Smoking with Electronic Reader

[Barcey]

Are there any smokers out there who've been using an E Ink device for a while?

I have a friend considering buying one for his father who could make use of the large font capabilities but his father is a heavy smoker. He was asking if there are any problems cleaning the screen etc...

[jbenny]

Originally Posted by Barcey

Are there any smokers out there who've been using an E Ink device for a while?

I have a friend considering buying one for his father who could make use of the large font capabilities but his father is a heavy smoker. He was asking if there are any problems cleaning the screen etc...

A putty knife ought to work Seriously, the sticky tar that builds up on everything is not good for electronics gadgets (or a persons health). In the past, I have reluctantly worked on computers that were owned by heavy smokers. Yuck is putting it mildly. Imagine spraying a smelly adhesive on everything and then letting all the daily dirt, hair, etc. accumulate for years.

He should clean the screen and case regularly. I don't know for sure, but a typical glass cleaner should be safe. You might want to email Bookeen and ask.

Believe it or not, that nasty smoke and tar residue will eventually find its way inside the reader. The effect this will have is to diminish any cooling that the chips are getting via convection. I also suspect that the tar residue has a corrosive effect. How much this will diminish the life of the reader is anyone's guess, but it can't be good.

[UncleDuke]

the reader never bothered the cigar and the cigar never bothered the reader

[jamesdmanley]

i dont see why smoke would effect the reader. all the hardware is solid state so it should be fine. hdd's really dislike smoke though

[RWood]

Originally Posted by jamesdmanley

i dont see why smoke would effect the reader. all the hardware is solid state so it should be fine. hdd's really dislike smoke though

They are sealed units, unless you opened one...

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by RWood

They are sealed units, unless you opened one...

I am not so sure. They warn you not to allow water to seep under the edge of the screen so it is likely that is is not sealed.

Dale

[JoeC]

I sometimes enjoy smoking a cigar while reading. If ash happens to get on my reader I simply gently blow it off. It's no problem at all.

[RWood]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

I am not so sure. They warn you not to allow water to seep under the edge of the screen so it is likely that is is not sealed.

Dale

My reference was not to the Reader (I agree with you that they are not sealed) but to hard disk drives which are sealed. Once, long ago and far away, the platters of a hard disk (like the RPO-9s of the mainframe era) were exposed and you had to be very careful around them. Today's units are sealed from the factory and unless you open them or remove the seals they are not exposed to the elements.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by RWood

My reference was not to the Reader (I agree with you that they are not sealed) but to hard disk drives which are sealed. Once, long ago and far away, the platters of a hard disk (like the RPO-9s of the mainframe era) were exposed and you had to be very careful around them. Today's units are sealed from the factory and unless you open them or remove the seals they are not exposed to the elements.

Yea, I worked on some of those. 30 megs of storage the size of a washtub. The unit itself was the size of a washing machine. No smoking in the computer room.

However, it is possible for smoke to interfere with connectors, sockets and other electronic items inside a reader but it would probably take years to see any effect.

I had a friend (work associate) that used to refurb Ampex commercial tape recorders. The first thing he did was take them all apart, then run all the circuit boards and cables through his dishwasher at home, replace all of the capacitors, and rebuild them. They always worked like new.

Dale