3 ms·

Refurb weekend: New batteries for the Palm Pilots

53 points by zdw 4y ago

ck45 4y ago
Still remembering the slight thrill of replacing (non-rechargeable) batteries in my Palm III. There was plenty of time, but what if I'm going to drop a battery and it rolls under the desk? I did do a recent backup, didn't I? There were mods for turning the cradle into a charging device for rechargeable batteries, but I never managed to try it.
- AshamedCaptain 4y ago
  To be honest I don't remember the thrill; I would only replace batteries when close to a computer, and considering HotSync fully transparent backup/restore worked quite well (or even the pilot-link I was using...) the risk was practically negligible. The only problem is that that it was quite slow for a full restore (even with fancy serial cradle, sigh). Heck, I'd sometimes just willingly let it hard-reset itself just for "cleanliness".
stanski 4y ago
I like that a "repair-hostile" device from back then was one utilizing a label-covered screw.
- 29083011397778 4y ago
  Agreed, though I'd argue the truly repair-hostile move was the soldered-in batteries
omgwtfusb 4y ago
Had to do the same with my Palm TX. Small nightmare, they went cheap and just soldered a bare LiPo to the mainboard, so had to be somewhat precise not to short out the pack.
j45 4y ago
Palm pilot pros were great because they just ran on AAA batteries
sroussey 4y ago
Can I change the batteries on my Newton?
- kalleboo 4y ago
  In the 1x0 series of Newton, it just takes AA's directly. The 2x00 series though, you need to crack open the plastic battery pack and rebuild it, which looks like a PITA
ars 4y ago
I still have my Palm V, and I still keep it charged, all these years later, I've never let the battery fully die. It works fine.
pigtailgirl 4y ago
-- met my best friend in high school because they had a Compaq with an IR port - noticed it had auto accept so I sent it sub7 from my Palm IIIe - rest is history --
prpl 4y ago
my first (portable) digital camera was actually from the Zire 71. My entire graduating class got a m515, but I took it to Staples or OfficeMax to return for store credit, which was the price of the Z71. I used it mostly for games and photos, but had really wanted the wifi card - but the screen at some point.
- LeSaucy 4y ago
  NES emulators ran GREAT on the zire palm pilots.
- testmasterflex 4y ago
  Man did I love my Zire. Listening to mp3 songs while gaming Warfare Incorporated everyday on the bus home from high school
melony 4y ago
I am surprised these old devices don't slow down due to memory failure. I have had countless Samsung Galaxies sent to the bin after their hardware memory slowly failed (you can easily tell because they were running the original factory versions of Android after a full reset, yet were running at a snail's pace)

53 points by zdw 4y ago

ck45 4y ago

Still remembering the slight thrill of replacing (non-rechargeable) batteries in my Palm III. There was plenty of time, but what if I'm going to drop a battery and it rolls under the desk? I did do a recent backup, didn't I? There were mods for turning the cradle into a charging device for rechargeable batteries, but I never managed to try it.

AshamedCaptain 4y ago
To be honest I don't remember the thrill; I would only replace batteries when close to a computer, and considering HotSync fully transparent backup/restore worked quite well (or even the pilot-link I was using...) the risk was practically negligible. The only problem is that that it was quite slow for a full restore (even with fancy serial cradle, sigh). Heck, I'd sometimes just willingly let it hard-reset itself just for "cleanliness".

stanski 4y ago

I like that a "repair-hostile" device from back then was one utilizing a label-covered screw.

29083011397778 4y ago
Agreed, though I'd argue the truly repair-hostile move was the soldered-in batteries

omgwtfusb 4y ago

Had to do the same with my Palm TX. Small nightmare, they went cheap and just soldered a bare LiPo to the mainboard, so had to be somewhat precise not to short out the pack.

j45 4y ago

Palm pilot pros were great because they just ran on AAA batteries

sroussey 4y ago

Can I change the batteries on my Newton?

kalleboo 4y ago
In the 1x0 series of Newton, it just takes AA's directly. The 2x00 series though, you need to crack open the plastic battery pack and rebuild it, which looks like a PITA

ars 4y ago

I still have my Palm V, and I still keep it charged, all these years later, I've never let the battery fully die. It works fine.

pigtailgirl 4y ago

-- met my best friend in high school because they had a Compaq with an IR port - noticed it had auto accept so I sent it sub7 from my Palm IIIe - rest is history --

prpl 4y ago

my first (portable) digital camera was actually from the Zire 71. My entire graduating class got a m515, but I took it to Staples or OfficeMax to return for store credit, which was the price of the Z71. I used it mostly for games and photos, but had really wanted the wifi card - but the screen at some point.

LeSaucy 4y ago
NES emulators ran GREAT on the zire palm pilots.
testmasterflex 4y ago
Man did I love my Zire. Listening to mp3 songs while gaming Warfare Incorporated everyday on the bus home from high school

melony 4y ago

I am surprised these old devices don't slow down due to memory failure. I have had countless Samsung Galaxies sent to the bin after their hardware memory slowly failed (you can easily tell because they were running the original factory versions of Android after a full reset, yet were running at a snail's pace)