www.dasungtech.com/ http://www.dasungtech.com/
- bogwog 6y ago
  Wow that thing looks amazing
- tubularhells 6y ago
  How do you work on such a small screen? I don't see myself using an ide on that one.
lovelyviking 6y ago
Among other VNC clients I've checked the only one that realy worked for me and I've managed to compile was this one: https://github.com/matteodelabre/vnsee https://github.com/matteodelabre/vnsee The author is also very nice and responsive to bug reports. I've managed to make it work as second monitor for linux virtual machine. I wish I could use it as second monitor for Mac and was unable to make it work with MacOS so far. Anyone made it work with Mac? Who knows how to make it work with MacOS ?
- joshspankit 6y ago
  I suspect (based on similar issues years ago) that you could get it working on MacOS in either one of two ways: 1. Set a password for the setting “VNC viewers may control screen with password:” in the screen sharing settings. Most of the issue with standard VNC clients is that MacOS uses MacOS-specific login security, but setting a password opens it up to VNC-standard security 2. Install an alternate VNC server on the Mac. This bypasses all the MacOS security nonsense.
  - lovelyviking 6y ago
    Thank you very much for advice. Any specific VNC server working with Mac you have in mind ?
    - joshspankit 6y ago
      You’re welcome. I don’t have personal experience, but for these types of low-level things, I start my research with `brew`. In this case it looks like https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/tiger-vnc https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/tiger-vnc is a contender.
davisr 6y ago
How about using it as a _laptop_? See my project: Parabola-rM http://www.davisr.me/projects/parabola-rm/ http://www.davisr.me/projects/parabola-rm/ https://old.reddit.com/r/RemarkableTablet/comments/iis4fo/emacs_on_remarkable/ https://old.reddit.com/r/RemarkableTablet/comments/iis4fo/em...

by runeks 6y ago

smt88 6y ago

The refresh rate on e-ink is so low that coding on one would probably be excruciating. You should think of it as a replacement for paper, not a replacement for a monitor. If your laptop isn't very bright, you're mostly out of luck. You can work in the shade, try polarized glasses, buy a brighter laptop, or find a portable monitor that is brighter than your built-in panel.

diggan 6y ago
> If your laptop isn't very bright ... buy a brighter laptop ... and a portable monitor that is brighter As someone who works with my laptop outside in the sun a lot, the trick is not to have a brighter laptop but to have one with a matte display instead of glossy, and use bright backgrounds for everything. Even when I'm in direct sunlight, matte display and light themes make me able to see my code without any squinting or troubles. > The refresh rate on e-ink is so low that coding on one would probably be excruciating If you've edited files in vim over a spotty SSH connection and wasn't phased too much by it, you could probably survive the e-ink refresh rate as well.
- smt88 6y ago
  I was under the impression that matte displays are uncommon these days, but I agree that's a good option if they're buying a new laptop.
  - diggan 6y ago
    Probably. It seems the X1 Carbon (the laptop I have) has most editions with anti-glare screen though. Found this site that could be helpful for people looking for matte displays: https://www.productchart.com/laptops/sets/1 https://www.productchart.com/laptops/sets/1
- tubularhells 6y ago
  Or used intellij over a Citrix terminal for a bank client, for that matter.

joshspankit 6y ago

There is a VNC client which would allow to to do just that

lovelyviking 6y ago
Are you talking about this one: https://github.com/matteodelabre/vnsee https://github.com/matteodelabre/vnsee Or you know another one? Did you manage to conntect it with Mac?
- joshspankit 6y ago
  If you’re still curious about connecting to a Mac, check my other comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25128588 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25128588

AlanYx 6y ago

If you're looking to use an e-ink tablet as an external monitor, you should also consider the larger BOOX e-ink tablets. The BOOX Max (starting from the last gen) and the new Max Lumi offer HDMI input for external monitor use.

mlboss 6y ago

For monitor you need high refresh rate. Dasung monitors are the only option right now. My only regret with dasung monitor is that I didn't buy is sooner. I can work long hours now without my eyes getting tired. http://www.dasungtech.com/ http://www.dasungtech.com/

bogwog 6y ago
Wow that thing looks amazing
tubularhells 6y ago
How do you work on such a small screen? I don't see myself using an ide on that one.

lovelyviking 6y ago

Among other VNC clients I've checked the only one that realy worked for me and I've managed to compile was this one: https://github.com/matteodelabre/vnsee https://github.com/matteodelabre/vnsee The author is also very nice and responsive to bug reports. I've managed to make it work as second monitor for linux virtual machine. I wish I could use it as second monitor for Mac and was unable to make it work with MacOS so far. Anyone made it work with Mac? Who knows how to make it work with MacOS ?

joshspankit 6y ago
I suspect (based on similar issues years ago) that you could get it working on MacOS in either one of two ways: 1. Set a password for the setting “VNC viewers may control screen with password:” in the screen sharing settings. Most of the issue with standard VNC clients is that MacOS uses MacOS-specific login security, but setting a password opens it up to VNC-standard security 2. Install an alternate VNC server on the Mac. This bypasses all the MacOS security nonsense.
- lovelyviking 6y ago
  Thank you very much for advice. Any specific VNC server working with Mac you have in mind ?
  - joshspankit 6y ago
    You’re welcome. I don’t have personal experience, but for these types of low-level things, I start my research with `brew`. In this case it looks like https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/tiger-vnc https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/tiger-vnc is a contender.

davisr 6y ago

How about using it as a _laptop_? See my project: Parabola-rM http://www.davisr.me/projects/parabola-rm/ http://www.davisr.me/projects/parabola-rm/ https://old.reddit.com/r/RemarkableTablet/comments/iis4fo/emacs_on_remarkable/ https://old.reddit.com/r/RemarkableTablet/comments/iis4fo/em...