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Ask HN: E-ink tablet for someone unable to view bright/moving screens

4 points by bloopernova 3y ago

tl;dr I'm looking for an e-ink / ePaper tablet My wife has developed severe vertigo. During attacks she is unable to move, eat, or watch screens that are bright or moving. If she does, she vomits multiple times. I'm wondering if an e-ink tablet would help keep her occupied during these bouts. Basic functionality would be to browse the web, preferably with something that includes ublock origin and is capable of rendering most popular sites. Maybe some additional things like Sudoku or similar slow moving games. Does anyone know of an e-ink based tablet that fits those requirements? (I'm trying my best to help her, but there's very little I can do that actually helps, and this feels like I'm doing something.)

cheaprentalyeti 3y ago
I'm going to suggest this as a starting point: https://www.amazon.com/Waveshare-7-5inch-Two-Color-Interface-Consumption/dp/B075R69T93/ref=sr_1_18?crid=157W7IWJZ6EPR&keywords=e-ink+monitor&qid=1708014428&sprefix=e-ink+monitor%2Caps%2C230&sr=8-18 https://www.amazon.com/Waveshare-7-5inch-Two-Color-Interface... It's not a tablet, but it could be connected to a Raspberry Pi. I'd also suggest an ordinary laptop with the display set to grayscale, BUT... the script I was using to put my laptop in grayscale isn't working anymore. and I don't know why. That's probably something I should follow up on. (My computer is using picom with the glx backend as its compositor. Anyway, before, I could just switch everything to grayscale if I wanted. I found out it wasn't working two weeks ago but I've been too busy to find a fix).
- bloopernova 3y ago
  Thank you, that's a great avenue to explore.
- jotux 3y ago
  Waveshare sells an e-ink usb display: https://www.waveshare.com/product/raspberry-pi/displays/e-paper/eink-disp.htm?___SID=U https://www.waveshare.com/product/raspberry-pi/displays/e-pa...
carlosjobim 3y ago
The Onyx Boox line of devices are incredible tools and can do almost everything. Reading, web browsing, office work, typing, writing, sudoku, crosswords, remote desktop. Now some hacker is gonna respond complaining about Onyx not respecting some GNU license or other meaningless stuff, but the fact remains that they are cutting edge in eInk. Expensive though. If you want something cheap, how about a Kindle? With the shadow libraries she can get any book in the world to read, and as of 2023 the Kindle web browser is actually usable, so that she can browse the web and check her e-mail.
- braunboffel 3y ago
  > Now some hacker is gonna respond complaining about Onyx not respecting some GNU license or other meaningless stuff, but the fact remains that they are cutting edge in eInk. Expensive though. Please clarify what you mean by "not respecting some GNU license or other meaningless stuff" ? What exactly is meaningless? Please also explain what you think "they are cutting edge in eInk" is based on. Thanks.
  - carlosjobim 3y ago
    You can look these things up.
    - braunboffel 3y ago
      Ok, so you're unable to provide evidence. Got it.
      - carlosjobim 3y ago
        Do you think I'm a salesman for Onyx Boox or your personal shopper? Just look up their stuff on a search engine if you want to know about their devices and find reviews, criticism of GNU license etc. Or don't. I was helping a fellow person with a direct answer to a direct question, not inviting you to a hackers debate.
cheaprentalyeti 3y ago
Update: This script [0] seems to work: I'll have to look up why later. I think it's just a later version of the script I was using earlier. I don't know if it'll help, but it's something you could try once or twice and see. I also checked to see if there was a windows version of the script, and found this: [1]. Also [2]. Which may be slightly more useful. There are larger e-ink monitors but they're all expensive. Finally: Back when I had a kindle-style kindle and not a kindle fire tablet, it had a web browser built in. I have no idea about the current functionality on up to date ones. [0]: https://github.com/bubbleguuum/toggle-monitor-grayscale https://github.com/bubbleguuum/toggle-monitor-grayscale [1]: https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/disable-enable-grayscale-mode-windows-10 https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/disable-enable-grayscale-... [2]: https://www.technipages.com/enable-greyscale-mode-for-windows-pc/ https://www.technipages.com/enable-greyscale-mode-for-window...
cpach 3y ago
Ouch. Sounds very painful. Alternative suggestion: Might podcasts/radio be something that works? Hope she’ll get better soon!
codingdave 3y ago
You can set Windows to display in grayscale if the colors are the problem - search for the 'Ease of Access' control panel, then go to 'Color filters'. That would not help with movement, but could resolve problems with the brightness. There is also an option to set up a keyboard shortcut to toggle it on/off easily.

4 points by bloopernova 3y ago

cheaprentalyeti 3y ago

I'm going to suggest this as a starting point: https://www.amazon.com/Waveshare-7-5inch-Two-Color-Interface-Consumption/dp/B075R69T93/ref=sr_1_18?crid=157W7IWJZ6EPR&keywords=e-ink+monitor&qid=1708014428&sprefix=e-ink+monitor%2Caps%2C230&sr=8-18 https://www.amazon.com/Waveshare-7-5inch-Two-Color-Interface... It's not a tablet, but it could be connected to a Raspberry Pi. I'd also suggest an ordinary laptop with the display set to grayscale, BUT... the script I was using to put my laptop in grayscale isn't working anymore. and I don't know why. That's probably something I should follow up on. (My computer is using picom with the glx backend as its compositor. Anyway, before, I could just switch everything to grayscale if I wanted. I found out it wasn't working two weeks ago but I've been too busy to find a fix).

bloopernova 3y ago
Thank you, that's a great avenue to explore.
jotux 3y ago
Waveshare sells an e-ink usb display: https://www.waveshare.com/product/raspberry-pi/displays/e-paper/eink-disp.htm?___SID=U https://www.waveshare.com/product/raspberry-pi/displays/e-pa...

carlosjobim 3y ago

The Onyx Boox line of devices are incredible tools and can do almost everything. Reading, web browsing, office work, typing, writing, sudoku, crosswords, remote desktop. Now some hacker is gonna respond complaining about Onyx not respecting some GNU license or other meaningless stuff, but the fact remains that they are cutting edge in eInk. Expensive though. If you want something cheap, how about a Kindle? With the shadow libraries she can get any book in the world to read, and as of 2023 the Kindle web browser is actually usable, so that she can browse the web and check her e-mail.

braunboffel 3y ago
> Now some hacker is gonna respond complaining about Onyx not respecting some GNU license or other meaningless stuff, but the fact remains that they are cutting edge in eInk. Expensive though. Please clarify what you mean by "not respecting some GNU license or other meaningless stuff" ? What exactly is meaningless? Please also explain what you think "they are cutting edge in eInk" is based on. Thanks.
- carlosjobim 3y ago
  You can look these things up.
  - braunboffel 3y ago
    Ok, so you're unable to provide evidence. Got it.
    - carlosjobim 3y ago
      Do you think I'm a salesman for Onyx Boox or your personal shopper? Just look up their stuff on a search engine if you want to know about their devices and find reviews, criticism of GNU license etc. Or don't. I was helping a fellow person with a direct answer to a direct question, not inviting you to a hackers debate.

cheaprentalyeti 3y ago

Update: This script [0] seems to work: I'll have to look up why later. I think it's just a later version of the script I was using earlier. I don't know if it'll help, but it's something you could try once or twice and see. I also checked to see if there was a windows version of the script, and found this: [1]. Also [2]. Which may be slightly more useful. There are larger e-ink monitors but they're all expensive. Finally: Back when I had a kindle-style kindle and not a kindle fire tablet, it had a web browser built in. I have no idea about the current functionality on up to date ones. [0]: https://github.com/bubbleguuum/toggle-monitor-grayscale https://github.com/bubbleguuum/toggle-monitor-grayscale [1]: https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/disable-enable-grayscale-mode-windows-10 https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/disable-enable-grayscale-... [2]: https://www.technipages.com/enable-greyscale-mode-for-windows-pc/ https://www.technipages.com/enable-greyscale-mode-for-window...

cpach 3y ago

Ouch. Sounds very painful. Alternative suggestion: Might podcasts/radio be something that works? Hope she’ll get better soon!

codingdave 3y ago

You can set Windows to display in grayscale if the colors are the problem - search for the 'Ease of Access' control panel, then go to 'Color filters'. That would not help with movement, but could resolve problems with the brightness. There is also an option to set up a keyboard shortcut to toggle it on/off easily.