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The GPU uses fairly modest resources when not in-use - it would be more expensive to get a custom board without a GPU and the returns for that sacrifice would b

The GPU uses fairly modest resources when not in-use - it would be more expensive to get a custom board without a GPU and the returns for that sacrifice would be the definition of marginal. Regarding e-Ink and their refresh speed, while this is true historically and for the vast majority of screens (which is fine, given their uses) there are more and more screens that deliver well above 30Hz. This design would allow for/have two removable batteries in the current configuration. Removing one wouldn't do anything other than lighten the device.

throwaway81523 5y ago
I've never heard of a 30 hz e-ink screen. Do you have a link? Yeah most SOC's have gpus now, e.g. the one in the rpi compute module. Better to use modules to the extent possible, rather than custom stuff. Today's computers bring woe to their users. A new one is only interesting if it solves some of those woes. Which particular woes is this proposed computer of yours supposed to solve? What do you plan to use your own for? I'm frankly mostly happy with the 10+ yo Thinkpad X220 that I'm typing on right now, for what it's worth. A good replacement should first and foremost have solid Linux support that is preferably blob-free.
- tluyben2 5y ago
  For working in sunlight or very bright days; my daily driver in winter is an x220 and it is perfect but in spring, summer, autumn, I simply cannot see anything so I switch to my MacBook m1 which, at full brightness, still is not good already (and it is only spring). But yes, blobless Linux would be a very big + and so would very long battery life. I have a stack of x220s as backup but they will run out in the end and in my country the supply is drying up as they are good and cheap so people bought them up. A run of x220 or rather x220t with eInk or rlcd would do me well with the 9-cell battery. But it is a bit big too big and I still need a tablet (in case of 220) and phone which I do not like.
  - throwaway81523 5y ago
    E-ink is not the answer to sunlight yet. You want a reflective LCD. There were nice monochrome ones ages ago but no one wants that any more. There were some color ones called Pixel Qi that got a little but of traction and maybe are still around, but have stayed pretty obscure. Anyway that's what I'd check.
    - tluyben2 5y ago
      E-ink works fine in sunlight and are fast enough for my needs but yes, RLCDs seem nice but they seem to have never caught on. I even wanted to get that pixel qi tablet back in the day but nothing ever went anywhere. This [0] one looks far more reflexive than my Boox tablet; in some parts of the video it's definitely not practically viewable when the light source is on this thing. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysbLlZmG9ik https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysbLlZmG9ik
      - throwaway81523 5y ago
        Reflective LCD's were used in quite a few early laptops. I used one for a long time. The issue was they were monochrome. It's color ones that didn't get traction, and everyone started wanting color screens. I've never used a Pixel Qi but I saw one briefly once. It was ok, I'd be interested in something that used it for power consumption and outdoor reasons, but iirc its colors were washed out compared with conventional TFT screens. That might be why they didn't catch on. Refresh might have also been too slow for video, dunno.
- goosedragons 5y ago
  eInk doesn't have Hz at all that's the whole point. Some of the newer screens have faster refresh modes but these come with a huge tradeoff in display quality. I wouldn't describe it as replicating 30Hz either. More like 12 or 15. A YouTube video is watchable on my Boox Note Air in X-mode but it's a noisy image and I don't think I'm seeing every frame.
  - atdrummond 5y ago
    Thank you. The Boox Note Air screen is about a gen or two behind the bleeding edge of what can be bought and corporates can get a gen beyond that. I don't think it's likely we'll ever be playing FPS games (at least competitively) on eInk displays but they can get to the point of usability for most purposes.
tluyben2 5y ago
I find the Boox display fast enough to work on, it is just cumbersome to having to set it up on a stand and connecting up to it; takes up a table in a bar instead of just a little laptop like you suggest.
robinsoh 5y ago
> while this is true historically and for the vast majority of screens (which is fine, given their uses) there are more and more screens that deliver well above 30Hz. Citation needed.
- atdrummond 5y ago
  My wording was imprecise (in that such displays don't really operate at a given Hz) but the factory that provides DaSung has multiple sized displays that can display a movie without an perceptible shuttering or frame drops. Unfortunately reviewers are bad at objectively analyzing these metrics for e-Ink reviews but I'll see if I can't take a stab at this when I get closer to having everything in a single enclosure.
  - robinsoh 5y ago
    > My wording was imprecise (in that such displays don't really operate at a given Hz) but the factory that provides DaSung has multiple sized displays that can display a movie without an perceptible shuttering or frame drops. I've seen the Dasung paperlike. It cannot display a movie. It is an A2 mode. I don't believe your claim that "perceptible shuttering or frame drops." because A2 drops frames and does dithering as stated in their own manual. http://www.dasungtech.com/download/Paperlike%20Pro%20User%20Manual.pdf http://www.dasungtech.com/download/Paperlike%20Pro%20User%20...

throwaway81523 5y ago

I've never heard of a 30 hz e-ink screen. Do you have a link? Yeah most SOC's have gpus now, e.g. the one in the rpi compute module. Better to use modules to the extent possible, rather than custom stuff. Today's computers bring woe to their users. A new one is only interesting if it solves some of those woes. Which particular woes is this proposed computer of yours supposed to solve? What do you plan to use your own for? I'm frankly mostly happy with the 10+ yo Thinkpad X220 that I'm typing on right now, for what it's worth. A good replacement should first and foremost have solid Linux support that is preferably blob-free.

tluyben2 5y ago
For working in sunlight or very bright days; my daily driver in winter is an x220 and it is perfect but in spring, summer, autumn, I simply cannot see anything so I switch to my MacBook m1 which, at full brightness, still is not good already (and it is only spring). But yes, blobless Linux would be a very big + and so would very long battery life. I have a stack of x220s as backup but they will run out in the end and in my country the supply is drying up as they are good and cheap so people bought them up. A run of x220 or rather x220t with eInk or rlcd would do me well with the 9-cell battery. But it is a bit big too big and I still need a tablet (in case of 220) and phone which I do not like.
- throwaway81523 5y ago
  E-ink is not the answer to sunlight yet. You want a reflective LCD. There were nice monochrome ones ages ago but no one wants that any more. There were some color ones called Pixel Qi that got a little but of traction and maybe are still around, but have stayed pretty obscure. Anyway that's what I'd check.
  - tluyben2 5y ago
    E-ink works fine in sunlight and are fast enough for my needs but yes, RLCDs seem nice but they seem to have never caught on. I even wanted to get that pixel qi tablet back in the day but nothing ever went anywhere. This [0] one looks far more reflexive than my Boox tablet; in some parts of the video it's definitely not practically viewable when the light source is on this thing. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysbLlZmG9ik https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysbLlZmG9ik
    - throwaway81523 5y ago
      Reflective LCD's were used in quite a few early laptops. I used one for a long time. The issue was they were monochrome. It's color ones that didn't get traction, and everyone started wanting color screens. I've never used a Pixel Qi but I saw one briefly once. It was ok, I'd be interested in something that used it for power consumption and outdoor reasons, but iirc its colors were washed out compared with conventional TFT screens. That might be why they didn't catch on. Refresh might have also been too slow for video, dunno.
goosedragons 5y ago
eInk doesn't have Hz at all that's the whole point. Some of the newer screens have faster refresh modes but these come with a huge tradeoff in display quality. I wouldn't describe it as replicating 30Hz either. More like 12 or 15. A YouTube video is watchable on my Boox Note Air in X-mode but it's a noisy image and I don't think I'm seeing every frame.
- atdrummond 5y ago
  Thank you. The Boox Note Air screen is about a gen or two behind the bleeding edge of what can be bought and corporates can get a gen beyond that. I don't think it's likely we'll ever be playing FPS games (at least competitively) on eInk displays but they can get to the point of usability for most purposes.

tluyben2 5y ago

I find the Boox display fast enough to work on, it is just cumbersome to having to set it up on a stand and connecting up to it; takes up a table in a bar instead of just a little laptop like you suggest.

robinsoh 5y ago

> while this is true historically and for the vast majority of screens (which is fine, given their uses) there are more and more screens that deliver well above 30Hz. Citation needed.

atdrummond 5y ago
My wording was imprecise (in that such displays don't really operate at a given Hz) but the factory that provides DaSung has multiple sized displays that can display a movie without an perceptible shuttering or frame drops. Unfortunately reviewers are bad at objectively analyzing these metrics for e-Ink reviews but I'll see if I can't take a stab at this when I get closer to having everything in a single enclosure.
- robinsoh 5y ago
  > My wording was imprecise (in that such displays don't really operate at a given Hz) but the factory that provides DaSung has multiple sized displays that can display a movie without an perceptible shuttering or frame drops. I've seen the Dasung paperlike. It cannot display a movie. It is an A2 mode. I don't believe your claim that "perceptible shuttering or frame drops." because A2 drops frames and does dithering as stated in their own manual. http://www.dasungtech.com/download/Paperlike%20Pro%20User%20Manual.pdf http://www.dasungtech.com/download/Paperlike%20Pro%20User%20...