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Newton

Thinking of buying, got questions

Author	Topic
Becky Slater Starting Member USA 9 Posts	Posted - 30 Jun 2002 : 14:14:31 Hello all... I've been debating picking up a Palm, but I am getting more and more convinced I want a Newton instead. I figured I could get some good advice here, so here goes... #1) I take it the 2100 is the best of the bunch. If I got the dough to spend, would this be the one to get? #2) What software is used to sync with a Mac? Is it readily available for download if the Newton I buy doesn't come with it? #3) Is it possible to sync through OS X's Classic Environment, provided I use a Keyspan serial adapter? If not, I assume my SE/30 can sync with the Newton? Thanks in advance...I love this site! Long live 68k! Edited by - Becky Slater on 30 Jun 2002 14:15:14
thelip Full Member USA 729 Posts	Posted - 30 Jun 2002 : 16:40:02 1) YES totally. It looks like they are going for around $150 with extras (2000s aren't bad either.) 2)Software is free from www.unna.org it's called newton connections utility, or NCU. (for mac or that other os...) 3)YES!!! I just did it yesterday. Also if you get a 2x00 you can get a simple ethernet card (or wavelan for you airport, ask for more info) and you can connect via ethernet. se/30 would work fine too... when debating between the two, i tell friend's that a newton is a handheld computer (and a sweet one at that) and a palm is a glorified organizer. My 2000 has now replaced my laptop, it was a pb165 so that's not saying much, but it's still a fact. the only thing that palms have going for them is that they are small, but i'd give up space for functionality, expandability, and pure apple innovation. _______________________ Sgt. Thelip Heavy Weapons Specialist 950 division Liberated Macs: 12 Edited by - thelip on 30 Jun 2002 16:41:01
Becky Slater Starting Member USA 9 Posts	Posted - 30 Jun 2002 : 17:07:55 Wow! Who could ask for anything more? Thanks a bunch for the response. And, yes, if you have more info on getting it integrated with AirPort, that would totally rock!
thelip Full Member USA 729 Posts	Posted - 30 Jun 2002 : 18:47:06 Here's the link (http://www.ff.iij4u.or.jp/~ngc/eng/newtwave.htm) for a dude's site that developing a wavelan ethernet card driver. I don't have a clue of where it's at in terms of how well it works, but it's just a matter of time before it's a sure thing. He's charging a shareware fee so it can't be too bad. I'm currently talking with the developer about peer to peer with the wavelan cards. for example: I know where I can get a good price on the old school 2.4 ghz 2 mbps cards. I'm thinking of getting 2 and a pb190 (due to having pcmcia slots). I want to route appletalk and tcp/ip through the powerbook out the wavelan card and to the newton. The guy didn't give me much to go with the idea. He doubted the whole thing, so i might just wait for a deal on a base station and go with that. BTW, in another post a few down from this one, i listed a few links of good resources for newton stuff. This old newt has an awesome FAQ that can help you out, but i'm also happy to do what i can. I'm basically obsessed all over again with the newton so i'll be full of updated info for quite a while. Sgt. Thelip Heavy Weapons Specialist 950 division Liberated Macs: 12 Edited by - thelip on 30 Jun 2002 18:48:18
~Coxy Leader, Tactical Ops Unit Australia 2822 Posts	Posted - 30 Jun 2002 : 18:47:42 quote: the only thing that palms have going for them is that they are small, but i'd give up space for functionality, expandability, and pure apple innovation. Exactly. "Does your Palm do HWR. It doesn't? How embarrasing!" ~Coxy - Leader, Tactical Operations Unit Mayor of NuBus City v3.0
Becky Slater Starting Member USA 9 Posts	Posted - 30 Jun 2002 : 19:01:51 thelip, about getting obsessed with Newton all over again, I feel like I missed out the first time around. The PR was so bad on the early Newtons, so I never followed them much. It seems that by the time they were getting good, Uncle Steve killed them. I'm just amazed at how useful they can be today, and still outshine the Palm offerings. Anyway, thanks for the help...let the hunt begin!
thelip Full Member USA 729 Posts	Posted - 30 Jun 2002 : 19:05:44 Ok, i have to rephrase one of my answers to you're original questions. as far as in osx, what i have had success with has been these 2 setups: With ethernet card (which i REALLY recommend getting asap. I don't they go very much and i'll post a link in sec of where to find a list of working models.) over my lan with NCU running in classic in OSX. no problems. Everything worked fine. The other thing was with a hardware localtalk adapter which looked something like this: Newton -----> dongle ------> serial cable-----> iprint localtalk/ethernet adapter -----. ethernet cable -----> hub-----> blaa blaa blaa.. i'm getting too detailed. I read somewhere that they were successes with the keyspan serial adapter, but i can't find where i saw it, but i think it SHOULD work. Besides, from what i've heard you can get the network card for cheaper than the dongle if look shop well and it's WAY faster and offers more in terms of practical connections with newer macs. ok, that list of ethernet cards: http://www.chuma.org/newton/ethernet/ _______________________ Sgt. Thelip Heavy Weapons Specialist 950 division Liberated Macs: 12
thelip Full Member USA 729 Posts	Posted - 30 Jun 2002 : 19:12:30 quote: thelip, about getting obsessed with Newton all over again, I feel like I missed out the first time around. The PR was so bad on the early Newtons, so I never followed them much. It seems that by the time they were getting good, Uncle Steve killed them. I missed out too, i'm only 21 but i got my 130 a couple of years ago. I used it religiously until i became a loser and needed no organization. quote: I'm just amazed at how useful they can be today, and still outshine the Palm offerings. Yep, but it's another one of those macs vs pc things. What's funny is that palm hired a bunch of newton developers after the slaughter. (or so i hear) quote: Anyway, thanks for the help...let the hunt begin! good luck and the more people with newtons the more we can talk about them and infect the world!!!! bwhahhahaha..... so the royals lost again... _______________________ Sgt. Thelip Heavy Weapons Specialist 950 division Liberated Macs: 12 Edited by - thelip on 30 Jun 2002 19:13:04
NotEnufCash Starting Member Canada 26 Posts	Posted - 01 Jul 2002 : 14:59:34 quote: ...as far as in osx, what i have had success with has been these 2 setups: With ethernet card <snip> over my lan with NCU running in classic in OSX. no problems. Everything worked fine. The other thing was with a hardware localtalk adapter which looked something like this: Newton -----> dongle ------> serial cable-----> iprint localtalk/ethernet adapter -----. ethernet cable -----> hub-----> blaa blaa blaa.. i'm getting too detailed... Sweet! I just got an Newt-compatible ethernet card off eBay. And you're right; Way cheaper than a dongle. See? And the seller isn't ripping me off on shipping to Canada either! Double score! Anyways... You're saying I might not need a dongle after all? To add packages and stuff? I was worried I might need a dongle just to add NIE on there... but I'm pretty sure my Newt's already got NIE on it. Is there any way to tell for sure? A certain package I should have or something? Now I just have to wait for the card to arrive... Private NoCash Localtalk Engineer 2nd Class 68ks Liberated: Ummm... Does a Newton count? Proud owner of a Newton 2100, a Quadra 610, and a Powerbook 520c... Oh, and the G4/733 of course
NotEnufCash Starting Member Canada 26 Posts	Posted - 01 Jul 2002 : 15:05:14 Aww crap... Just read this Looks like I'm gonna need a dongle just to get the correct 3Com drivers onto the newt Last resort before shelling out the cash: Anybody in Calgary, Alberta (or anywhere near here) with a dongle they want to lend me? Or sell me perhaps? I'll pay all shipping expenses... Pretty please? Back to scouring eBay I guess Private NoCash Localtalk Engineer 2nd Class 68ks Liberated: Ummm... Does a Newton count? Proud owner of a Newton 2100, a Quadra 610, and a Powerbook 520c... Oh, and the G4/733 of course
thelip Full Member USA 729 Posts	Posted - 01 Jul 2002 : 18:04:20 Yeah, i guess you would need the dongle that never occurred to me, i feel so stupid. does your 520c have infrared port on it? that might work, i don't know for sure. hmmmm... i guess i should find where to get interconnect plugs and see about making them from scratch, that might be cheaper. I don't know at all. grrrr... i'm suddenly really mad about getting that info wrong. _______________________ Sgt. Thelip Heavy Weapons Specialist 950 division Liberated Macs: 12
Trash80toG-4 NIGHT STALKER USA 2899 Posts	Posted - 01 Jul 2002 : 18:12:55 quote: Yeah, i guess you would need the dongle that never occurred to me, if dongles aren't readily available, how about the modems i've seen. i think they're slow, but you could cobble something together to emulate a phone line between the newt and a matching speed modem on the mac which would cost next to nothing. dunno, i vaguely recall circuits that'd do that for file transfers, is ther a terminal app built into the newt? jt �. Trash Hauler: call sign: eight-ball C.O. AC-130H SpecOps 68kMLAAF
thelip Full Member USA 729 Posts	Posted - 01 Jul 2002 : 18:14:34 does anybody know exactly what the interconnect port is called? so i can search for the proper name. _______________________ Sgt. Thelip Heavy Weapons Specialist 950 division Liberated Macs: 12
thelip Full Member USA 729 Posts	Posted - 01 Jul 2002 : 18:26:22 built in software is an apple connections app, basically what it does is searches the network for a machine that's running NCU. the base os supports infrared or localtalk. the model software comes with NIE (newton internet enabler) A while ago there was a dude that was making homemade dongles and selling them, if i could find out how, which i bet is just matching pinouts and find the parts easily, i'll pose them. I made my own connecter for my ti-83 when the adapters were $50. I spent around $5 for the parts. _______________________ Sgt. Thelip Heavy Weapons Specialist 950 division Liberated Macs: 12
thelip Full Member USA 729 Posts	Posted - 01 Jul 2002 : 18:28:37 DO'OH: NIC Connectors [Updated 10/14/01] This is the hard part. They are almost impossible to find. The connectors that plug into the MessagePad used to be made by JAE. They were part number RX04-26P-SF1. The recommended dealer used to be Kensington Electronics. Don't bother calling them. Neither JAE nor Kensington have any left. The connectors haven't been manufactured for quite a while. I've heard some people still have a few on hand. I have no idea how to find them. If you are desperate, you can break open a serial port adapter and desolder the connector from the circuit board. http://www.eskimo.com/~millerd/nicadapter/index.html A while ago, i was at crapshack and was talking to the man behind the counter. To make a long story short he mentioned a place in downtown kc that makes custom connectors for people. I never looked that place up, nor do i remember what it's called, but i a little research could be done and i could find out what they'd cost to make. ugh, this is really annoying. _______________________ Sgt. Thelip Heavy Weapons Specialist 950 division Liberated Macs: 12 Edited by - thelip on 01 Jul 2002 18:32:56
thelip Full Member USA 729 Posts	Posted - 01 Jul 2002 : 18:54:47 ok, after some looking i've come to 2 realistic conclusions. 1) you have to get a dongle. I'm sorry to all of those that read my misinformed comment above. 2) the only possible place to get a dongle is ebay or apple. the part number to mine is 590-0756. I wish you all the best of luck. I'll think of someway around this for those of you without dongles, but i'm not going to promise anything. _______________________ Sgt. Thelip Heavy Weapons Specialist 950 division Liberated Macs: 12
NotEnufCash Starting Member Canada 26 Posts	Posted - 01 Jul 2002 : 21:16:24 Whoa! Don't beat yourself up over it. I kinda expected that I'd have to get a dongle. I just stubbled across you rpost and was like "Wow! That could work!" Not your fault. As for the dongle, I found a guy selling an internal kit (puts a serial port to the left of the NIC port) but it's about 65 US. Looks like eBay for me. I do have a modem card that's recognized and works. I just don't have a terminal-like application for the Newt (unless maybe the Dock app works...) It's kind of like a vicious circle. No way to get software onto the Newt without drivers for my ethernet card, No dongle so you can't add the drivers for the card, no drivers = no card = no adding software. Add a dongle and it all just clicks BTW - I tried Apple a while ago. That was a no go. Keep the Newton faith alive though! I'm off to Canada Day fireworks! With my Newton! Private NoCash Localtalk Engineer 2nd Class 68ks Liberated: Ummm... Does a Newton count? Proud owner of a Newton 2100, a Quadra 610, and a Powerbook 520c... Oh, and the G4/733 of course
~Coxy Leader, Tactical Ops Unit Australia 2822 Posts	Posted - 01 Jul 2002 : 21:24:29 If you're good with soldering, it's not that hard to put a serial ort onto your Newton. Basically, you solder hookup wire over the pins of the AppleTalk transciever chip. ~Coxy - Leader, Tactical Operations Unit Mayor of NuBus City v3.0

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