Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/04/03/save-70-on-this-secondary-mon.html
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A few months ago I picked up an Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet for $40; I got a $12 case/kickstand for it online. After some trial and error, I found an app called “Twomon USB” for $8 in the Google Play store (you have to do some side-loading to get the Play store onto an Amazon device, but it’s quick and painless).
Is my $60 solution as good as the external monitor I use at home or in the office? Hell no - the screen is too small, and the resolution too high, to make reading comfortable. But what I can do is keep my editor on the laptop screen and my output/log windows on the tablet. The tablet weighs practically nothing, holds a charge for days, fits in my bag alongside the computer, and does all the things one buys a cheap tablet for (music, movies, ebooks, etc.).
Obviously I’m not hanging out in coffeehouses these days - but before the virus hit the fan, Fire/Twomon made my Skcubrats environment MUCH more productive.
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It is a pity that secondary laptop monitors carry these hefty profit margins. 12,5 inches of IPS screen and something to attach it to a laptop should be around $125, if one looks to the manufacturing cost and a reasonable profit margin.
Pro-tip: if you have a newer Mac (2016+) you can use an iPad as a second display.
Display, and a tablet. Pretty cool. Makes me wish I had a compatible iPad and stylus.
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