Picked up an "untested" eMate -- a few questions

[Mighty Jabba]

I got this "untested" eMate on eBay for $35 shipped, which seemed like a heck of deal. Even included a nice stylus. I figured even if it didn't work, it would be a cool object to have. I had a couple of Newtons many years ago, so I am still kind of familiar with the OS, but have never had or even used an eMate. It didn't come with an AC adapter, and while I have heard of people potentially damaging their eMates using third-party adapters, I was pretty reluctant to buy an adapter without even knowing if this thing worked. So I found one that I had that seemed close and tried it. The green LED turned on, but there was nothing on the screen. But after a bit I realized that the contrast was just adjusted all the way down, and it was working fine! 

My first question is, if this adapter seems to power it fine, should I worry about trying to get a genuine adapter? Is there any chance that the internal battery still holds a charge?

Also, the clamshell seems extremely difficult to open (the hinge seems unnaturally tight) but closes normally. I've heard about ribbon cables getting messed up on these, so I think I will just leave it open all the time for now, but does anyone have any ideas about what might cause this? Anyway, I'm excited to play around with this.

 

[Mighty Jabba]

Turns out the battery does hold a charge and I think I’ve been using it for at least an hour, mostly with the backlight on, and it still has a little left. 

I decided to open it up to see if I could fix the hinge problem I mentioned above, and I’m happy to report that I was able to oil the hinges so they are working fine now. Before it wouldn’t open beyond about 90 degrees, but now the screen will lay flat, and it’s much easier to open as well.

The only real problem I had (aside from not really knowing anything about the internals of an eMate, which slowed me down at first), was that I forgot to align the sliding potentiometers for contrast and volume, so I had to open it back up and fix that. 

 

[KnobsNSwitches]

Nice work! The eMate isn't hard to take apart but the first time is tricky. I've done the same thing w/ not lining up the sliders.