when @radiofreelunch extremely generously offered to send me a "couple" old Newtons, i balked. i had an old MP2100 years ago, and it was tough to get software loaded on them, even with all the correct hardware
driving home an hour later, i thought: what the hell is wrong with me, i'm turning down a free newton?! 😅
a week later, this amazingly heavy bundle of Newtons and Newton peripherals arrived. thank you good sir :D
Pictured:
Newton MessagePad (+box/software)
Newton MessagePad
Newton Message Pad 110
Newton MessagePad 120
Newton Fax Modem (battery-powered!)
there is extensive battery leak/corrosion from the AA batteries on each of them, so they'll spend the next few months getting some TLC. hopefully most survive!
So this #Newton MessagePad 130 showed up on PayPay Fleamarket for $45. Never seen a Newton go for this cheap in Japan (even with massive a black screen burn spot), and they're rare to show up to begin with.
The photos didn't show the screen, but revealed some bad battery leakage (which was also disclosed in the description), but I figured at least it could be used for parts (my pen on my 120 has lost it's end cap!)
I gave the battery contacts a quick wipe down with vinegar, and..
It runs!!! Success!! My first Newton OS 2.0 device.
There’s still a bunch of corrosion in the battery contacts though since I can’t get in behind them, I’m going to want to remove it and leave it in a vinegar bath overnight or something.
Does anyone have any hints on removing the battery contacts to clean them? Are they soldered to the logic board or something?
Ok it's time for a thread about the sencore AT985 atsc RF monitor, tbh first time I ever heard about atsc so no idea what format is that, but hey look! a floppy drive.
Maybe in 10 year the tech will be here to make it an affordable kick-ass product but right now it's too big, heavy, janky and expensive. But someone is too eager to seem revolutionary before it's ready.
People who use "WiFi" instead of "The Internet" are not the sort of people the rest of us should share a large computer network with. In this paper, I propose a massive netsplit whereas those of us who are worthy keep the actual Internet for ourselves while those who ask only for "WiFi" when signing up for online services receive a service package limited to the handful of services that they actually use on a daily basis.