4 ms·

Would You Buy the First Laptop with an E-Paper Screen?

20 points by miles 4y ago

FerretFred 4y ago
Yes, but not version 1. If I could afford version 2 i'd buy it.
Thorentis 4y ago
I never buy the first of anything, so no. And if I bought the second version would depend on latency.
elmerfud 4y ago
It would kind of feel like the old macintosh with its monochrome display. The big difference is that software for that Mac was built with that in mind... This no so much.
riidom 4y ago
About time someone tries to do this. I have been thinking of that for a while now. And if they claim 60Hz refresh rate, all my concerns are gone, basically. For a laptop, I'd like to see how light-weight they can get it, if the battery becomes tiny. Or, other way round, how many days it will last, given a common battery size. There is a survey linked in the article, where they ask for other devices. I'd also like to try it a monitor, and especially, as a smart phone.
KVFinn 4y ago
Keyboard plus Onyx Boox Air 2 is basically this, if you can manage in Android. Heck even the three year old Lenovo yoga book c930 is workable ish, even playing a YouTube video on the eink screen, if you set it to fast refresh. Too bad this was a dead end model, the 4 gigs of memory is too limiting for many work tasks.
Grumbledour 4y ago
I actually don't think an e-paper Laptop is a viable product. I totally want an e-paper computer, but just linux or windows on an e-paper screen sounds dreadful. The problem with this kind of device is not so much the hardware but software. I think this is the reason we don't see many of these kind of devices and why we probably will not get them anytime soon. Software is a big hurdle these days and it makes quite a few specialized devices like tablets or small notebooks really hard to innovate on for small companies. You can build them, but they can't unfold their full potential if they just cram software made for other devices in a smaller form factor. I think a usable e-paper computer would probably need to start at an ereader or a traditional pda and expand from there. Not to give up general purpose computing, which I think would actually be very important and is what hampers devices like the remarkable, but to have a solid foundation of software that works great on that kind of device and makes it useful even to casual users. That would then be a great base to expand on to get a good suite of applications and develop a more broadly useful e-paper OS/UI.
hoistbypetard 4y ago
I'd be interested. I could absolutely move all the things I do that are unsuitable for e-paper to a tablet or a console. My big question would be: can I out-type it? If it can't display text at the rate I can type it, it doesn't work in a laptop for me. I'd be better off keeping a traditional laptop and using e-paper on a tablet for reading only.
ge96 4y ago
No the lag would drive me nuts
- nishs 4y ago
  the article text says they achieved 60 fps, which might be sufficient? there’s a demo youtube video in the article as well.
  - RealStickman_ 4y ago
    Latency is the same as normal epaper displays though, meaning lots of after images.
SuperSandro2000 4y ago
No
NodeToNowhere 4y ago
Without a high refresh rate, there is no hope in using e-ink as a general computing device. Even with the refresh rate they lag so far behind regular screens in other ways as to not be a solid choice over most. However, there are already great niche applications within the e-ink notebook space. Make fantastic portable and editable note taking machines and with a nice external keyboard can be great devices for writers - integrated mind mapping, live edit, image clipping, long bettery life and great on the eyes. I was looking into finding an e-ink display semi-dumb phone that could just just read articles and use basic messaging such as: Card Keitai and Light Phone II. But like a laptop with e-ink I worry about rerfresh rate and long term software support. I think there are so many possibilites for accessory and lifestyle devices for e-ink. But at the moment, a laptop to use as your daily is not one of them.
- jokethrowaway 4y ago
  Completely agree with your requirements. Check the video on the article. Latency and refresh are pretty good.
  - NodeToNowhere 4y ago
    I really do love how it looks. I'd definitely give it a go at a 300 - 500 price range. Would much prefer a tablet with an option to bluetooth my own keyboards though. Be interested to see what happens with this! (filled in the survey)
7402 4y ago
"Would you buy the first ___ with a ___ ?" No. I would wait for the second.

20 points by miles 4y ago

FerretFred 4y ago

Yes, but not version 1. If I could afford version 2 i'd buy it.

Thorentis 4y ago

I never buy the first of anything, so no. And if I bought the second version would depend on latency.

elmerfud 4y ago

It would kind of feel like the old macintosh with its monochrome display. The big difference is that software for that Mac was built with that in mind... This no so much.

riidom 4y ago

About time someone tries to do this. I have been thinking of that for a while now. And if they claim 60Hz refresh rate, all my concerns are gone, basically. For a laptop, I'd like to see how light-weight they can get it, if the battery becomes tiny. Or, other way round, how many days it will last, given a common battery size. There is a survey linked in the article, where they ask for other devices. I'd also like to try it a monitor, and especially, as a smart phone.

KVFinn 4y ago

Keyboard plus Onyx Boox Air 2 is basically this, if you can manage in Android. Heck even the three year old Lenovo yoga book c930 is workable ish, even playing a YouTube video on the eink screen, if you set it to fast refresh. Too bad this was a dead end model, the 4 gigs of memory is too limiting for many work tasks.

Grumbledour 4y ago

I actually don't think an e-paper Laptop is a viable product. I totally want an e-paper computer, but just linux or windows on an e-paper screen sounds dreadful. The problem with this kind of device is not so much the hardware but software. I think this is the reason we don't see many of these kind of devices and why we probably will not get them anytime soon. Software is a big hurdle these days and it makes quite a few specialized devices like tablets or small notebooks really hard to innovate on for small companies. You can build them, but they can't unfold their full potential if they just cram software made for other devices in a smaller form factor. I think a usable e-paper computer would probably need to start at an ereader or a traditional pda and expand from there. Not to give up general purpose computing, which I think would actually be very important and is what hampers devices like the remarkable, but to have a solid foundation of software that works great on that kind of device and makes it useful even to casual users. That would then be a great base to expand on to get a good suite of applications and develop a more broadly useful e-paper OS/UI.

hoistbypetard 4y ago

I'd be interested. I could absolutely move all the things I do that are unsuitable for e-paper to a tablet or a console. My big question would be: can I out-type it? If it can't display text at the rate I can type it, it doesn't work in a laptop for me. I'd be better off keeping a traditional laptop and using e-paper on a tablet for reading only.

ge96 4y ago

No the lag would drive me nuts

nishs 4y ago
the article text says they achieved 60 fps, which might be sufficient? there’s a demo youtube video in the article as well.
- RealStickman_ 4y ago
  Latency is the same as normal epaper displays though, meaning lots of after images.

SuperSandro2000 4y ago

NodeToNowhere 4y ago

Without a high refresh rate, there is no hope in using e-ink as a general computing device. Even with the refresh rate they lag so far behind regular screens in other ways as to not be a solid choice over most. However, there are already great niche applications within the e-ink notebook space. Make fantastic portable and editable note taking machines and with a nice external keyboard can be great devices for writers - integrated mind mapping, live edit, image clipping, long bettery life and great on the eyes. I was looking into finding an e-ink display semi-dumb phone that could just just read articles and use basic messaging such as: Card Keitai and Light Phone II. But like a laptop with e-ink I worry about rerfresh rate and long term software support. I think there are so many possibilites for accessory and lifestyle devices for e-ink. But at the moment, a laptop to use as your daily is not one of them.

jokethrowaway 4y ago
Completely agree with your requirements. Check the video on the article. Latency and refresh are pretty good.
- NodeToNowhere 4y ago
  I really do love how it looks. I'd definitely give it a go at a 300 - 500 price range. Would much prefer a tablet with an option to bluetooth my own keyboards though. Be interested to see what happens with this! (filled in the survey)

7402 4y ago

"Would you buy the first ___ with a ___ ?" No. I would wait for the second.