I bought a Newton 2100, and now I need to set her up

[lkogo]

Hi, my name is Laura and I am new to this forum. I am a very busy and sleep deprived WOHM to an 11 mos old boy. I got so fed up with my Zire 72, I broke down and bought this dearly loved, albiet chunky and old school machine. Has anyone out there set one up to syn with Panther? What cable/adapter and software should I get? What is the best power set up--I would like to avoid relying on regular AAs. Can I use iCal or Address book with it? There was no User Guide with the machine, so I am a bit lost. I did find a Newton 2000 guide, but I am not sure how relevant it will be. Any guidance and advice is appreciated. TIA!http://forums.macrumors.com/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=1#

[cubist]

For your initial sync you'll need a cable and a dongle, or a cable with the dongle end. Later you can use Ethernet with NewtSync to sync with iCal and Address Book. There are plug-ins for notes and to-do items as well.

Here are some links:
http://www.newtontalk.net/archive/
newton faq http://www.splorp.com/newton/faq/
archives http://www.unna.org/unna/
ethernet http://www.chuma.org/newton/ethernet/
newtsync http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/9770
newted http://www.newted.net/
newtscape http://mywebpages.comcast.net/saweyer/newton/newtscape.htm

Lots, lots, lots more stuff is out there. Have fun!

[Mechcozmo]

The 2100 is just a 2000 but with extra built in memory. So the user guide should be pretty near exact same.

[StarbucksSam]

You're going to need some kind of adapter, but the software is NOT compatible with the newer systems. Search "Newton" on versiontracker.com and I think you'll be able to find something.

[Hemingray]

Hi Laura, welcome to the forums.

Regarding the cables, you're going to need a few things:

1) NIC (Newton InterConnect port) to serial adapter (Picture (http://homepage3.nifty.com/old_apple_world/price-photo/Price-Newton/MP2000Dongle-2.jpg)). These came with the Newtons originally and converted the Newton's proprietary NIC port to a serial connection, which was then standard on Macs (but Macs starting with the original iMacs no longer have them.)

2) Serial cable

3) USB to Serial dongle (Link (http://keyspan.com/products/usb/USA28x/)) or a Stealth serial port replacement (Link (http://www.geethree.com/stealth/stealth.html)), depending on what type of Mac and/or configuration you have. The Stealth takes the place of your modem, so you might want to go with the dongle. These are fairly expensive, so I would suggest checking out eBay for one.

Regarding the power supply, the Newton uses a special rechargeable battery pack, so you'll need to use that and the charger. It won't take regular AA's.

[Mechcozmo]

Regarding the power supply, the Newton uses a special rechargeable battery pack, so you'll need to use that and the charger. It won't take regular AA's.

You can get a battery sled, however, to use AAs. The Newton was designed to not lose your data if the batteries die, so you have nothing to worry about if you do end up using the AAs. There are reports of Newtons goings without batteries for 3 years, having new batteries put in them, and all the old data still being there.

Pretty good, eh?

[5300cs]

A few links to help you:

* http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/index.php/NewtonNewbieGuide WikiwikiNewt
* http://www.cat2.com/newton/Newton-FAQ/newton-faq-introduction.html The Newton FAQ - very informative
* http://www.unna.org/unna/apple/documentation/2x00/ Newton users guide download
* http://newtontalk.net/ The NewtonTalk mailing list

Hope those help :) You'll be amazed at what the Newton can do.

Oh yeah, welcome to the forums :)

[cubist]

one more nice link:
http://dev.newtontalk.net/~martinw/Newtonlust/

I use AA's all the time. If you get NiMHs you can go for about a week between charges. (Just have two sets.)

There are folks that rebuild the batteries; I think they have four AA cells inside. If you get a non-rebuilt one, it probably won't work at this late date (seven years or more old).

[sushi]

You can get a battery sled, however, to use AAs. The Newton was designed to not lose your data if the batteries die, so you have nothing to worry about if you do end up using the AAs. There are reports of Newtons goings without batteries for 3 years, having new batteries put in them, and all the old data still being there.
I am one of those who this happened to.

I ventured into the Palm OS devices. Newt went on the shelf (with the battery removed).

I went back to the Newt after almost 3 years. All data was still intact. Scary in a way.

Pretty good, eh?
I would say pretty darn awesome! :D

Sushi

[Hemingray]

You can get a battery sled, however, to use AAs. The Newton was designed to not lose your data if the batteries die, so you have nothing to worry about if you do end up using the AAs. There are reports of Newtons goings without batteries for 3 years, having new batteries put in them, and all the old data still being there.

Pretty good, eh?

Nice, I did not know about the battery sled! I do remember reading up on rebuilding the old battery packs. Man, I should probably charge up my Newton and see if it's still got everything... :eek:

Do you know if the sleds will take rechargeables? I can just see someone putting regular AA's in there, forgetting about them and plugging it in. :eek:

[sushi]

Nice, I did not know about the battery sled! I do remember reading up on rebuilding the old battery packs. Man, I should probably charge up my Newton and see if it's still got everything... :eek:

Do you know if the sleds will take rechargeables? I can just see someone putting regular AA's in there, forgetting about them and plugging it in. :eek:
If you use AA's in the battery sled, the Newt will not attempt to charge them while the power adapter is attached.

The rebuilt battery packs are done by a fellow who replaces the batteries in the rechargeable sled. He uses a much larger capacity version so the Newt can run even even longer on rechargeable batteries.

Suggest that you hang out at the www.newtontalk.net site. Lot's of neat things going on these days.

Sushi

[lkogo]

I will have time this weekend to familiarize myself with what I need to do--if the baby lets me! I am ordered the cables and I will let you know how it goes ;^)