The Apple Newton 2100
Bit of a technology rant so non geeks please ignore my post! :) -

For the uninitiated this was the last in the line of Apple PDA's production finished in about 1998, large touch screen with handwriting recognition and still today proclaimed by some Fan boys as the best PDA ever.

Anyway I digress finally after a few years of wanting one I recently purchased one from everyones favorite online marketplace.

Unfortunately its missing a dongle needed to connect the serial cable to I can connect it to a PC.

This means I can't download the wifi drivers to use it over wireless, in fact it means I can't download any software to it all as the Infra red uses an obscure standard, (however you can update the drivers to use IRCOMM but not if you have no way of syncing the device to start with).

So in short its crap, I can't add anything to it via serial as I don't have the dongle or the cable, I can't use IR as nothing supports the standard, I can't use wifi as no drivers are built in, and I can't use a normal mode as despite having a pcmcia one that works and will dial out there is no internet or terminal software built into it.

I can't copy anything to the PCMCIA memory card as it uses an obscure format all of its own and isn't recognised in a pc.

In short the whole thing has been a colossal waste of time and money and I'm about to take it down the road and throw it in the river.


The next on my list is a tablet pc, I've always wanted one of those maybe a Fujistu Stylistic running XP or 2k but i'm sure that will probably turn out to be a load of rubbish as well.
I've nearly bought a Nokia N800 a couple of times as well, but if everything else is anything to go by no doubt that will be a load of junk

I'm still searching for the ultimate cheapish wifi internet device for IM, Web and Email access, to replace a Psion Netbook - watching youtube etc would be a bonus -Anyone any ideas for one that would actually work?
/ rant over!!
(Titanix, Tue 1 Jul 2008, 21:06, 12 replies)

The thing is 10 years old
what do you want?
( Mrs Entity is in hiding., Tue 1 Jul 2008, 21:21, closed)

get an eeepc :D
( Azra3l Lubrication Persuasion and Brute Force ™, Tue 1 Jul 2008, 22:17, closed)

Have you tried
the PCMCIA card in a Mac?
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Tue 1 Jul 2008, 22:18, closed)

This might be of help if you've not found it already :)
www.unna.org/unna/apple/documentation/n2platform/n2-nidg.pdf
(Bids How much is that window in the doggy?, Tue 1 Jul 2008, 22:19, closed)

@Liveinbin
It's probably just for the geek value! Most of the computer equipment I own I rarely do much with.

If we're on the subject of old PDAs, I recently bought an Atari Portfolio on eBay.
( idonthaveafunnynickname Drink-Aware? Sure. I'm aware I want another drink., Tue 1 Jul 2008, 23:57, closed)

what Az said!
I love my EEE and spend more time on it now than my computer upstairs. It even fits in my little shoulder bag so I can trot about with it.
( vix0r was not Matthew on, Wed 2 Jul 2008, 0:08, closed)

erm
I'm selling two PDA's on eBay at the moment. Gaz me if you want the links
( fuck shit up the best you never had, Wed 2 Jul 2008, 0:21, closed)

Gigabyte U60 UMPC
I've just got one and it's class.
Pretty cheap too £422 with delivery from expansys, I've got it tethered via bluetooth to my 3g phone and woosh, b3ta on the move. Plus I'm running an N64 emulator on it. OOT FTW.
(allyourbasekris Hotdog, Jumping Frog, Alberquerque, Wed 2 Jul 2008, 9:43, closed)

iPhone
You could give it a try - although the memory capacity is crap, the user interface is out of this world. Depends if you're an Apple lover or hater really.
(Deskbound You insignificant speck of dust, Wed 2 Jul 2008, 10:03, closed)

Get an eeePC
As others have said, get an Asus Eee PC. It's a cracking bit of kit.

www.eeeuser.com/
(FiatPanda, Wed 2 Jul 2008, 13:30, closed)

I should have mentioned
- I've already got an EEE PC from when they first came out.

It is a good bit of kit

I like the older stuff just for the geek value, and because now I can afford to by all the tech stuff I lusted after as a kid.

Cheers for the PDF link I have now sourced a dongle off ebay via germany so as soon as that arrives I just need the cable.



Atari Portfolio - nearly bought one off Ebay last week oddly enough but but talked myself out of it as theres no chance of getting the net on it etc
(Titanix, Wed 2 Jul 2008, 17:35, closed)

N800
The N800 is pretty good and it's open source Linux based so even if Nokia take the p155 there should be plenty of apps ported over.
(Benzyl, Wed 2 Jul 2008, 20:46, closed)