Still have a working, obsolete PDA? *PIC*

[rkawakami]

Smartphones are pretty recent and not really to my liking but I do have a nice collection of Palm Pilots I've accumulated over the last ten years.

Triggered by your mention of Palm PDAs and phones, I dug out my Zire 71.

<-- Click for 65KB 600x800 image

It's been on the shelf since being replaced by an iPod Touch many years ago. Of course the battery was dead but after a night in the charging cradle, it's alive again . Be interesting to see how long the charge lasts. I can't remember if this unit is the one I changed the battery on; I have at least one more Zire somewhere in the house. After playing with it again, launching some of the applications (before the term 'apps' was created) and remembering the Graffiti strokes, it's amazing what they managed to fit inside 16MB back in the day. Used it for several years both in my pocket as a regular PDA and in the car with an external GPS module. It wasn't too efficient as a GPS since you had to load maps by county; a limitation no doubt to the size of the RAM. The map files were downloaded from a CD and stored on an SD card. You would then copy what you needed into RAM.

edit: Found the other two Zires. One is now sitting in the charging cradle. We'll see what happens with that one and the third.

[MisterB]

Right now I have:

A Palm M505: The last of the old Dragonball processor based Palm Pilots. The Dragonball is basically a 68030 in miniature. The power of a Mac SE 30 in a Palm Pilot.

A Palm Tungsten T, first of the Tungsten series.

A Zire 71.

A Palm TX, the last of the Tungsten series and my personal choice as the best Palm PDA. Full color backlit display and great battery life.

A Life Drive. This one is a bit unusual. System wise it is similar to the TX but it has a 4gb microdrive inside so has more internal storage than any other Palm PDA. Due to this, it doesn't get the battery life of the TX. It is also a bit thicker and chunkier.

I've had most of the others at one time or another. These are the ones I've kept.

I had a Dell Axim X51v for a while too. It was the most powerful PDA I've ever had. I just didn't like the platform that much. The simplicity of Palm OS was much preferable to Windows Mobile.

[pianowizard]

I had a Dell Axim X51v for a while too.

I had a Dell Axim X51v as well. It was truly impressive then, and it remains the only PDA I have ever owned.

It was the most powerful PDA I've ever had. I just didn't like the platform that much. The simplicity of Palm OS was much preferable to Windows Mobile.

Windows Mobile might indeed be too versatile for a PDA or smartphone, but after using it for over 5 years (first WinMo 5 on the Axim X51v, and later WinMo 6/6.5 on an HTC Touch Pro2 smartphone), I now find Windows Phone 7 and 8 to be crippled. Windows Mobile was almost a desktop OS and may be somewhat equivalent to Windows RT.

[dorronto]

I still have the original Palm Pilot 1000 or 5000 or Personal or Professional, without a back light. Don't remember but I know that it's old.

I have to look and verify. I believe I also upgraded the ram in it. (Someday I will put it up on Ebay)

Also have a Palm Tx and Lifedrive that work.

I actually have more hidden in my house somewhere. (probably III's)


Ron

[emeraldgirl08]

Used to have a Dell Axim X30 and a Dell Axim X51v. Eventually sold both of them as my needs changed. I sold the Axim X30 to my younger sister and on a recent trip to visit the family I was surprised to see that she still has it! Not sure if it is working but it was a blast from the past seeing it again

[tarvoke]

no clue what crate it's even in, or I'd take a pic. but: Newton MessagePad 2000.

never was able to find an affordable ethernet card for it

[gnawzie]

nice! makes you wonder how much more useful an iphone is compared to old PDAs besides watching movies or playing games

[twistero]

I still have 2 Handspring Visor Deluxes. Modded one of them to take power from the USB dock instead of batteries, so it can run PalmOrb (simulates a simple LCD screen that can be controlled from the connected computer) forever when plugged into a server.
I also used to have a Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 (collie), but threw it away during my last move.

These were all bought dirt cheap for tinkering though, never actually used them in day-to-day life.

nice! makes you wonder how much more useful an iphone is compared to old PDAs besides watching movies or playing games

Well, an iPhone does have a significant advantage there: a persistent Internet connection.

[rkawakami]

Six days after being given new life, about 20 minutes playing with it and then dropped into my laptop bag to sleep, my "main" Zire is down to about 75% of a charge. The other two have also seemed to have taken a good recharge. I can't see going back to using these on a day-to-day basis after getting spoiled by the iPod. With 32X the amount of DRAM memory, which at times still isn't enough, along with a WiFi connection to the internet, the iPod is obviously the more useful of the two. Still, during the time that they were the newest toys on the market, the Zire did its job well. Even though text entry on the Zire requires a little practice using the stylus and Graffiti, at times I like that system better than the virtual keyboard that pops up on the iPod. When used in portrait mode, it's not wide enough. Change to landscape mode and half the screen is taken up by the keyboard. The Zire's Graffiti area is split between letters on the left and numbers on the right. There's no "shift" key; just draw the letter in the middle of the Graffiti area. Going back and forth between letters and numbers gets a little maddening with the iPod (Hello? Passwords?? We're told to use caps, numbers and special characters.). I'll see if I can keep the Zires charged up from now on; running out of juice causes all data to be lost, the drawback of a DRAM-based memory storage system.

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[GomJabbar]

Does this count??? http://www.tankraider.com/DOSPALMTOP/hp200lx.html

I still have a working HP 200LX with 2 MB RAM, circa 1995. Comes with DOS 5.0, Lotus 123, Quicken for DOS, HP's venerable calculator that has a built-in Time Value of Money calculator, does multiple conversions, and can solve algebraic equations.

It also came with other software pre-installed, such as Appointments, Note Taker, Memo, Data Base, and a couple of games. I installed the following software on an added 15 MB PC card after I bought it: Wordperfect 3 for DOS, and a complete version of the Bible that is fully searchable. I used to could print from the 200LX when I had a working HP ink jet printer with a serial port.

I still use my HP 200LX nearly every week!

http://www.tankraider.com/DOSPALMTOP/HP200LXorig.jpg

[QWERTY Andreas]

I have an Axim x51v and an iPaq 114 in my drawer. Both are just fine.

With the rigth application a Windows Mobile based PPC can replace a laptop. They can do most tasks that a computer is used for on regular basis.

[Block3r]

Does this count??? http://www.tankraider.com/DOSPALMTOP/hp200lx.html

I still have a working HP 200LX with 2 MB RAM, circa 1995. Comes with DOS 5.0, Lotus 123, Quicken for DOS, HP's venerable calculator that has a built-in Time Value of Money calculator, does multiple conversions, and can solve algebraic equations.

It also came with other software pre-installed, such as Appointments, Note Taker, Memo, Data Base, and a couple of games. I installed the following software on an added 15 MB PC card after I bought it: Wordperfect 3 for DOS, and a complete version of the Bible that is fully searchable. I used to could print from the 200LX when I had a working HP ink jet printer with a serial port.

I still use my HP 200LX nearly every week!

http://www.tankraider.com/DOSPALMTOP/HP200LXorig.jpg

Excluding old nokia cellphones, I have a 1999 Siemens IC35 palmtop very similar to yours. Someday I must try to connect it to my Siemens C35i cellphone or to Thinkpad via RS232

[Cloud!]

I have an IBM WorkPad, a couple of Ipaq 2210, an Ipaq 2410 and an Ipaq 114, but none of them have been turned on for ages. Maybe i'll dig them out one day, but with a one-year old in the house, my play-time is very limited.

[Norway Pad]

I recently came across a sale consisting of brand new IBM Work Pad C3 units in sealed boxes on eBay. http://www.thinkpads.com/forum/viewtopi ... 50#p756550 I bought one because I collect IBM equipment, and I have no hopes of actually getting any use out of this unit. But it will be interesting to open it up, turn it on and see what it can do.

[MisterB]

I recently came across a sale consisting of brand new IBM Work Pad C3 units in sealed boxes on eBay. http://www.thinkpads.com/forum/viewtopi ... 50#p756550 I bought one because I collect IBM equipment, and I have no hopes of actually getting any use out of this unit. But it will be interesting to open it up, turn it on and see what it can do.

That's a Palm Dragonball PDA rebranded for IBM. I can't remember which Palm model it corresponds to. It uses the standard Palm sync cable.

[Tasurinchi]

That reminds me of my old Palm V (or Vx?) I was about to buy one of those C3's for a couple of times since then appear now and then in the local eBay here.

I also have a Compaq PDA using Windows (CE?), I used it for a while to play Lucasart Games using the ScummVM engine while commuting to work I must still have it somewhere...

[Norway Pad]

Mine is the 8602-40X, which is the Palm V, with 2MB RAM.

Do you happen to know if the syncing software is compatible with Win2K? According to the specs on thinkwiki.de, the syncing software is compatible with Win 95/98/NT, but as these were offered for sale as late as July 2001, I assume there should some compatibility with at least Win2K and maybe XP. I have Thinkpads with pretty much all Microsoft OSs, but Win2K and particularly XP makes it a bit more usable.

Edit: I have even been told about the Ultrabay Plus WorkPad cradle. I wasn't aware. If it works, I need to source one.

[MisterB]

I believe that the version of the sync software that came with it will work with Win2k but It's been awhile. The oldest Palm I have is the M505 which has USB sync. I think the newer versions of Palm Desktop will support this device and serial sync and they work with Xp. You can sync via the infrared port too if the PDA has an infrared port. Most of the Palms do.

[WizardOfBoz]

The sad thing is that it was easier to synch my Outlook calendar with either my Palm V or my Axim than it is with my Android phone. Sheesh.

[SurrealMustard]

I still have my previous three devices - a Samsung Epic, HTC Diamond, and HP iPAQ 4150.

http://i61.tinypic.com/5k22dy.jpg

Used to have a Palm m500, but that got sold years ago. Sort of wish I still had it.

The sad thing is that it was easier to synch my Outlook calendar with either my Palm V or my Axim than it is with my Android phone. Sheesh.

Oh, don't even get me started on that. When I first moved from Windows Mobile to Android years ago, I was tearing my hair out trying to find a way to sync it up. After installing a half a dozen different programs, I found that "MyPhoneExplorer" (a freeware solution) works better (by far) than anything else, paid or free.

MOD EDIT: picture is WAY too big, tags removed. Please read the Forum Rules, especially Section 5.

[Kasm279]

Mine is the 8602-40X, which is the Palm V, with 2MB RAM.

Do you happen to know if the syncing software is compatible with Win2K? According to the specs on thinkwiki.de, the syncing software is compatible with Win 95/98/NT, but as these were offered for sale as late as July 2001, I assume there should some compatibility with at least Win2K and maybe XP. I have Thinkpads with pretty much all Microsoft OSs, but Win2K and particularly XP makes it a bit more usable.

Edit: I have even been told about the Ultrabay Plus WorkPad cradle. I wasn't aware. If it works, I need to source one.

You can get the very latest Palm Desktop/HotSync software and it works just fine with basically every Palm OS device ever made. There's a 64-bit USB driver made by Acceca, too.

As for my collection. I'll get a picture or something tomorrow. I'll just say there's a lot...

[Sir_Andross]

Oh hey I have one of these in my bedroom up on the shelf!

Lovely little thing. I had a few dead pixel (black stuck pixel) problems but that was easily fixed! I have also on hand a broken Xperia that ran Windows Mobile 6, I'm still trying to repair it. And I have an imported Handspring Visor Prism, and an HP Jornada 680 running Windows CE.