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Comment by ja27 | Hacker News Reader

I wouldn't have thought they were lesser-known, but I've been surprised how many people don't know about today's cheap portable external monitors. They're essentially laptop panels with a USB-C+HDMI board. $100-$150-ish and easily found in 15.6" and 13-14", 1080p or 2K. All the ones I've tried have 2 USB-C ports, mini-HDMI, and speakers. This all depends on what USB-C ports your machine actually has and the right USB-C cables, but a single cable can do power and display from the laptop. Or plug the monitor into USB-C PD source and the same cable will charge the laptop and run the monitor. Mine even has a third USB-C "OTG" port for USB 2.0 speed devices. Good for a second screen on the go or debugging single board computers.

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I’m surprised no one has mentioned repurposed iPad screens[0]. I just received mine, and it’s fairly nice given the price. It uses a 4:3 aspect ratio, but that’s fine for secondary content when working on my laptop. It also works great for retro gaming as indicated in the link I shared. I only wish it were in the original iPad case and I could use an iPad stand. As it is, it’s housed in a photo frame with cutouts for the new buttons. I selected the USB C option for mine, which is how I connect it to my laptop. Very happy for $80.

[0] https://misterfpga.org/viewtopic.php?t=3373

I've wanted one for gaming on the go with the Switch and Steam Deck, but couldn't really justify the purchase.

...but if I can pretend I use it as a second monitor for work, then it's OK! :D

I've got a Lenovo Yoga Tab 13 (https://www.amazon.de/Lenovo-2160x1350-WideView-Tablet-PC-Sn...) for "development" purposes. It's a nice tablet with 2k screen and enough power for pretty much everything, Android 13 and the killer feature for me: a micro-HDMI input. It works like a charm with MacOs/Linux as a second screen, but you can also connect a Switch or SteamDeck, grab a controller and you can play everywhere on a 13' screen.

Wow that is a killer feature!

Nice.

The iPad and Mac have Sidecar which lets you use the iPad wired/wirelessly as an additional display for the Mac but it's so damn flaky that I gave up and got the portable monitor.

I do carry a cheap HDMI->USB adapter (Elgato Cam Link knock-off) which lets me use my Macbook as a monitor for things like Raspberry Pi's but not sure what the capture rate is.

What is the contrast/brightness like with these? I've always wanted one for working with two screens on the go but the ones I've seen in public never seemed to get bright enough.

In a cafe or other bright environment they seem to reflect everything around them similar to the way my MacBook screen does which makes it hard to see anything.

I'm speaking only from limited time seeing them from afar though--I've not actually sat in front of one to use or test out in person.

It's bad. I have a ASUS MB16AHP (claiming a brightness of 220cd/㎡, contrast ratio 700:1) and yeah, in a brightly lit room viewing can be difficult. It's ok under normal office lighting but you'll be out of luck if you have sunlight flooding in. I've been searching for a brighter option but most (all?) the current offerings seem to be based on the same or similar internals.

Still, it's a useful device while traveling – nice to be able to plop a decent multi-monitor setup out of a backpack. My model also has a micro HDMI port (and an internal battery) which can be handy if you need a temporary screen for a Raspberry Pi or a machine that usually runs headless.

I have one like yours and it's usually enough - if you are willing to switch your IDE to light mode.

Yeah, I'm a monster who does Solarized Light.

You might be interested in a "field monitor" over in the photography department, though they are often small.

I have a 2200 nit (not a typo) piece of kit: Feelworld P7, very sturdy aluminum body, either camcorder batteries (multiple sleds) or 7-24V, 1920x1200 7" screen, HDMI in & out. Works well. I've seen larger displays.

Do you have a specific model you can recommend? I searched a brighter one out especially (300 nits), read reviews, etc. Paid 200€. What I got absolutely sucks, definitely not 300 nits, glitches half the time I try to use it, doesn't remember my settings. When I finally got around to return it, I discovered the company no longer exists lol.

This seems to be one of the categories where there are 42 different "companies" selling 2-3 actual products just with different branding.

The one I use now is branded YGG. I'd link it but someone already swapped out the Amazon listing to a different model. I think this is very close to what I have: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099DKQS8C/

It claimed 350 nits. Side-by-side with my M1 MBP, I'd say it might be close to that. A lot of them claim HDR but it's some bullshit definition of HDR - definitely not like the MBP's HDR mode.

I think it's a little bit of a crapshoot as to which panel and board you'll get no matter what the branding so somewhere like Amazon with free returns helps. There are a few more premium brands like Viewsonic and Lenovo.

For people complaining about ASUS offering - it did look bad on paper with it's crappy latency and even crappier brightness, so I never pulled trigger on one. I did find some decent options on Ali Express, though.

Got 2 monitors from there - one 15 inch and one 17 inch. Both run in 2k 120Hz. Brightness is OK, never had a problem in a brightly lit room, but I have not tried them out in the sun, like for "working on the beach" type of situation.

When not traveling, I use the smaller one on a VESA arm (the smaller one has screw holes) in vertical orientation for extra screen space next to my 4k larger monitor. And I use the larger portable monitor for sheet music on my piano (connected to Raspberry Pi).

Ordered both from "HDHIFI Store", pretty happy so far.

The wireless second screen feature on Samsung tablets works surprisingly well on Windows for this too! I haven't found the need to use it much though. I don't really bring a laptop when I travel anymore.

I use two 13" 2k monitors underneath a 34" ultrawide. I absolutely love them

I think the reason why is that not many mainstream manufacturers are creating them.

From the top of my head, I only know ASUS.

Dell has some too

Lenovo as well. They're called ThinkVision if someone wants to match that sweet ThinkPad aesthetics.

Viewsonic too. Lenovo has some nice looking ones.

I tried the ASUS ZenScreen MB16ACE and the quality/resolution/rendering was bad compared to a Macbook screen, I returned it straight away.

I've enjoyed magnetic usb c adapters (20 pin - I've not tried a newer 24 pin adapter).

as a laptop user due to portability constraints, i definitely get their appeal, especially the ones that make a three-screen setup. but they are still a bit too pricey for my tastes and fiddly with the cables.

A lot of tablets also let you use them as second screens!

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