Dasung’s 13.3″ E-ink Monitor Goes up for Pre-Order: $950
The Paperlike combines a 13.3″ Fina E-ink display with custom driver software and a standard USB cable. It first showed up at CES 2015, but it is still under development and won’t be going into production until this fall.
Now a lucky handful of early adopters will be getting a chance to buy a buy one before anyone else.
Earlier today I got an email from Dasung. The company wants to test the market and get feedback from enthusiastic users, so it has decided to produce a limited number of units. Ray Chen, co-founder and CTO of Dasung, told me that later this month Dasung will produce 50 (yes, fifty) Paperlike monitors and sell them first come, first serve.
Anyone who has previously contacted Dasung and begged, pleaded, or threatened bodily harm will be getting an email which invites them to buy a Paperlike.
Half the units are earmarked for China, where it will be sold for 4999 yuan (~$806 USD). The other 25 units will be shipped internationally. The price is a flat $950, shipping included, and Dasung plans to ship in June.
While that is a damned high price, I am expecting that this first production run is going to sell out within days.
LCD screens may not bother me a bit, but I’ve heard from dozens of people who get headaches and suffer other health issues from staring at a computer monitor too long. Even with the high price tag, the Paperlike is going to be a godsend.
While this isn’t the first time an E-ink screen has been used as a secondary monitor, the Paperlike is the first to be developed with that goal in mind. Unlike the many ereader/monitor hacking projects on Youtube, the Paperlike will be running custom software which was developed specifically to give the Paperlike a response time as fast as an LCD screen.
As I discovered at CES 2015, the Paperlike has 3 display modes. In addition to the standard 4-bit 16 level grayscale mode found on your ereader, there is also a mode with only 5 shades of gray as well as a mode with 2 (black and white, basically). The faster modes sacrifice color shades for speed, resulting in a refresh rate which is almost as fast as an LCD monitor.
Here’s a brief clip to show you the Paperlike in action:
https://youtu.be/40ft4UUOIcU
Here’s a longer clip I shot at CES 2015.
If you would like to try your chances at getting a Paperlike, you can reach Dasung at [email protected].
I will be buying one, of course. I am also planning to sell it again a couple weeks later, so at least one person who missed out on the early production run will have a second chance.
Comments
sdxmn April 7, 2015 um 9:05 pm
Looking forward to your review. I wonder whether the company would also give out hardware documentation to interested developers. Clearly, this could be useful for more than just being a used as a monitor. Since this uses USB, I would expect this to have the usual hardware found in any normal reader inside. It is also not clear, how they implement the monitor functionality, that is, for instance, whether this device will be identified as a DisplayLink monitor or whether they’ve written some proprietary (and then possibly Windows-only) driver.
eturgeon April 7, 2015 um 11:02 pm
I can’t wait to read your review ( I’d like also to know if the monitor works only with specific software) and I wish I can get them to sell me one too. I had to take weeks off at my job because I couldn’t stand to watch any monitors, (even TV, projectors, any that emits light). I’ve been having headaches for years, and just reached my limit. I got back at my job recently, but the nightmare is still going on: every day is a struggle. If you truly wish to resell yours afterwards, I’d be very grateful if you considered me!
MK April 8, 2015 um 4:37 am
Would you be willing to resell it to me once you are done with the review?
Nate Hoffelder April 9, 2015 um 1:34 pm
I just got the pre-order form to fill out. It doesn’t list any OS or software restrictions, but it does ask for personal details as well as my OS.
I also got a spec sheet. This is the first one I’ve seen, ever.
eturgeon April 9, 2015 um 1:53 pm
ok. This also means that since I haven’t got this pre-order form offer yet, that I won’t be among the few people who will get one. It was expectable. 🙁
eturgeon April 9, 2015 um 1:58 pm
Still, I was hoping It could be possible, because they sent a email to me weeks ago, from their US division, saying they would do this kind of offer (price being around 1500$), and asked me if I would be interested. I replied them that I would. But I guess they received to many positive responses.
Ray April 9, 2015 um 4:28 pm
Could you please leave your E-mail? Or send an Email to [email protected] again. There must be a mistake.
frankang April 10, 2015 um 9:37 pm
As said by Dasung’s sale representative, it currently supports windows XP, windows 7,and Mac. Support for win 8 and win 10 will later be added through software update.
eturgeon April 9, 2015 um 9:08 pm
I got the email too! Sorry, I forgot to come back to write about it after. I’m glad if I can be among the few happy people who will get to try one. I filled the form and send the money as soon as I got their email.
Manmeet April 10, 2015 um 11:02 pm
I really wish to pre-order it but i haven’t received back any reply yet.
Anyone else besides Nate and eturgeon got reply from Dasung?
Ray April 12, 2015 um 8:40 am
Wait for a few days, there is a little trouble of payment method.
Deanna May 9, 2015 um 7:57 am
I’d be happy to buy it off you after you’re done with it, but I’m not willing to pay the whole $950 for it. 🙂 I don’t expect that you’ll be short of buyers, but if you are, send me an email.
I want the e-Ink screen, but I’m happy to wait for them to come down in price, and to have the bugs worked out.
Thank you for doing a review of it!
Gouvern June 28, 2015 um 12:37 pm
Any follow-up on this pre-order?
Nate Hoffelder June 28, 2015 um 1:27 pm
I’m still waiting to get it. They’re promosing to ship real soon now.
Dasung's 13.3" E-ink Monitor is Now Shipping | Ink, Bits, & Pixels June 30, 2015 um 7:41 am
[…] Over the past couple weeks many readers have asked for a status update on the Paperlike E-ink monitor I bought back in April. […]
Martin July 2, 2015 um 5:32 pm
I can’t wait to read your review. You can add me to your list of interested buyers, provided you haven’t promised it to someone already.
One Week With Dasung's 13.3" E-ink USB Monitor (video) | The Digital Reader July 10, 2015 um 6:20 pm
[…] had the good fortune to get in on the limited production run of the Dasung Paperlike when it went up for pre-order back in […]
ALI October 17, 2015 um 3:14 am
HI,
I HAVE QUESTION ABOUT DASUNG EINK 13" SCREEN. IS THIS SCREEN COMPATIBLE WITH (MICROSOFT SURFACE PRO 3 OR 4) WHEN CONNECTED BY USB CABLE?
THANKS..
John January 7, 2016 um 1:57 am
According to their website, it is compatible with Windows XP?Windows 7?Mac OS, Windows 8?Windows 10 Experience version
Second-Gen Dasung Paperlike E-ink Monitor Now Available at Retail, I Go Hands On | The Digital Reader May 26, 2016 um 12:05 pm
[…] Dasung shipped the Paperlike 13.3" E-ink monitor last year, I was hard-pressed to say anything nice or to recommend the monitor to any but the absolutely […]
Computer Vision Syndrome, or Why We Would All be Better Off With an E-ink Monitor | The Digital Reader June 5, 2016 um 4:48 pm
[…] stand to watch any monitors, (even TV, projectors, any that emits light)," a reader told me last year. "I’ve been having headaches for years, and just reached my limit. I got back at my job recently, […]
Dasung Paperlike HD E-ink Monitor (video) | The Digital Reader May 22, 2018 um 12:09 pm
[…] to have produced an E-ink monitor. They call it the Paperlike, and launched their first model in 2015, then followed it with two more models only one of which, the Paperlike Pro, was worth […]