To Boldly Go Where No Z Has Gone Before... The Bath!

[pelrun]

It's started getting cooler here in brisbane - natives would probably say it's freezing, but they don't know what cold is. I've consequently fallen into the habit of taking long baths in the evening with a good book (long showers are verboten due to water restrictions, and the books don't survive long). I've run out of unread books and decided I need some way of using my Z instead. Yes, I am probably nuts.

Some heavy plastic sheet, a hot iron, and 30 minutes later, and I have a waterproof pouch for my Z which is flexible enough to let me use the keyboard or a stylus easily, but heavy enough that it's unlikely to tear. I've currently got it undergoing leak testing - I put a berocca tablet and a weight into it and tossed it in the bath. If it's not filled with orange foam in the morning I might consider doing a live test...

[Capn_Fish]

Seems awfully risky to me. I don't fancy the idea of holding expensive electronic devices over water, even if they are nearly entirely waterproof.

How do you intend on sealing the pouch? By just ironinig it closed with the Z in it?

[jfv]

Have you consider heating your house instead?

[pelrun]

Ironing the pouch closed is a bit extreme  The plastic sheet I'm using has a lot of cling to it, and the pouch is quite long so there's a large section that self-seals. I'm planning on making a long clamp type thing to close it properly, though.

In any case, I don't expect to ever drop my Z in water, I'm not *that* clumsy. And I'm probably more likely to use it as weatherproofing for outdoors use instead of actually in the bath, anyway

[Jon_J]

Get a pelican case. I've got the 1020 as shown in pic. (sorry for indoor tungsten lighting, I didn't use the flash)
This case also floats in water and has a bladder vent to let pressure escape, but not to let air/water inside.
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My Zaurus slipped overboard in my friend's boat, and after we used the dip net to "fish" it out of the river, the inside of this case was perfectly dry.
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That was a story I just made up, but these cases are to be used near or in water.

[Capn_Fish]

But you can't USE the Z when it's in one of those cases, can you?

[Jon_J]

But you can't USE the Z when it's in one of those cases, can you?

No
But for the ultimate protection, this case is very good at what it does.
To continue my story above, after we fished the Zaurus in the 1020 case out of the river, I dried off the case and went below and used the Zaurus (out of the case) in the boat's cabin, where it is safe from falling overboard....

[BarryW]

But you can't USE the Z when it's in one of those cases, can you?

No
But for the ultimate protection, this case is very good at what it does.
To continue my story above, after we fished the Zaurus in the 1020 case out of the river, I dried off the case and went below and used the Zaurus (out of the case) in the boat's cabin, where it is safe from falling overboard....

Otterbox makes a generic pda case that has a vinyl membrane that will allow touch screen interaction.  I've used them with an iPaq and a Nokia N800.  Don't see why it wouldn't work with the zaurus.  You won't get to use the hard buttons, but anything on the screen will be accessible.  It should also float if accidentally dropped.  I wouldn't push it under for very long, but it should work just fine for ebook reading.

[speculatrix]

I once dropped a library book in the bath, despite being very careful. I used a hairdryer to dry it and stop the pages sticking - wafting the pages to keep them moving. The book wouldn't close properly afterwards, its profile was a 40 degree wedge! I left a heavy weight on top of it for a week to squash it a little flatter, before returning to library!

OK, totally off topic, but possibly amusing.