Noob questions (my first emate)...

[tomlee59]

For $4 I got my first emate. Doesn't work at the moment, but assuming that it can be induced to do so at some point, what choices are there for browsers? I understand that there's Newtscape and NewtWWW...are there others? And which of these is best? And are there imap-compatible email clients? I have low expectations, but it sure would be fun to surf and email with this device, however primitively.

 

[ChristTrekker]

A little Googling finds browsers called Courier and LunaSuite. The first is GPL, the second is discontinued. Does that help at all?

 

[tomlee59]

It sure does -- many thanks, ChristTrekker. Have you tried any of these? I'm up for a certain amount of experimentation, but I'd also like to benefit from the collective wisdom of Forum members.

 

[Rodus]

I've found Newtscape to be the best with NetHopper a very close second, a word of warning though, surfing on an eMate is going to be slooooow. It's slow on my 2000 which has a 162 mhz StrongARM cpu, the emate only has a 25 mhz chip.

For email (IMAP) try MailV

and for all your other eMate needs: http://www.unna.org/

 

[tomlee59]

Thanks, Rodus! That website seems to be *the* Newton place -- I'll be spending a lot of time there, I see (assuming that I resurrect this unit).

As for surfing, I've got my expectations set pretty low. After having surfed with the Mac Plus (on dialup, initially, at a blazing 14.4), I think the eMate will seem spritely in comparison. It'll be more for the thrill of seeing it done, rather than for its utility, that I'll be playing around with it.

 

[beachycove]

The eMate is a great machine for its intended uses. Accept none of the usual insults regarding your new toy.

I have fiddled with several of these over the past months, and while my experience of the eMate as such is not particularly noteworthy, Newton interest is scant around here, so I'll offer such help as I can.

A "hard reset" is the first thing to try in getting the machine operational: press both power on button on the keyboard and the reset button on the bottom simultaneously, holding them in together for a few seconds. A Newton typically requires a hard reset if it has been left without power for even more than a few hours; it will chime if it starts up.

It might be good to have it plugged in for an hour or two beforehand: there is a capacitor inside that needs to store a charge.

If that fails, I would check to see if the ROM card is properly seated under the rear cover. If both slots are filled, then you have a bonus of the relatively rare memory upgrade (tends to cost $40+).

Given the existence of the unna archive, there is little reason to want to preserve any old software that might be on the machine, so there is nothing to fear from a hard reset; the "real" software is in the rom, anyway, and you can't wipe that with a reset of any sort. The add-ons can go on later, and a hard reset is best if you want to install the requisite packages for networking.

I have been a Newton (MP2100) user for 10 years. Welcome to the club.

 

[tomlee59]

I deeply appreciate the tips, beachycove. I will perform the hard reset dance at the first opportunity.

It would be nice to get it working. It looks like a neat little machine for writing on the go, especially given the terrific battery life. I hope that this unit doesn't suffer from the dreaded "hinge spring cable poke" problem that seems to be a relatively common failure mode, from what I can gather. The lid seems to move smoothly, but maybe that doesn't mean what I hope it means...

 

[Rodus]

If you do have any plroblems getting it up and running or need extra parts then this chappie, http://newtonsales.com/ does sales and repairs. Nothing wrong with putting a bit of money into an old machine of you are going to get some good use from it, besides it is our hobby.

 

[equant]

I've had an eMate for well I don't know. I got it new after they discontinued, so 10 years? I've used it for many things, and am quite fond of it. I do think the HWR is a bit questionable. Not sure why this is. I think it's more the ergonomics than the software since the 2x00 do so well. Perhaps there's something about the processing power that makes a difference.

I got the upgrade a few years ago off of ebay for about $50. It seems to have made the eMate faster, and definitely gives it a bit more memory, but since my days of heavy use are over, I can't really compare the before and after results. Still, if *I* had a non-upgraded emate, I'd keep my eye on ebay for one cheap. You never know.

I have a wireless card working in it, but am sligthly annoyed with having to reconnect to the network for each TCP/IP app I run. The TCP/IP connection isn't persistent.

Still, I'm quite fond of it, and have even developed a few simple things over the years for newtons. I keep thinking I will write robotfindskitten and an mpd client for it some day.

Oh, and regarding your actual question... I agree Newtscape is best, but Netshopper is very good too. My favorite internet tool is NetTest. It lets you send TCP or UDP. Useful when you need a "second opinion", or whatever. I use it every few months to debug whatever network BS I'm working on.

 

[tomlee59]

If I get this up and running, I'll definitely keep an eye out for an upgrade kit, equant -- thanks. It is too bad that the TCP/IP connection isn't persistent; I wonder why they made that choice? Oh well.

And thanks for the link to newtonsales.com, Rodus. It looks like they have pretty much all the bits that I'd need.