[NTLK] 5volt/ 3.3 volt Newton/eMate PCMCIA mod...it's possible

Folks,

I'm new to the list, but my electronics experience seems like it could
be useful here. My understanding is that all Newton products do not
properly support 3.3 volt PCMCIA cards, and this seems to be becoming a
larger and larger issue as time progresses, especially with WiFi cards,
since (I believe) all Prism2-chipset based cards are 3.3v

The MAX780 is a 24-pin Maxim-manufactured 5v/3.3 volt PCMCIA power
controller. The datasheet can be seen at
http://pdfserv.maxim-ic.com/en/ds/MAX780.pdf

and the product overview page can be seen at
http://www.maxim-ic.com/quick_view2.cfm/qv_pk/1181

This IC is quite inexpensive, and I am fairly sure it is *technically*
possible to either replace the on-board PCMCIA Analog Power Controller
on current newton/emates, if it's not integrated with the PCMCIA digital
controller, or, alternatively, to place it on a very small submodule.

This type of work is not for the faint of heart, but I will be
attempting exactly this mod when I receive my eMate 300 in less than a
weeks' time. Maxim is extremely liberal about sending out free samples
of their products (no more than three chips at a time, I believe), and
I'll keep everyone up to date as time permits.

Please feel free to chime in with your opinions ("you're batsh*t insane,
you crazy foo!," "wow, awewsome idea, mister Pipe Dream," etc.)

If you'd be willing to pay for this mod, I'd be willing to perform it,
once I've done it a couple of times, but I'm not in this to make money,
and will be happy to document the process fully with photos and perhaps
even a video, if Canon ever gets my Elura miniDVcam back to me, that is...

I do not own a MessagePad 2000/2100, but I'm trying to fix that. If any
of you have a MessagePad with a really screwed up screen or something
that you'd be willing to potentially sacrifice to this (IMHO worthy)
cause, that would be great too. I live in the northern reaches of the
San Francisco Bay Area, and have one friend of mine who owns an upgraded
MP2000, but I wouldn't want to modify his unit prior to being fairly
certain as to what I'm doing, as it's in pristine condition.

Alternatively, if anyone here has an MP2000/2100 motherboard they could
take some nice high-resolution photos of (big big big, everything needs
to be readable) and would be kind enough to e-mail to me, that would be
greatly appreciated, because then I can properly evaluate whether or not
this mod is truly feasable.

Regards,
Alex Perez

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