Kindle DX long-term storage: how to?

[milivella]

TL;DR: best practice for long-term storage of Kindle DX?

Hi. I have two Kindle DX's:
1. It's three year old. I use it everyday.
2. I've recently bought this one on eBay; it was just delivered to my house. It's sealed (I guess there has recently been a Kindle DX sale on Amazon Warehouse?).

Now, my plan is to keep using #1 as far as I can (i.e. until it breaks - I hope it happens very very far in the future!), and then switch to #2.

My question is: what should I do to #2 to be sure that in let's say three years it works as well as possible?

Some notes that you may find useful:

- Kindle #2 is still sealed.

- I've used the generic verb "to do" ("what should I do...") because I'm interested in every side of this: e.g. testing the Kindle to check if it works (or not); getting it at a given battery level before storing it; storing it in a given environment (temperature, humidity, ecc.); charging it periodically (or not); using it periodically (or not); etc.

- I have done a cursory search on the web and found little (I guess buying a gadget and planning to not use for years is a quite unusual situation): nothing about Kindle Dx's in particular; and just the advise to make sure a lithium battery is roughly at 50% when you store it.

- Ask me if you need any more detail.

Thanks.

[HarryT]

Correct. Charge the battery to the 40-50% level, and top it back up to that level every month or so. If possible, store it in a cold room (not freezing, but cold).

After three years, though, the battery isn't going to be in great shape no matter what you do. It will almost certainly have lost around a third to half of its original capacity. You just can't store lithium batteries long term.

[sabryna131]

I purchased a DXG from Amazon Warehouse a few months ago and had to go through the support team to get the 3g working, as did others. It was really easily done with a few back and forths with kindle support and tech support but you should make sure your 3g is working before storing the device. If it is a couple years before you use it there might be problems with finding someone at amazon who knows how to do it.

[HarryT]

I just don't see the point in storing any current eInk device for 3 years, and the Kindle DX isn't even a current device! There are already far better 9.7" devices available (eg the Onyx M96 range) and there will be even better ones in 3 years' time.

[NullNix]

Originally Posted by HarryT

After three years, though, the battery isn't going to be in great shape no matter what you do. It will almost certainly have lost around a third to half of its original capacity. You just can't store lithium batteries long term.

Actually, you can, and it's much the same way you store books for the very long term: store it in an atmosphere devoid of oxygen. Given the availability of airtight containers and relative cheapness of argon cylinders (it *is* 1% of the atmosphere after all), this is possibly less wildly impractical than it sounds. A bit less. Perhaps.

[barryem]

I think the point of storing a DX long term like this, if someone is particularly fond of the DX, is for peace of mind. At the end of 3 years, if it's been well cared for, there's a good chance it'll still be fine. And there's some chance it won't be. I suspect everyone involved realizes that.

Barry

[milivella]

Just a note to thank everybody who replied!

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I just don't see the point in storing any current eInk device for 3 years, and the Kindle DX isn't even a current device! There are already far better 9.7" devices available (eg the Onyx M96 range) and there will be even better ones in 3 years' time.

While you are correct, the Kindle DX is, as far as I'm aware, the only one having a keyboard. (Maybe it even always has been the only one?) I can imagine that the OP got the DX specifically for that reason.