Cheap Fire HD Tablets

[d6jg]

Would there be any negative consequences to having a Fire device permanently plugged in, i.e. on constant charge?

none that I can think of. Of course we have all charged a device for days until next time we have used it, right?

I have thought of building a pi player and using the tablet as a display instead of, say a pi touchscreen. But I haven't thought it through. I know that you can go (tablet) settings->developer options and enable "stay awake" if you wanted a continuous display. But, it would be nice if it could stay awake, but go into a screensaver when not playing. Again, I have not thought it through...

Jim

On the contrary keeping anything that contains this sort of battery constantly plugged in will over time reduce the capacity of the battery until it is nil.
I have had to replace the battery in numerous customer’s laptops for exactly this reason,

[Redrum]

On the contrary keeping anything that contains this sort of battery constantly plugged in will over time reduce the capacity of the battery until it is nil.
I have had to replace the battery in numerous customer’s laptops for exactly this reason,

good point, of course you are right. the old laptop with docking station syndrome, when the laptop is left in the dock indefinitely. I imagine good charging management would help lessen the damage, but...

but the use case being discussed is to us a cheap tablet as a display, so my assumption is that once deployed for that purpose, the loss of battery capacity is secondary (don't need the battery). As long as it doesn't rupture, etc.

Which brings up an interesting thought, finding a way to run a tablet strictly on a supply (disengage the battery)

But, we digress, I started the thread as a heads up for cheap throwaway tablets!

Jim

[Redrum]

On the contrary keeping anything that contains this sort of battery constantly plugged in will over time reduce the capacity of the battery until it is nil.
I have had to replace the battery in numerous customer’s laptops for exactly this reason,

Of course when I said "none that I can think of" I should have said "I really am not knowledgeable in this area". Thanks Jim for setting things straight.

For completeness, a quick search yielded allot of discussion on how to use a tablet as, basically a kiosk. I read a few threads, not enough to get specifics, but the idea is to run a smart plug (or similar home automation) to turn on the charger at say 20%, off at 80%. As I said, I didn't dive into the details (what device, how to get the tablet to report battery level), its not even close to the top of my "I'd like to do" list. But it seems it's doable.

Jim

[RobbH]

....Which brings up an interesting thought, finding a way to run a tablet strictly on a supply (disengage the battery)....

I think many devices won't start unless the battery has some very minimal charge. Would it be theoretically possible to replace the battery with a capacitor?

[RobbH]

Of course when I said "none that I can think of" I should have said "I really am not knowledgeable in this area". Thanks Jim for setting things straight.

For completeness, a quick search yielded allot of discussion on how to use a tablet as, basically a kiosk. I read a few threads, not enough to get specifics, but the idea is to run a smart plug (or similar home automation) to turn on the charger at say 20%, off at 80%. As I said, I didn't dive into the details (what device, how to get the tablet to report battery level), its not even close to the top of my "I'd like to do" list. But it seems it's doable.

Jim

If your tablet has Google's play store installed, Tasker is a scripting engine for Android that can trigger actions based on charge level. Tasker turns on my phone's charger overnight if the level drops to 20% (otherwise, it turns on at 4:30) and turns it off when battery level reaches 80%. In my case, it does this by using ssh to run a command on a Pi, which controls a relay. I assume it could also be done with a smart plug.

There is also a free, open source scripting engine for Android, called Easer. It's available from F-Droid, and could probably do the same thing, but I'm not certain about that.

I use old phones in several locations around the house, essentially as non-interactive kiosks, displaying the current outside temperature and LMS Now Playing info. These are not protected the same way, so they stay plugged in all the time and the batteries fail after a year or two. I don't like treating them as disposables, but that's what they have become.

Curiously, two old Fire tablets have lasted several years this way. The batteries are still good for several hours on the rare occasions when they are disconnected from power. I do not understand how they have lasted as long as they have, but I am certain they can't last much longer.

[Redrum]

If your tablet has Google's play store installed, Tasker is a scripting engine for Android that can trigger actions based on charge level. Tasker turns on my phone's charger overnight if the level drops to 20% (otherwise, it turns on at 4:30) and turns it off when battery level reaches 80%. In my case, it does this by using ssh to run a command on a Pi, which controls a relay. I assume it could also be done with a smart plug.

There is also a free, open source scripting engine for Android, called Easer. It's available from F-Droid, and could probably do the same thing, but I'm not certain about that.

I use old phones in several locations around the house, essentially as non-interactive kiosks, displaying the current outside temperature and LMS Now Playing info. These are not protected the same way, so they stay plugged in all the time and the batteries fail after a year or two. I don't like treating them as disposables, but that's what they have become.

Curiously, two old Fire tablets have lasted several years this way. The batteries are still good for several hours on the rare occasions when they are disconnected from power. I do not understand how they have lasted as long as they have, but I am certain they can't last much longer.

Hi Robb;

One thing I love about this forum is you can start a thread with a very basic question of comment, then the ensuing discussion can morph into some really cool and interesting topics and information. Thanks for your posts.

I tend to trash my phones, so every couple years I buy a new one (also a reason I stay with a mid level phone). When I put the old ones in the box with the other old ones, I think "such a shame" since they are a powerful microcomputer with a touch display. It's good to hear how you repurpose yours. I have some flip phones in the box too

I do have one of mine repurposed. I have a blue tooth fish finder/depth gauge called "ibobber" (looks like a big bobber and you use a spare rod to toss it into the water). When I go kayak fishing (small freshwater lake), I use an old phone for the purpose so if I drop it into the lake...oh well. But I haven't yet

Back to the subject, using a phone/tablet as a UI with say a pi, squeeze amp, etc, the best thing would to have some automation to start/stop charging. There was allot of discussions I found upon searching regarding this. So, many others see the value in repurposing old/cheap devices.

Jim
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[Redrum]

Hi;

I received and configured the two fire tablets, and thought I should update what I found out and what I learned, including a warning on brand new devices. I decided to edit my first post, go there if interested.

Jim

[Redrum]

Bumping this thread to let anyone interested know that Woot! has the deal again - $20 USD for 16GB HD8, 7th and 8th Gen Fire Tablets, $35USD for 32GB HD10. $10 more to double the GB. Here in the US, not sure of elsewhere,

https://www.woot.com/plus/amazon-kin...5080_649268340

See the Op if you want to understand how use these tablets with Material as LMS Kiosks, or, just a cheap android like tablet. If you do, and want modify them per fire toolbox, it's important to not connect them to wifi out of the box (before running the toolbox) as the older OS build will be updated automatically to a more restrictive OS.

I have used and distributed to friends the HD8 with a cheap kickstand shell and it's a neat option for Now Playing and LMS control.

Jim

[Kid Audio]

Bumping this thread to let anyone interested know that Woot! has the deal again - $20 USD for 16GB HD8, 7th and 8th Gen Fire Tablets, $35USD for 32GB HD10. $10 more to double the GB. Here in the US, not sure of elsewhere,

https://www.woot.com/plus/amazon-kin...5080_649268340

See the Op if you want to understand how use these tablets with Material as LMS Kiosks, or, just a cheap android like tablet. If you do, and want modify them per fire toolbox, it's important to not connect them to wifi out of the box (before running the toolbox) as the older OS build will be updated automatically to a more restrictive OS.

I have used and distributed to friends the HD8 with a cheap kickstand shell and it's a neat option for Now Playing and LMS control.

Jim

Thanks for the heads up Jim. I just picked up a couple of refurbished HD 10's at $35 apiece.
Wayne