Thinkpads Forum

Hello,

I just found myself a stellar little bargain. WorkPad Z50 - that PDA/come laptop thing that runs Windows CE Handheld PC Professional Edition that IBM released in... well 1999/2000 I think?

I have just won a nice little one, all the accessories and a 340MB microdrive for £25 on eBay.

Already really looking forward to receiving it (I have owned a number of Win CE machines in the past, a Jornada 720, Philips Velo 500 and the one I still own because it is the ultimate pocketable computer that runs on two AA batteries, a Velo 1, well it's ultimate as far as I'm concerned)

Does anyone else own a z50?

What do you think of it? Do you have a nice high resolution pictures of it for this geekess to salivate over?

And can you still get the battery for it? (The one I am due to receive still works but I cannot imagine it being that great)

I will take some photos of it as soon as I get mine

Should go very nicely with my T40

Vicky

Thanks for moving this, I was umming and arr-ing where was best, I plonked it in the General section because I thought "it's not strictly a ThinkPad"... anyway thanks

I'm having a right old solliloquy here with myself ain't I

Anyway I got the little natty thing today and--man does it rock.

Remember, £25. So that's about $48 USD at current rates I am guessing.

I got the following:

- Mint z50, no a scratch, ding or anything, new trackpoint, looks brand new. Keyboard tactile and 'punchy'.
- Power adapter
- Battery that so far is on 89% after about an hour's use, not bad for an old battery.
- 340MB MicroDrive (Compact Flash) doody that seems to work 100%
- 48MB total RAM!

The latter is a sweet little unexpected gem considering these things came with 16MB by default and this one has the grace of having that rare 32MB RAM upgrade.

Very very happy bunny here!

Vicky

Hello,

Nice price!!!
Especially for a 48 mb upgraded model.
As per the battery questions, there have been several auctions for z50 batteries. As the ultimate solution, you can get a dry cell battery pack. It allows to use AA batteries!!!

Thanks,
Val

Yes the batteries seem to be around which is good...

However, how long does this thing run on 8 AA batteries?

I'm thinking of making my own dry cell pack if I can't get one, as I have the Z50 HMM and it doesn't look too difficult and using 8 2700mAh AA rechargeables.

I am never letting this thing go, it's the best solution for portable writing ever, second to pen and paper of course

Vicky

Edit: (3/3/07) Battery life on the device since Thursday is: 19% remaining today. It's not been used constantly but that has surprised me as I expected the battery to be shot but I'm guessing since it has 48MB and a micro drive the previous user may well have had a new battery installed too as it looks like an item that has been looked after...

...until I got it and lost the IrDA cover for it on the first day. [censored]!

Honestly, I've never used my dry cell pack. I have one standard and one extended batteries and bever been out of power yet - so I'm good now. I keep the dry cell pack as a retirement option when the Li-On batteries finally die

Val

Z50 owners, please, give me advice. I wait for a Z50 but I have no experience with PDAs and Win CE.

Does exist something like recovery CD for these machines? I know I will get only the PDA/notebook and power supply, that´s all. What to do if operating system crashes? On the net I found neither installation disks nor windows ce for sale.

Sorry if this question is too stupid.

Thank you.

Hi,

Just make a hard reset.
Cheers