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elementarythree · 03-13-2019, 11:11 PM

If you need a small monitor you can get one for the fraction of the cost (although compared to bigger monitor still expensive) with standard LCD technology. They will do better with graphical content, alone because they have colors and refresh at 60 Hz, of course. If you shop carefully for a high resolution they will also have an incredibly sharp picture because of high DPI, even making tiny fonts readable. I have such a screen at work. They're basically tablet screens attached to a chip that drives them and takes different (HDMI etc.) inputs in a monitor-esque case. I guess they're mostly expensive (still not nearly as expensive as eink) because there isn't a huge demand. Nice to have though. 1080p at 12" looks very sharp.

The eInk screen on the Onyx Max 2 is nice for text and static graphics that don't require color. The biggest issue I have with the Max 2 is that Onyx put it together poorly. From the unsafe kernel (has a years-old vulnerability that is very easy to exploit - probably only one of many and it's android will probably have tons of security issues too - the Max 2 is not safe to use on the internet, frankly) to this bizarre resolution thing with their monitor app. For what it costed it's almost insulting, really. Then there's the simple engineering stuff. The case feels and looks kinda cheap for a device that expensive. The power button and HDMI connector at the bottom. All that small stuff that adds up. The buggy ereader app. I have an old Sony PRS-350 which feels much nicer and I use mainly for reading. I bought it used for 40$. (and a new battery for 10$) It only does ebooks. No wlan, no other stuff. It just works. (With the Max 2 I really learned to dislike non-community-maintained manufacturer android)

The specs look good on paper but as it is often with Android-ware, the reality is often different because of the mess that is Android. If this was a normal tablet (not eink) the condition of the software for the price would be unacceptable.

I found it works best either with running native Linux text interface apps in termux (with a bitmapped font you can set A2 mode without the font suffering quality loss because there's no aliasing) or via VNC displaying content passively. The SoC has enough pull to make that usable. You can also hack the device a little (with rooting) and kill the android stuff and run GNU/Linux distro out of a chroot enviroment. It's complicated, though.

The other way I found for me is a "reverse adb" telnet/ssh connection via usb and sharing a GNU screen session. Also kinda hackish. You can do some scripting with the Termux API and for example open pictures and pdf files and what not via commands typed from your computer. As primary, normal monitor, this thing is not a joy, alone because of the stupid resolution problem. I wonder if the Dasung fares batter but from what little I heard, it doesn't really. Apparently it needs a (crash-prone) windows/linux driver to work, which frankly is astonishing if it's true. Chinese drive-by engineering at it's finest, if true.

All in all, IMHO the Onyx is a serviceable screen and even computer if you can live with the shortcomings, but after using that thing now for a while, I have to say it's not good. It's basically a cheap Chinese Android tablet with an expensive screen that feels like it has been designed to look good on paper. (I also haven't checked either but I guess in typical chinese crapdroid fashion, they haven't released the kernel sources in direct violation of the license, as it is par on course with chinese companies like this)

That all being said this is my perspective, other people care much less about security and up-to-date kernels and free software and stuff. This is me. It bothers me to have a computer that's locked down and at a dead-end like this. I know a lot of people don't mind.

There is no good eink monitor, sadly.

(Notice I haven't mentioned screen speed/modes etc. at all, I frankly don't see them as a problem like other people seem to do, that's just the nature of eink. I find framerates of ~5-6 FPS for text and semi-static graphics not a problem, you honestly get used to it)

03-13-2019, 11:11 PM	#625
elementarythree Enthusiast Posts: 26 Karma: 39999 Join Date: Aug 2018 Device: none	If you need a small monitor you can get one for the fraction of the cost (although compared to bigger monitor still expensive) with standard LCD technology. They will do better with graphical content, alone because they have colors and refresh at 60 Hz, of course. If you shop carefully for a high resolution they will also have an incredibly sharp picture because of high DPI, even making tiny fonts readable. I have such a screen at work. They're basically tablet screens attached to a chip that drives them and takes different (HDMI etc.) inputs in a monitor-esque case. I guess they're mostly expensive (still not nearly as expensive as eink) because there isn't a huge demand. Nice to have though. 1080p at 12" looks very sharp. The eInk screen on the Onyx Max 2 is nice for text and static graphics that don't require color. The biggest issue I have with the Max 2 is that Onyx put it together poorly. From the unsafe kernel (has a years-old vulnerability that is very easy to exploit - probably only one of many and it's android will probably have tons of security issues too - the Max 2 is not safe to use on the internet, frankly) to this bizarre resolution thing with their monitor app. For what it costed it's almost insulting, really. Then there's the simple engineering stuff. The case feels and looks kinda cheap for a device that expensive. The power button and HDMI connector at the bottom. All that small stuff that adds up. The buggy ereader app. I have an old Sony PRS-350 which feels much nicer and I use mainly for reading. I bought it used for 40$. (and a new battery for 10$) It only does ebooks. No wlan, no other stuff. It just works. (With the Max 2 I really learned to dislike non-community-maintained manufacturer android) The specs look good on paper but as it is often with Android-ware, the reality is often different because of the mess that is Android. If this was a normal tablet (not eink) the condition of the software for the price would be unacceptable. I found it works best either with running native Linux text interface apps in termux (with a bitmapped font you can set A2 mode without the font suffering quality loss because there's no aliasing) or via VNC displaying content passively. The SoC has enough pull to make that usable. You can also hack the device a little (with rooting) and kill the android stuff and run GNU/Linux distro out of a chroot enviroment. It's complicated, though. The other way I found for me is a "reverse adb" telnet/ssh connection via usb and sharing a GNU screen session. Also kinda hackish. You can do some scripting with the Termux API and for example open pictures and pdf files and what not via commands typed from your computer. As primary, normal monitor, this thing is not a joy, alone because of the stupid resolution problem. I wonder if the Dasung fares batter but from what little I heard, it doesn't really. Apparently it needs a (crash-prone) windows/linux driver to work, which frankly is astonishing if it's true. Chinese drive-by engineering at it's finest, if true. All in all, IMHO the Onyx is a serviceable screen and even computer if you can live with the shortcomings, but after using that thing now for a while, I have to say it's not good. It's basically a cheap Chinese Android tablet with an expensive screen that feels like it has been designed to look good on paper. (I also haven't checked either but I guess in typical chinese crapdroid fashion, they haven't released the kernel sources in direct violation of the license, as it is par on course with chinese companies like this) That all being said this is my perspective, other people care much less about security and up-to-date kernels and free software and stuff. This is me. It bothers me to have a computer that's locked down and at a dead-end like this. I know a lot of people don't mind. There is no good eink monitor, sadly. (Notice I haven't mentioned screen speed/modes etc. at all, I frankly don't see them as a problem like other people seem to do, that's just the nature of eink. I find framerates of ~5-6 FPS for text and semi-static graphics not a problem, you honestly get used to it)