Newton eMate300 and OSX

[mixel]

Does anyone have a way to sync, view files and generally muck around with the Newton in OSX? Last time i tried to do this i was running ancient apps in classic.. Or maybe even booted into MacOS9, I can't remember! It was many hardware generations ago at least.

Just dug out the eMate and remembered how great it is.

All it really needs to do is sync text files.. I assume I'll need some sort of USB-Serial adaptor thing, but I'm not sure the round connector on the newton is standard serial. All the links I've found so far have been extremely outdated, so I wouldn't be surprised if this is a dead end and it's outlived even simple interfacing, but it's worth a try!

 

[havokalien]

Suggestion

Get a PowerPC with a serial port and make sure it has USB and put the oldest os you can on it. 7.5.5 or 7.6.1 and you should be able to dual boot if you need os 9 for USB then you can sync to that Mac, and use the USB to transfer info to anything else, or just use a wireless dongle for Internet and email the info.

 

[Hrududu]

I use this one myself, but I have seen THIS one and have been meaning to try it out. I sync my Newtons over Wifi.

 

[mixel]

Thanks guys. Im not going to get a classic Mac just for this purpose. I'm not sure how I'm going to go about ethernetting the Newton either. I'll look into it though. Presumably if i cant connect to it, installing the drivers i need to actually make the ethernet work could be a hurdle.

Ah, ok looked into that and I'll need some sort of PCMCIA flash card to get the drivers on there.. This could be an adventure. Hopefully not too expensive.

 

[Hrududu]

Really? I can sync my Newton with my OS X Macs, but its really just a lot easier to do so with an old machine. Thats one reason I keep my PowerBook G3 around. I would highly recommend picking up an old PowerBook to sync your eMate with. Its cheap, easy to use, and doesn't take up any space. Thats what so great about laptops! I've got 4 clamshell iBooks, a PowerBook G3, and 2 TiBooks that don't see much use, but they don't take up any space either so why get rid of them? Perfect excuse to grab a new toy off eBay.

Thanks guys. Im not going to get a classic Mac just for this purpose. I'm not sure how I'm going to go about ethernetting the Newton either. I'll look into it though. Presumably if i cant connect to it, installing the drivers i need to actually make the ethernet work could be a hurdle.

Ah, ok looked into that and I'll need some sort of PCMCIA flash card to get the drivers on there.. This could be an adventure. Hopefully not too expensive.

 

[mixel]

I don't know - Buying an old Apple laptop just so i can sync another old Apple laptop is pretty funny. I'd still want the data to be easily accessible in osX, so it'd be a long-winded way around things!

The emate300 is pretty big really.

 

[Lil Chillbil]

I look at this thread from two perspectives

the first is as a collector I can understand wanting to use old equipment for a little nostalgic mac fun time

second as a mac user I can see no real usefulness of this machine in the modern computing world