Super-cheap drawing tablet - how does it work?

[Doug3004]

I was browsing a China-direct shopping site and ran across a very inexpensive drawing tablet. It is just for drawing on--it doesn't connect to a PC or anything else. It always draws in a single fixed color against a black background, the drawing color is a dim green. Other sites sell it but the only size is 12" diagonal. Wal-mart has it for $20 but some of the China sellers have it as low as $8. It is electronic somehow (?) and runs off a single large watch-type battery. It has no storage or memory, just a button to erase it. It is very thin, in the pictures it appears about as thick as the stylus pen it comes with.

How does this thing work? I can't find any info on Google, that all just leads to pages about the PC-connected drawing tablets.

One example: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Por...onic-Tablet-Board-ultra-thin/32823765184.html

 

[Alec_t]

It is just for drawing on--it doesn't connect to a PC or anything else.

So what advantage does it have over a pad of paper?

 

[BobK]

Coolness factor.

Bob

 

[davenn]

It is electronic somehow (?)

How does this thing work?

of course it is

didn't you read the description in the link you provided ?


LCD and touchscreen and a microprocessor to control it

 

[Kiwi]

Cool toy for kids to play with to save paper, but no way to save picture.

 

[Doug3004]

of course it is

didn't you read the description in the link you provided ?


LCD and touchscreen and a microprocessor to control it

Yea but a big screen and a logic chip, running off of a single watch cell? The battery looks like a single CR2032.

In actuality I was looking for cheapo LCD screens for my Arduino-level use. It would be nice if this was a microprocessor-controlled screen that could be re-used, but then it doesn't look like any other LCD/TFT/OLED screen I've seen. And it's way cheaper than it should be, even for a single-color LCD screen that big. So I am wondering if it is not something else entirely, an electrostatic version of the (non-electric) magna-doodle toys maybe?

In the manufacturer's defense, they do point out that it saves paper when you have a child that just scribbles most of the time....

I may buy one just to open it and find out. :>|

 

[Doug3004]

Coolness factor.

Bob

Just so you know--if I ever get thrown in jail for murder, it's probably because I found the guy who invented those toddlers' books that have the noise buttons along one side....