Do tablets/laptops/portable monitors exist with screens that aren't super brittle?

Submitted by danielrosehill t3_1165bhp in BuyItForLife

So ... given the fast pace of evolution of technology, I think it's fair to say that there isn't and couldn't be a tablet / laptop / LCD monitor that is BIFL (because it's reasonable to expect that the technology will become deprecated or out of date within the average human lifetime).

As a second-best, however, I'd really like to own a tablet, laptop, or portable monitor that has a screen that's tough enough that I don't have to worry about it cracking from fairly trivial use or pressure. Otherwise, I can't really understand why things like portable monitors are that useful (I just had one break after three uses and what I thought was pretty careful backpack transportation while it remained in its case).

Perhaps brittleness is something inherent to current LCD monitor technology. Or perhaps there's a manufacturer which has created a tabled buffered around its frame with non removable cushioning that should render it fairly impervious to accidental drops or pressure from adjoining objects (as in when stowed in a backpack). Either way, I'd be interested in spending more in a product that was at least a little bit tougher.

Any products of this nature out there?

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ItsNotTheButterZone t1_j955u0i wrote

I've never cracked my naked screen Galaxy Tab A but I also put it in a kid's EVA foam case with a handle straight away. Of course the gorram battery needs to be replaced before I can boot it up again & I'm going to have to pay a pro to have a chance at the screen not getting cracked when it's disassembled & reassembled.

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danielrosehill OP t1_j956gnt wrote

I think what I was basically conceiving of here was a tablet that has the foam case "built in" (ie, it's non-removable, part of the product, so one never has to worry about whether the case is on or not). And some tougher glass that's part of the natural display too (if gorilla glass isn't a gimmick that looks like what I need). Both these features seem pretty standard in ruggedized / industrial tablets (the type you sometimes see surveyors using in the 'field'). So I guess that's probably where I need to be looking. Unfortunately .... they cost a pretty penny!

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ItsNotTheButterZone t1_j958zsk wrote

The cases I use that look like this NEVER let the tablet out unless you pry it out. https://www.amazon.com/BMOUO-Kids-Case-Samsung-Galaxy/dp/B01EML8W34/

The industrial tablet selling point for me would be the user-serviceable/removable battery compartment, but paying hundreds more just for that?

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danielrosehill OP t1_j95bplz wrote

I think the IP68-ing / waterproofing (or at very least water-resistance-ing) is an enormous part of their selling point and why they're used by the military / first responders / surveyors.

But yes ... for your average consumer I think this wouldn't be a significant value-add!

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playingdrumsonmars t1_j954h52 wrote

Stone tablets. You think of stone tablets.

But seriously. Either you do something seriously wrong or tablets just aren’t for you. All iPads I have used so far have been tough and have easily outlived their designed product life to the point where after many years they have taken on other uses such as second monitors, weather stations, permanent GPS map screens in vehicles etc…

Go get one, stick it in a robust case from day one, make sure to get a warranty extension from day one that also covers accidental damage and use it like a human. If beyond that it doesn’t work for you then these devices simply are not for you.

And no, tablets cannot be BIFL by design. They are designed to become obsolete just like any other electronics gadget eventually.

Yes I still use the exact same HewlettPackard scientific calculator I used since school 30 years ago … sure … maybe an iPad with proper care and some DIY battery replacements down the road will be usable like that too but who wants to be using 30 year old electronics gadgets?

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danielrosehill OP t1_j95546i wrote

I'm guessing there are one of two explanations:

  1. I'm extrapolating from two cases that happened in quick succession (a Samsung Galaxy tablet that didn't survive a trip in a backpack). And a portable monitor that had about two uses and was sitting on my bookshelf for the past two years. I checked it yesterday to discover that the screen had been cracked. This could be just bad luck.
  2. Another credible explanation is that cheap tablets (the Samsung was < $150 and the portable monitor was a budget one also) ... truly have inferior screens that break more easily.

Otherwise both these gadgets had the same treatment more or less: within cases and within the laptop sleeve of a not overly stuffed backpack. I thought (I accept that I may be mistaken) that that was within the parameters of proper handling/care.

ETA:

I'm discovering the world of ruggedized tablets. They cost a lot more but between the shockproofing and the (apparently) gorilla glass screens ... I'm wondering if this might be the kind of product I was looking for.

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playingdrumsonmars t1_j95jpqn wrote

I have been using smartphones since they 1990s and iPads ever since they came to market. In all these years with all these different devices I only cracked screens twice.

Both devices at the time were already well out of their extended warranty period. I cracked an iPhone screen when it slipped out of my hand while leaving my car - it didn’t have a case, the screen cracked, the phone worked without issues, I had the screen replaced the next day. The iPad was a large iPad Pro and Someone threw it. It was expected to be broken by the impact.

If you treat iPhones and iPads in a reasonable manner they are tougher then anyone could expect them to be, particularly iPhones. I am always amazed by how tough they are when I see sone people who have dropped them dozens of times.

I am sure comparable Samsung devices are similar.

If you are worried about breaking them, don’t get the large screen variants and definitely keep them in a sturdy case.

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arunsballoon t1_j95z2ks wrote

Wait can you tell me more about using old devices as weather stations?

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playingdrumsonmars t1_j95zxfo wrote

Nothing complicated or creative about it I am afraid. In my old apartment I simply 3D printed a bezel that held an iPad mini with attached charger cable, held in in place with the cable hidden.

Essentially I “immobilized” the tablet and had it it in the cable 24/7.

It was still attached to my apple account and ran WeatherPro. It was really very simple.

Once these devices get old and get replaced one has to make a judgement call if selling them for nothing or handing them to someone for whom they are not really helpful (dead battery) or using them for something else.

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arunsballoon t1_j9604ql wrote

Ah thanks. I was thinking you connected it to a weather monitoring station outside for real time hyper local weather haha

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spambearpig t1_j958o3l wrote

Flexible screens are improving but no, there aren’t any great ones in mainstream products.

Samsung and similar bendy phones are the closest I think’s out there and they sure have their flaws and are in most usage cases, more breakable than their brittle counterparts.

One day though, wibbly wobbly fabric-like displays will be a thing. People have been working on it for decades, saw it on ‘Tomorrow’s World’ when I was a kid more than 20yrs ago.

Just not ready to compete with the best of brittle as a display and/or not durable enough just yet. But soon….

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extra_specticles t1_j95dsa9 wrote

Modern MacBooks seem to be not brittle plastic. The aluminum seems to be quite strong.

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