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Comment by mileswu | Hacker News Reader

This is very similar to another product that you can buy today https://www.adafruit.com/products/1652. It's basically an iPad 3/4 retina display that connects via DisplayPort. The main differences seem to be that the Kickstarter one will run off USB power (instead of 9V) and attaches to your laptop screen.

I've been tempted to try it, but can't really think why I'd need it.

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I got one of the Motorola lapdocks for $50. They were meant to adapt an Android phone (Atrix or Bionic) to a laptop form factor, but with micro HDMI and USB keyboard/trackpad they're popular accessories for the Raspberry Pi. But they can also be used as just an HDMI display, either as a second monitor or with something like a Chromecast, Roku, etc.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USED-Motorola-Droid-Bionic-Lapdock-/...

http://fortysomethinggeek.blogspot.com/2013/05/cheap-portabl...

This definitely seems like the most efficient route to go -- a LapDock for the Atrix runs $100, and every commercial alternative here is far more expensive.

Only shame is that the Lapdock 100 is unusable for it.

For the price, it's great, but it's almost half the resolution and not an IPS panel.

In a similar vein, there's also http://hdmipi.com/

It would be brilliant if tablets (or even laptops) had a HDMI/DP input and a "dumb screen" mode.

Almost half the resolution and i'd really prefer IPS panel over these LCD panels.

Especially for any graphics work, LCD's color reproduction compared to IPS is abysmal - especially in these price ranges.

There's also e.g. http://www.asus.com/Monitors_Projectors/MB168BPlus/

Good find, but not so good for Mac-based creatives. Hopefully something better will come along. This form factor is much simpler.

http://www.amazon.com/MB168B-15-6-Inch-Screen-LED-Lit-Monito...

I'm not really sure what problem this solves.

If I'm on the move, I tend to be working either on the train or in a coffee shop, and neither of those environments would be conducive to attaching an iPad-sized display to the side of my laptop (on the train, this would just not work at all; in a coffee shop, it might at a stretch, I guess).

If I'm in one of the two fixed locations I tend to do work - either my office or one of my clients' offices - I will already have access to a much larger and more usable external display.

There are also a bunch of apps for the iPad (and other tablets I'm sure) that'll do more or less exactly this over wifi, which will probably perform adequately (for some tasks).

There are also a bunch of apps for the iPad (and other tablets I'm sure) that'll do more or less exactly this over wifi, which will probably perform adequately (for some tasks).

Way to not watch the video at all. He addresses WiFi as unsuitable both because it has too slow refresh rate, and because on any site with firewall-restricted-WiFi it doesn't work at all.

I find this comment interesting - "Way to not watch the video at all", as if it was somehow self-evident that someone HAS to sit through several minutes of video, which if you think about it is a very slow and almost old-fashioned way of presenting information compared to the speedily-read, rapidly-understood alternative of straightforward plain text.

Kickstarter pages are a good example of this phenomenon. Fundamentally, my time is not unlimited, so I read the text first. Only if I'm fascinated do I then go on to watch the video. Is it just me?

You start with "as if it's somehow self-evident that you HAVE to sit through the video" and continue onto "Kickstarter pages are well known for having information in the video which isn't in the text", so you do expect that to be the case.

It does seem self-evident that if you open a page and it has a large video center stage, then the video is the bit they're wanting you see.

Fair enough that you prefer text, but the "I didn't look at the thing you wanted me to look at, but think you probably have no clue about your problem and haven't done any research before spending ages making your prototypes and starting a kickstarter and announcing plans for a manufacturning run" is weak.

You're reading a lot into my message that I didn't say, and also attributing quotes to me that I did not make.

Anyway, it was just an observation, nothing more.

I actually did watch the video, and that was the reason for my bracketed "for some tasks" caveat.

If you're doing the kind of work at a client site - typically the kind of place where wifi would be restricted - where having a second display is useful, you could just ask to borrow an external display: it's in their best interests to find you one if it's going to get the job done faster.

Personally, I'd love it for when I'm traveling for work & in a hotel room.

Good alternative and only these differences:

1. Costs a little bit more 250$ vs 261$, but then include UPS Priority shipping.

2. Requires assembly.

3. Doesn't have a monitor mount.

But it certainly is more hackable.

My friends in consulting / auditing love these while on client sites.

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