Our team is interested in purchasing a Tablet PC to use in the cleanroom; however, we have no experience with tablets and are seeking input from individuals who have experience working with them in a cleanroom.
What brand(s) of tablets are/have you used? Are there certain tablets that are easier to use while working in the cleanroom?
Do you conduct any regular cleaning of the tablet; if so, are there specific cleaning reagents that are safe to use on the exterior of the tablet or did you purchase a protective cover for it that may be more resilient to cleaning agents?
Were there any unanticipated problems that you experienced with your tablet in the cleanroom?
My recommendation would be to place the tablet in a large ziplock (or generic version) bag. The bag can be sprayed down with IPA and changed out on a regular basis and your tablet is safe. The tablet should function through the clear plastic.
The Tablet computer that we use is the Motion Computing C5 (http://www.motioncomputing.com/products/tablet_pc_c5.asp). This is a slate-style tablet computer that we use throughout some of our hospitals, and has been designed specifically for healthcare in mind and has been approved for many standard hospital cleaners.
I think you would have to think about your workflows in how to use a Tablet PC in the cleanroom (i.e. would it be mounted next to the hood like a small touch-screen monitor, or would it actually be carried?) to determine how to best utilize the device.
If it is carried, I agree that covering it in a large ziplock back would be best for cleanroom applications, but there may be issues, depending on the device, with fans and heat dissipation if it is entirely enclosed. While the trend with tablets these days is towards capacitive touch-screens that can be used with just the finger (such as the iPad), a tablet that can be used with an ordinary stylus would be preferred (i.e. the fewer fingers touching the screen, or touching the screen cover, the less likely there is to be a touch contamination. Get a box of disposible stylii and replace them reguarly).
