Time for a new tablet ..

Some years ago I got Asus TF101 Transformer tablet with keyboard. Considering that I don't like on-screen keyboards very much (to put it very mildly)  the keyboard has been quite handy for occasional work email and such. But either way, the fact is that there is absolutely no way tablets could replace even laptop in my work use in foreseeable future. Still, when traveling, especially with kids, a tablet is absolutely work every cent to make flights more tolerable.

Over the years table has taken some - nay, a lot of abuse but still has held together surprisingly well. Only now it stopped charging completely so it was time to upgrade (although new tablet doesn't feel like upgrade - it's essentially exactly the same. Disappointing, I was kinda expecting more).

Here's the time I apologize for forgetting my SLR home -- I intended to take some pictures from insides of the thing, but I guess you'll have to look for some teardown videos/pictures elsewhere.

Suffice to say, every time I take apart something like this I'm amazed on the systems engineering that has gone into these things. Packing everything needed in relatively tiny enclosure and getting it to work as well as it does -- damn. And here I am, trying to figure out how to put way simpler device together. Granted, my design constraints are quite different - everything absolutely has to be on single PCB and all internal parts must be off-the-shelf type, so no custom modules, connectors or FFC/FPC cables are allowed to make things easier.

Unfortunately I could not figure out what was wrong with the charging. Measuring around power/battery seemed to indicate that everything is well, but still it doesn't work. Well, that was just about the extent I was willing to go to to revive it, so guess it goes to the scrap bin.

But before that I needed to clear all personal data from it. Since it didn't change anymore and couldn't even run on external power the usual factory reset route wasn't really available, so I used my ESD generator (quick googling didn't result any better links so that has to do as an example) to destroy both processor and flash chip inside. My generator is a bit bigger than one shown in article and capable of generating almost 20 kV spark so after few tens of zaps the thing should be essentially dead. At least it doesn't react to power at all now... (and yes, I did disconnect the internal battery before zapping it, thought of burning lithium on my face wasn't too inviting)