[HH] X-ray machines & mobile electronics

[Bill Bogstad]

This is slightly off-topic, but might be relevant to those of us who
like to travel with
our gadgets.

I just got back from a trip to Spain with my family and had some very
bad luck with consumer electronics.   I had two cellphones and an HP
Touchpad tablet stop
working during my trip.   The cellphones were new/cheap unlocked GSM phones
that I had specifically purchased to use with pre-paid SIMs in Spain.
 I bought the Touchpad new when HP had their fire sale back in 2011.
The only event that I can think of that would explain the sudden
failures is that they all went through security (X-ray) scanning
machines between when they were last working and when I noticed they
had failed (a couple of hours at most).   One of the cell phones & the
Touchpad went through a scanner at a museum. The other (identical
model) cell phone went through a scanner at a train station.  All of
the devices claim to be charging when I connect them to their chargers
(including on-screen displays/animations) but never work.   The cell
phones eventually claim to be fully charged, but won't turn on.   The
Touchpad stays on the "emergency charge" screen and never boots.

Has anybody else had similar experiences?   Any ideas on why the
devices claim to charge, but won't boot/turn on?   I'm pretty much
resigned to the fact that they
are all now headed for recycling but would like to understand better
the failure mode.

Thanks,
Bill Bogstad