[NTLK] Message pad 130

[James Fraser]

Hello,



>Since I have nothing invested, I'm not sure I want to purchase a digitizer for 
>it. If I could get it >working properly that could be another story...but with 
>its limited capabilities (no Internet, >smaller memory, no backlight) plus no 
>battery pack or holder, it sounds like eBay auction >material to me.

Before you do that, you might want to examine a couple of possibilities:

If the authors of the "Newton's Law" book are to be believed, running a Newton 
off an AC adpter can contribute to the Jaggies:

http://marc.info/?l=newtontalk&m=124105659623414&w=2

However, your success in using your OMP with the adapter seems to rule that 
out.  Me being me, I wouldn't completely rule it out unless I had an OMP battery 
holder on hand to allow me to run the unit off either AC or batteries and 
compare the two results, but I'm not sure a) what the current availability of 
OMP battery holders is, exactly (anyone?), and b) how willing you are to throw 
good money after bad.

The other possibility is that the top case of the OMP has become distorted over 
time (it is, after all, a nearly 20-year-old handheld device), putting excessive 
pressure on some areas of the resistive screen.  Tony Kan's My Apple Newton Blog 
explores that possibility:

http://myapplenewton.blogspot.com/2009/06/jaggies-101.html

(If, for some reason, the page won't load with that URL, please try this one: 
http://tinyurl.com/cd9qevh)

The page also shows a bezel modification for the MP2x00.  I know you have an 
OMP, but the proposed solution might inspire you to try something similar with 
your particular model.

As you noted, the OMP has a number of drawbacks when compared to later model 
MessagePads ("no Internet, smaller memory, no backlight").  Alongside all those 
shortcomings is the fact that battery life for the OMP was typically measured in 
hours rather than weeks like the MP1X0/2x00 (there was a reason later 
MessagePads used AA batteries).  EveryMac.com's OMP page:

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/messagepad/stats/newton_mp_omp.html

...claims 5-10 hours of continuous use from a set of AAAs; Apple seems to have 
claimed 14:

https://www.msu.edu/~luckie/gallery/mp100.htm (under "Newton Hardware 
Architecture")

I haven't run an OMP in a while, myself, but can recall that, when I did, it 
blew through batteries with disconcerting frequency.  : /

What I'm trying to say here is that unless the OMP holds a lot of hobbyist value 
for you, it's probably not worth sinking a whole lot more time and money into 
it.  Of course, as the owner, that's a judgment call that only you can make.


Best,

James Fraser