Dead tablets, brought back to life
Because Android does not have any “smart charging” feature, we discovered last year that many of our Decent-supplied tablets would sometimes swell up. Apple used to have this problem with their laptops and tablets, until they added smart charging to iOS.
We've since added Smart Charging to our de1app (and to the tablet firmware too), but about 30% of the tablets we've sent have been replaced under warranty. We offer a $50 gift certificate to anyone who sends in their now-dead tablet to us.
And now we've started to recondition the previously-dead tablets. We remove the battery, rework the tablet using our battery-free kit, reformat and retest the tablet.
These battery-free tablets are now available for purchase https://decentespresso.com/accessories and they're also available as a no-cost customization for new DE1 customers.
And we owe it all to Eli and Josh from Ground Control. https://www.instagram.com/groundcontrl/
Years ago, they let us share their trade show booth at a Los Angeles trade show (just weeks before COVID showed up!) and explained to me how the touch-screen interface to their brewer works. They take Samsung phones, remove the battery, and replace it with their own circuit.
Josh kindly shared their schematic with us. We couldn't use it as-is on our tablets, but it showed us the way to make it work. Another year of trying various circuits in the real world, and we finally solved it.
We also cheaply sell the battery-free circuit https://decentespresso.com/c?filter=battery and have videos about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCkP_AUMZzw and showing how you can do it to your own tablet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxqdmio7oes
Bugs and I met up with Eli yesterday at their Oakland, California factory, and went out for some Southern Fried Chicken, followed by delicious cup of coffee. What I love about their machine is that it's great theater (super important for a retail cafe) *and* the coffee is excellent. If you work in a cafe and don't know about it, check it out https://www.groundcontrol.coffee/
-john
Updated 2023/04/15