Hasta La Gadget!

If you are willing to take a screwdriver to your computer, Pixel Qi’s low-power displays that can switch between color LCD and black-and-white screens could be in your netbook.

The 10.1-inch displays available through makershed.com look like standard LCD screens inside the room. But take them outside and they turn into low-power e-paper like display.

Pixel Qi first showed the screens in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The display called 3Qi operates in three modes: a full-color LCD transmissive mode; a low-power, sunlight-readable, reflective e-paper mode; and a transflective mode that makes the LCD display visible in sunlight.

Pixel Qi has started selling the displays directly to consumers though the company is also working with with PC manufacturers.

For now, Pixel Qi says it can guarantee the compatibility of the displays, which cost $275 each, with only two models of netbooks–the Samsung N130 and Lenovo S10. But the screen  works in most other models, says the company.

Swapping out existing netbooks screens for those from Pixel Qi is a simple DIY tweak, says Pixel Qi founder Mary Lou Jepsen.

“Changing the screen of your netbook is easy, the process takes about 5-10 minutes using a small screwdriver. It’s simple,” she wrote on her blog.

Users have to remove the front plastic bezel of the existing display in their netbook, unlatch the screen, plug Pixel Qi’s display in its place and snap on the screws.

But if you like to see what the process really is like, check out this video from Make magazine.  The 10-minute long video shows how to remove the display off an Acer Aspire One netbook.

Seems like this will be a breeze to do at home and the results should be worth it. Pixel Qi screens consume 80 percent less power in the reflective e-paper-like mode, says Jepsen.

See Also:

• Up Close and Personal With the Pixel Qi Display
• Pixel Qi Offers DIY Swap-In Screens for Notebooks
• Pixel Qi Promises Cheap, Readable, Low-Power Displays

Photo: Pixel Qi screen/Priya Ganapati

[via Ubergizmo via Liliputing]