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South Africa, Pretoria
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Review on JUN-ELECTRON 3.5 inch Raspberry Touchscreen Display Monitor, 320X480 Resolution - E361 by Chris Miller

Revainrating 3 out of 5

Less enthusiastic and Raspbian windows do not fit the screen

(updated 1/1/20) In fact, without the screen/fan, it's a few degrees colder. Ventilation is just too poor when the screen and fan are installed, either that or the screen itself generates heat. On the plus side, heatsinks definitely keep it running cooler than a standard Pi. However, I strongly recommend drilling additional ventilation holes in the case in case a screen is installed. I'm also still not thrilled with the screen itself and wish I'd bought something else. I don't think I'm recommending this to anyone planning to use it to interact with a desktop GUI. I was hoping to use it this way when it's mobile and not using an HDMI port, but the GUI just isn't right for this screen, and it's not possible to switch between screens "on the go" in Deal Breaker. for me. I could see that it might be useful for someone developing specific applications for it, but it's just not generic enough or GUI compatible enough for my needs. I haven't seen that you can't connect BOTH a touch screen and an external HDMI monitor. But although this is my fault, I did not see in the description and reviews that this limitation is not good. The touchscreen is so-so -- you have to press hard with the stylus to freeze input, and it's not very accurate. Don't even try to use your finger. The case is fine except they don't have enough ventilation for cooling. Heatsinks and fans aren't as useful if all the air stays in the case. I overcame 60°C under moderate stress on my Pi. To solve this problem I drilled about a dozen small holes all over the outside of the case and the operating temperature dropped by about 5°-10°C. I'm in my low 50's now. I can drill a bit more, but I'm concerned about loosening or cracking the case. However, my biggest complaint is that some of the window images with the Raspbian GUI are cropped on the right side. Not because the case is blocking it, but because the dimensions of the window appear larger than the screen can fit. I haven't found a way to make the window even smaller. This means that sometimes there are buttons in open windows that I can't see and/or use, even if they're sized to fit the screen. This is made worse by the fact that I couldn't scroll the window to allow applications like VLC media player to access the controls. It might just be an issue I need to learn how to setup things in Raspbian for this screen BUT I have a feeling they would look into this issue and put a fix in the drivers or something. I am not sure if I will continue using this setup or switch to another product unless I can figure out how to fix the screen that is clipping some of the windows and/or just scrolling to the invisible areas reach. Even then, I'm not sure this is useful enough for my needs without being able to connect HDMI on the fly. I may need to upgrade to a 7 inch screen. (Edit 12/27: better explain GUI issue and mention cooling limit)

img 1 attached to JUN-ELECTRON 3.5 inch Raspberry Touchscreen Display Monitor, 320X480 Resolution - E361 review by Chris Miller



Pros
  • There were no installation problems.
Cons
  • Not everything is as good as written