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Datasheet and manuals: paper or tablet?

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amishasingh:
Interesting...

DiTBho:

--- Quote from: dunkemhigh on May 21, 2021, 12:53:11 am ---The solution, I am hoping, is an e-ink tablet. Specifically the  Boox Note Air

--- End quote ---

Why not a Apple iPad Air? It's ~ in the same price range  :-//
Is it of the different technology of the LCD?

DiTBho:
And why not the Remarkable2 ?

PlainName:

--- Quote ---I find E-ink / unusable for datasheets.
First the processors are too slow, and combined with the slow update rate of the screen it makes searching through a datasheet a nuisance.
--- End quote ---

You should get hold of a modern e-ink tablet to try! I've attached a video to demonstrate the update rate (I think - had to trim several minutes and compress like crazy to fit the upload limits, and I ain't no tuber so it's very rough). There is flickering when large black areas are cleared, but check out the dual-page scrolling at the end - it is easily fast enough, and that's typical of full-page turns.

Searching is pretty damn fast as well. I had to cut that bit to allow the video to upload though.

[Edit: can't upload video. Zipped it's still too big. I'll try and sort something out...]


--- Quote ---Datasheets are usually also in .PDF format (letter?) and they do not scale well to small screens.
--- End quote ---

The content tends to be A5 or so, given the huge margins that were in favour. And this ain't no small screen. You can see that the ESP32 tech ref in the video is easily readable, even when split into two (so each side is A6).

A second monitor is good, particularly since you already have your hands on the mouse and keyboard for navigation. But it can't go flat on the desk or be carried to the bench or make notes out in the sunny garden. Horses for courses, and my intention is to not switch to a single device or mode but to use whatever is appropriate for the moment. As I noted, the Boox allows me to do notes in a paper way yet access those notes on the PC or phone (or print them out). Similarly, I would shove a schematic onto the Boox to use as reference when on the bench (the PC screen is tiny there), the datasheets for the parts similarly. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't also open them on the PC when checking stuff there.

PlainName:

--- Quote from: DiTBho on May 21, 2021, 12:31:33 pm ---
--- Quote from: dunkemhigh on May 21, 2021, 12:53:11 am ---The solution, I am hoping, is an e-ink tablet. Specifically the  Boox Note Air

--- End quote ---

Why not a Apple iPad Air? It's ~ in the same price range  :-//
Is it of the different technology of the LCD?

--- End quote ---

Two things:

1. The display is LCD or oLED. e-ink is paper-like and much nicer to look at. In daylight e-ink is easily readable, but since it is essentially black marks on a surface (as opposed to a light source) it's pretty useless in the dark. The Boox has a, er, frontlight to combat that, and I find it useful to leave that on permanently (at a low level) which makes viewing under any light source a non-issue.

2. E-ink doesn't need power if there is no change. So you can, say, have a schematic displayed and then let the thing turn itself off, and the schematic will still be displayed. So battery life should be vastly better than continuous viewing on LCD/oLED. In practice the default mode is for a screensaver to be displayed when the device turns off (for privacy reasons) but you can override that.

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