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Comment by jitl | Hacker News Reader

I initially got a $100 one, but ended upgrading to an Asus model with a touch screen and built in battery. It can run everything (video and charging the display) over a single USB-C cable.

I used to travel with it and sometimes a gaming desktop, but these days I use it around the house whenever I need a display & mouse for a server that doesn’t have a dedicated monitor. Just today I did a BIOS update with it.

This is the one I got on Amazon in 2020, there might be better options in 2024:

ASUS ZenScreen Touch Screen 15.6” 1080P Portable USB (MB16AMT) - Full HD (1920 x 1080), IPS, Anti-glare, Built-in Battery, Speakers, Eye Care, USB Type-C, Micro HDMI, Smart Case, 3-Year Warranty https://a.co/d/cJKzQi8

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A regular 15.6” 1080p monitor from a no name brand costs 1/3 the price, crazy that touch adds so much to the price.

Also you should ID affiliate links.

How can you tell it's an affiliate?

Coz you don’t know if it’s a real endorsement.

I get that, was more wondering if it was possible to tell if they were using an affiliate link based on the shortened url.

I treat most shortened links as the maker has some interest with it, wants to track something, earn something, which I find dishonest. Assuming this is an amazon url, the product page is not even a long url.

Honest question, if someone genuinely recommends a product, why is an affiliate link a bad thing?

Because you can’t possibly know if it’s genuine? And incentives matter — a non-affiliate link is more likely to be a genuine recommendation.

Yes but spelling it out that it's an affiliate link how does it make a difference?

It lets the reader weigh that information into their assessment rather than blindsiding them.

Because somebody placing an affiliate link and not acknowledging it means it can't be trusted.

Also, why does absolutely everything have to be monetized these days? I come here to read people's honest opinions. I certainly don't expect people to be monetizing their posts.

I suspect the colour accuracy, viewing angles, display tech (probably VA) from a no name make a fair bit of difference too.

Yeah even though both are 1080p, the no name one was much worse brightness and screen-door between pixels, and it’s mini HDMI input port failed due to wear. After it broke I decided to spend more to get something with touch from a trustworthy brand.

The cheap one that broke on me was this one:

Lepow Portable Monitor, 15.6" Portable Screen with Single Full-Function Type-C Port, 1080P FHD, IPS, HDR, Plug & Play, Smart Cover, Lightweight External Monitor for Laptop, PC, MacBook https://a.co/d/4M71Gn5

I just pressed “share” in the Amazon app after looking up the order in my history, that’s what it put in my clipboard.

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