Is there a computer I can use in sunlight?
June 21, 2009 2:58 PM Subscribe
I desperately need a computer I can use in the sun. Any ideas?
It's really sunny where I live and I not only love working outdoors but I'm more productive when I'm not sent back home and cooped in just because sunlight makes computer displays unreadable. I write a lot and I'm willing to spend up to $2000 on a sunlight-insensitive Mac or Mac-compatible laptop or conversion kit. I love reading my BeBook's 9 inch E-Ink screen on the beach and everywhere else - so even small, smudgy and ratty is fine by me. Thanks for any suggestions or hacks - however ridiculous, expensive, cumbersome or difficult.
It's really sunny where I live and I not only love working outdoors but I'm more productive when I'm not sent back home and cooped in just because sunlight makes computer displays unreadable. I write a lot and I'm willing to spend up to $2000 on a sunlight-insensitive Mac or Mac-compatible laptop or conversion kit. I love reading my BeBook's 9 inch E-Ink screen on the beach and everywhere else - so even small, smudgy and ratty is fine by me. Thanks for any suggestions or hacks - however ridiculous, expensive, cumbersome or difficult.
Best answer: Beach umbrella, or perhaps some sort of miniature clip-on awning?
posted by Sys Rq at 3:17 PM on June 21, 2009
posted by Sys Rq at 3:17 PM on June 21, 2009
Best answer: I looked into this recently; unfortunately you might be disappointed by what I found.
There are one or two laptops on the market with "transreflective screen" technology, which is usable both indoors and outdoors. For example, the Toshiba Portege R600 claims to be usable in direct sunlight. I have no idea if you could run OS X on such a machine.
I've never seen an aftermarket screen conversion kit for a laptop, let alone one with this technology and fitting a macbook. So to get a macbook with this type of screen, you might have to wait for Apple to release one.
I also wondered about the possibility of a transreflective external monitor. I was able to find some tiny (7") displays for car entertainment systems, but nothing approaching a proper monitor - which I guess makes sense, because outdoor viewing would be much more useful on a laptop than on a desktop.
Another (rather less high tech) option would be some sort of hood; or as other posters have suggested, some other means of keeping light off the screen, and set the display brightness as high as it will go.
In summary, I've favorited this post, and I'm very much hoping that someone will come along with a good solution for you, but from what I know there are only a few sunlight-readable laptops out there and not many other ways to get such a screen for your laptop.
posted by Mike1024 at 3:20 PM on June 21, 2009
There are one or two laptops on the market with "transreflective screen" technology, which is usable both indoors and outdoors. For example, the Toshiba Portege R600 claims to be usable in direct sunlight. I have no idea if you could run OS X on such a machine.
I've never seen an aftermarket screen conversion kit for a laptop, let alone one with this technology and fitting a macbook. So to get a macbook with this type of screen, you might have to wait for Apple to release one.
I also wondered about the possibility of a transreflective external monitor. I was able to find some tiny (7") displays for car entertainment systems, but nothing approaching a proper monitor - which I guess makes sense, because outdoor viewing would be much more useful on a laptop than on a desktop.
Another (rather less high tech) option would be some sort of hood; or as other posters have suggested, some other means of keeping light off the screen, and set the display brightness as high as it will go.
In summary, I've favorited this post, and I'm very much hoping that someone will come along with a good solution for you, but from what I know there are only a few sunlight-readable laptops out there and not many other ways to get such a screen for your laptop.
posted by Mike1024 at 3:20 PM on June 21, 2009
Best answer: There's some hope that an e-ink laptop may someday come to market. That'd give you a fully reflective display. I don't think you can buy one right now though. (The technical hurdle has been that the e-ink displays have high latency, so can't handle the 60fps that users expect.)
posted by Nelson at 3:31 PM on June 21, 2009
posted by Nelson at 3:31 PM on June 21, 2009
Best answer: XO laptop. Yep, the one they made for the third world country kids. Turn the screen all the way down and it goes to a black and white perfectly readable in the sun setting.
I'll admit it's not the most powerful thing in the world at all, but it at least gives you an option. Not sure when the next Give One, Get One promotion is, butmy fiancee got hers on eBay.
posted by theichibun at 4:14 PM on June 21, 2009
I'll admit it's not the most powerful thing in the world at all, but it at least gives you an option. Not sure when the next Give One, Get One promotion is, butmy fiancee got hers on eBay.
posted by theichibun at 4:14 PM on June 21, 2009
Best answer: I have an XO laptop. I can't touch type on the thing, so, if you're a writer, you might find it frustrating. It also doesn't have enough memory to be useful unless you're content with one app at a time (I don't use SugarOS, but am using Xfce as the GUI).
posted by chengjih at 4:41 PM on June 21, 2009
posted by chengjih at 4:41 PM on June 21, 2009
Best answer: Check out the Pixel Qi laptop screens (Engadget link). I don't know when they're going to actually be available but the link has something that looks like what you want.
posted by roue at 5:43 PM on June 21, 2009
posted by roue at 5:43 PM on June 21, 2009
Best answer: Sadly "Macs" and "Transflective displays" are a disjoint set, as far as I can tell. In theory, one might be able to create a "hackintosh" by installing OS X on a Panasonic Toughbook. I can't find any evidence of anyone online getting OS X running on one, though, so I have no idea what the driver situation is like. There's one site online selling refurbed CF-29s, which have a "daylight viewable" transflective display, for $1900. Bit pricey for an experiment, though, not to mention potentially displeasing to Apple's legal team.
posted by Alterscape at 5:47 PM on June 21, 2009
posted by Alterscape at 5:47 PM on June 21, 2009
Best answer: If you already have a mac then you might try it with inverted screen colors. It helps me sometimes, though it isn't good for everything. You can also set the screen to greyscale first from the Universal Access control panel then invert it.
posted by procrastination at 6:50 PM on June 21, 2009
posted by procrastination at 6:50 PM on June 21, 2009
Best answer: And if you do prefer inverted screen colours, you might want to try Nocturne.
posted by dhruva at 8:17 PM on June 21, 2009
posted by dhruva at 8:17 PM on June 21, 2009
Best answer: Get a laptop with an LED backlight. They cost a bit more ($100-200), but you get better battery life, and the brightness goes up to nuclear levels. Haha. Okay, in all seriousness, on max brightness I can easily read and do work in direct sunlight.
Many brands now offer LED backlighting. Lenovo and Apple come to mind. Try doing an internet search for LED backlit laptops.
posted by dualityofmind at 11:30 PM on June 21, 2009
Many brands now offer LED backlighting. Lenovo and Apple come to mind. Try doing an internet search for LED backlit laptops.
posted by dualityofmind at 11:30 PM on June 21, 2009
Best answer: The Pixel Qi screen that roue recommended should be coming out some time this year, according to the company. It seems ideal for what you're looking for.
For the time being, would something like the thinkTANK Pixel Sunscreen be too ridiculous?
posted by carpyful at 8:55 AM on June 22, 2009
For the time being, would something like the thinkTANK Pixel Sunscreen be too ridiculous?
posted by carpyful at 8:55 AM on June 22, 2009
Best answer: The lenovo tablets have multitouch / multiview which are advertised as being usable in sunlight, which have the added benefit of the digitizer built into the display. Browsing around seems that they work as Hackintoshes, but you might have to put some work into it.
posted by Andrew Brinton at 11:24 AM on June 22, 2009
posted by Andrew Brinton at 11:24 AM on June 22, 2009
Response by poster: Many thanks to everyone for your help. I can't believe I actually have a choice now - I thought I was just doomed.
Cheers, SirStan, Sys Rq, Mike1024, Nelson, theichibun, chengjih, roue, Alterscape, procrastination, dhruva, dualityofmind, carpyful and Andrew Brinton. It's still hard to believe you take the time and the trouble to help a fellow passenger, in the hope other fellow passengers you don't even know about will benefit from your wisdom and generosity.
I'm going to wait for the Pixel Qi (Mary Lou Jepsen is very convincing) but, while I'm waiting and the sun is raging, I'm going to try every single solution offered here, including the daft-looking ones, as I always write where nobody else can see me.
Sunshine and work to you all!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 12:25 PM on June 22, 2009
Cheers, SirStan, Sys Rq, Mike1024, Nelson, theichibun, chengjih, roue, Alterscape, procrastination, dhruva, dualityofmind, carpyful and Andrew Brinton. It's still hard to believe you take the time and the trouble to help a fellow passenger, in the hope other fellow passengers you don't even know about will benefit from your wisdom and generosity.
I'm going to wait for the Pixel Qi (Mary Lou Jepsen is very convincing) but, while I'm waiting and the sun is raging, I'm going to try every single solution offered here, including the daft-looking ones, as I always write where nobody else can see me.
Sunshine and work to you all!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 12:25 PM on June 22, 2009
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posted by SirStan at 3:12 PM on June 21, 2009