I kind of give up these days, anytime there is bright sunlight it is hard to see. And when I look at my Kindle Paperwhite, I just wonder if there is a better way. Well, it turns out they are niche products, but e-ink (which is a patented technology) is available from third parties as a e-monitor and as a large-size Android e-tablet. I don’t think I’ll ever really use an Android tablet, but maybe for outdoor applications, an e-ink monitor makes sense.
So in looking at these there are really not that many vendors. The two main ones are Dasung (Big Mountain 大山) and then another Chinese vendor Boox. There are basically two sizes for about $700-800 you can get a 13.3″ small monitor or for $1800-$2100 you can get a 25″ full-sized monitor. Net, net, these things are really expensive but if you are doing a lot of computing in the bright sunlight then these can make sense.
The two main competitors are Boox Mira (and Mira Plus). This is a simple design and super light and it has USB C and HDMI inputs. The comparisons show it actually does pretty much that while there is a tablet version called the Boox Luma 2, it has way too shiny a display. And the Dasung PaperLike is just an older and bigger panel.
Also, the Boox Mira is a touchscreen, so for kiosk application, you could hide the computer away and just use it as the primary interface.
The best review I think is in video form so you can see how well these do. It is pretty incredible how even with just greyscale these are fast enough so that you can actually watch a video with it. There are lots of different artifacts on it, but the Boox Mira seems like a decent choice. It is $800 from B&H Audio Video, so I’ll let you know how it goes.
