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Not Apple related Palm III

bibilit

Well-known member
i collected this morning a pair of Palm III's.(was 2€ each, but negotiated... 2.5 € for the lot) both weren't complete (a stylus was missing as well as a screen cover)

Both were DOA, the first one was took apart, board was cleaned and both contacts for the batteries were welded back, i also sprayed the board and memory with contact cleaner, and get a working unit :

pict0259.jpg

The second one (IIIx) was a different matter, as the ram/ rom board was missing also :-/

So i used the same treatment to the board, put it back together and swapped the ram/rom board from the working unit, but the only result is a black screen (but maybe the boards cannot been swapped)... so i will keep this one for parts mainly.

In the end i have a complete working unit (i also collected the docking/hot sync station)

pict0260.jpg

 

bibilit

Well-known member
Yes i started collecting those not so long ago, mainly because they are plentiful and really cheap :

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16885

Didn't liked the III series in the first place (mainly because they are huge compared with the V series) but are easy to work at (V's are glued) and powered by batteries (except for the IIIc)

I also collected a Palm Pilot and a Psion 5 (really cute machine)

this morning i left behind a Palm V (not The Vx just the first model) it was just 3 € but was missing the stylus and charging/sync station...and i already have 3 V's !! :)

No Apple stuff unfortunately was found this morning.

 

bibilit

Well-known member
You are right Gobabushka !!

I was surprised to see the empty slot and supposed somebody has removed it in the first place, so was mistaken.

The IIIx is very different from the III (more or less like a SE/30 and a SE...identical in the outside but rather different in the inside)

Boards and screen cannot be compared, and the standard IIIx slot is empty !!

I was looking at IIIx images this afternoon and discovered a working IIIx with no rom board (and discovered that ram and rom were incorporated in the main board)

So took apart once again the IIIx and discovered i could ear the faint click of the digitizer, but without image :)

I had my answer now, the screen is gone, everything else is working.

The screen ribbon is gone bad and pressing down that cable improves things a little bit :

pict0261.jpg

Tried to heat that one with an hair dryer (was bad anyway) but no real improvement was found, as soon as i don't press the cable down, the screen stop working. :

pict0262.jpg

the good thing is... i know what is wrong with it. :)

 

ClassicHasClass

Well-known member
I love PalmOS. I miss it. I did a lot of my own apps with Plua, and maintained the Plua Mac OS X cross-compiler until the project ended.

 

bibilit

Well-known member
As far as i know, the memory board of a III will fit a Palm Pilot.(you will have a III in a Pilot's body)

The cradle is different between both models, but the Pilot should be able to use the III's too ( a bit awkwardly, but pins seems to be the same)

 

bibilit

Well-known member
@ gobabushka

I would love to find the cradle
I'm off this week, so time to try the III cradle... working :)

And time to try it with the Palm Pilot... won't work without an easy fix(the III and the Pilot share a different case and cradle, but the pin out is exactly the same )

Remove a small screw (underneath)

drainfix5.jpg

And remove the front part of the cradle:

drainfix6.jpg

The circuit board (2)is now available:

drainfix7.jpg

The Pilot will slide into and use the Palm III cradle without any problem,...hotsync done.

 
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madmax_2069

Well-known member
Speaking about palm III, i picked up a palm III with dock and a palmpix camera attachment at goodwill for $2.99 USD. The palm works, i just need to get a USB to serial adapter to load up software to use the camera, but i expect it also works as well.

 

gobabushka

Well-known member
theres been a palm iii on the spacecoast craigslist that i keep swearing that i will buy at some point, but i too need a usb to serial

 

madmax_2069

Well-known member
There are a few pictures taken using it on Google, you would assume correctly about poor quality. It will probably never be used being that my phone takes better pictures. Its just a interesting part for a collection if you will.

 

bibilit

Well-known member
Another one :)

just collected a nice Palm M130, nothing included except the Palm (no cradle) but i already have a few of those.

pict0235.jpg

A quick charge, and i get life from it !

pict0236.jpg

The price was just 1 €...so not bad at all.

I left another (Palm Pilot)... was too expensive (3 €) :beige: :beige:

 

tecneeq

Well-known member
Here, feast your eyes on my IBM Workpad, which is a Palm Vx undercover:

DSC02237.JPG

I remember that it came with PalmOS 3.5, you could call IBM and they sent you a CD with PalmOS 4.0, which you then had to write into the ROM. I also remember that i had an app that would overclock the hardware considerably for games or underclock for longer battery time.

Look, it's shiny:

DSC02210-l.JPG

Of course i also have the original keyboard, it's the part behind the cradle:

DSC02213-l.JPG

Here the keyboard is opened and attached to the Workpad. Never mind that the cradle is labelled Palm, i have one with the blue IBM label too:

DSC02225-l.JPG

The IBM Workpad was used via infrared with this freshly cleaned T40 (people, use ArmorAll, it's the bomb!):

DSC01362-l.JPG

I also have a Mac-serial-to-Palm adapter (really a Mac-serial-to-RS232), so i guess i could try if i can connect MacOS 7 and PalmOS 4. |)

 

bibilit

Well-known member
IBM Workpad,
very nice, thanks for sharing, seen only one for sale lately but wasn't spotless.

A "Claudia Schiffer Limited Edition" was also available with a special package and color.(palm Vx)

 

bibilit

Well-known member
I doubt there where many sold in Europe. These where bought for business, not vanity
Probably, the Limited Edition was only sold online, with a software bundle.

I bought a new Vx to my wife (still working fine, used everyday, never had a problem and battery still holding the charge)... for vanity, not business ;D

 
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