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RE: MedTab
Yeahbut...
The 6" screen - in OEM quantities - runs between $97 and $106. And yes, that $150-$160 per 8" screen *is* the quoted OEM cost from the manufacturers in similar quantities. Ruggedized may well add to the cost, but probably not enough to raise the 'costs' by $200-$700 per unit.
And we're forgetting one *MINOR*, *NIGGLING* detail. Screen refresh rate. The average e-ink screen has a refresh rate that can be, at best, called abominable when compared to a typical LCD screen. Unless they're expected to put up with still images of data monitoring charts, the doctors are going to become real irritated with the device when attempting to study an EEG, or EKG. And while the device would certainly be able to display a snapshot from a CAT scan, the fact that it's limited to 4-level grayscale would make it less than useful. Even just bringing up a patient's records will not be as transparent to the end-user than what a typical LCD will do.
And don't forget that reducing the 'moving' part of the display to a 128x160 pixel sector won't get rid of the need to refresh the entire screen. IIRC, the best refresh rate for e-ink is 1/4 second, with most applications/modes needing 1/2 or 1 second. My Dell Axim refreshes in 1/60th of a second, and does so 60 times per second, all the time.
Yep. this device is vastly overpriced for what it's going to offer. They could have *easily* offered the same thing for under $1,000, and still made a profit - in single unit quantities!
Derek
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