Hey,
I'm a big fan of ebooks but I've never made the 'big purchase' that would allow me to read anywhere but in front of my computer. The problem is, I really don't have enough money to blow on an ebookwise or Sony Reader.

I have seen a lot of old Palm computers (ranging from the IIIe to the Treo 90) for super cheap, new. I have an old computer and OSX w/ classic, so I know these would work with my computer...but would they work with ebooks? How hard is it to get PDFs to something like the Treo? Is the software you can download now from adobe's webpage compatible with older Palm OSs? I don't care too much about screen quality, but I really like the treo for its keyboard. Would it work at all, or would i spend most of my time fiddling around trying to transfer my ebook collection?

Thanks for any advice!

EDIT: Also, would old blackberries work at all? With macs? I have a friend who has a bunch of them that should be unlocked, but he's not using.

EDIT AGAIN: I imagine a Zire 21 would do the job just fine. There's one used locally for 25. Good price?

- CW

I think my old Palm T3 is probably my favorite reading device. It's compact and the high-rez screen expands when you pull it out. The D-pad is in just the right spot and is big enough to easily press to turn pages. You can customize all the buttons so there is always one near whatever hand you are using to hold the device.

I think I'd still be using it exclusively if the non-replacable battery life wasn't so bad (good battery life for a pda, not if you are going to have the screen on for more than a couple hours a day).

Anybody know of any third-party extended batteries for the T3?

Anybody know of any third-party extended batteries for the T3?
A random search on eBay reveals this item (http://cgi.ebay.com/Battery-Extender-for-Palm-PalmOne-Tungsten-T-W-C-T2-T3_W0QQitemZ120106892896QQihZ002QQcategoryZ108617Q QrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem). Not sure if this is what you are looking for.

I agree, the T3 is a nice device; it sells on eBay for around $120.

Hey,
I have seen a lot of old Palm computers (ranging from the IIIe to the Treo 90) for super cheap, new. I have an old computer and OSX w/ classic, so I know these would work with my computer...but would they work with ebooks? How hard is it to get PDFs to something like the Treo? Is the software you can download now from adobe's webpage compatible with older Palm OSs? I don't care too much about screen quality, but I really like the treo for its keyboard. Would it work at all, or would i spend most of my time fiddling around trying to transfer my ebook collection?

EDIT AGAIN: I imagine a Zire 21 would do the job just fine. There's one used locally for 25. Good price?
- CW

The Zire 21 has a low-resolution screen compared to other Palms. If you need a cheap Palm, I would suggest the Zire 71 which has a standard 320x320 screen.

As for ebook formats, PDFs are not the right choice on PDAs due to the limited screen size. Much better to use Plucker, or Mobipocket, or plain txt files with PalmFiction.

Anybody know of any third-party extended batteries for the T3?

You can buy a 1100ma (vs the standard T3 900ma) replacement battery on ebay for less than 10 dollars. Replacing it is a 5 min. job. With the new battery, I can watch a full movie in DiVX before i get below 20% power.

The only caveat I'd offer with the T3 (I've carried one or another for ~4 years now) is that the slider feature plays with the digitizer on some units -- after a while, it stops recognizing taps at the extreme bottom and top of the screen, shifting the perceived tap point toward the center.

However, for just reading, I don't expect that would be an issue at all.

On the plus side, the T3 has a very bright screen, particularly compared to the newer LifeDrive or T|X models. (go figure)

Thanks for all the tips. Is anyone here using a mid-90s blackberry?

I have a lot of my current ebooks on PDF, so I was hoping there'd be some way to blow up the text size on PDAs. Oh well.

Adobe does have a (free) version of their Acrobat Reader for Palm: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readerforpalm.html

I've used it some, and it's not bad. A bit slow, and the file sizes tend to be ... a bit large, but there you go.

cassiopeia A-20, or even an older version Cassiopeia A-11.
it has large LDC display - not the modern LCD but the kind seen on old digital watches.

- *large* screen (much larger than a typical PDA)
- robust clam-shell construction
- processor and memory are slow/small enough to make the device almost wortheless as PDA - it means you can buy one for peanuts
- there is almost no SW aviable, but I have been reading ebooks using built-in Word for years. - so it is almost unuseable as PDA and therfore cheap.
- it has qwerty keyborad. You can replace strange characters in book files, you can search files, you can [almost] touch type notes
- it has interface for CF card. You load it with 1GB card amd you can carry entire library on it
- (for Cassiopeia A-11 you have to use a standard PCMCIA adapter for CF card (available for 10 bucks))

you can use PalmPDF on PALM OS5 PDA, it supports native PDF on most PALM, I use it on my TT3, TC, it works well.
It's the best, if you really want read PDF on your PALM, but frankly, I will not do that.

You're probably not talking about a palm as old as the one I have (IIIxe), but keep in mind if you want to hook it to a Mac you need a USB cradle, not serial.

...or you can use a Serial-USB converter. I have the predecessor of this model from Keyspan (http://www.keyspan.com/products/usb/usa19hs/homepage.spml). This one is quite pricey and I got mine with an old PalmV off eBay*, but maybe they are easier available then USB-Cradles for a specific model.
I have not tried this adapter on a Mac (Keyspan supports Mac), but it works well with linux (kernel driver).

From my own experience with Palm powered devices (IIIxe, m500, Clié SL-10) I would recommend a monochrome device (I never had a color one, avoided them till now ;)), they have a good battery life (I get about 8-12 hours reading time, depending on the battery set) and are quite cheap at eBay. If the device uses replaceble batteries, you can put in a spare set of rechargeables (or alkalines) and extend the runtime on the road, but there is a small chance of memory loss...
The backlight is ok to read in the dark.

*bargain: PalmV, cradle, 3 styli, this adapter, a nice leather wallet ("used look" :)) and screen protectors complete for ~12 Euros :D
It was the last palm I bought sofar, I don't use it as eBook reader cause I have my Clié and it only has 2MB.

I've tried USB/serial converters on the Mac and never gotten one to work. The web is rife with stories of those who've tried and failed, whether using Keyspan, the Palm brand converter, or whatever. Not that it never works for anyone, just that something seems to be tricky about it. Just thought I'd pass that along.

Thanks for the clarification. As I wrote, I have no experience in interfacing serial devices with macs. But with linux it worked for me as expected ;).

When Palm's require 'admin activation' on OSX, does this just mean the 'admin' of your OS needs to be the one to hook it up to the comp, or does it require some code you get with the palm new?

I've never seen a code of any kind come with any Palm I've ever had (and there have been a few) -- I think it means you have to have admin rights to the 'puter, but my familiarity with MacPuters is pretty thin. :shrug:

From my own experience with Palm powered devices (IIIxe, m500, Clié SL-10) I would recommend a monochrome device (I never had a color one, avoided them till now ;)), they have a good battery life (I get about 8-12 hours reading time, depending on the battery set) and are quite cheap at eBay. If the device uses replaceble batteries, you can put in a spare set of rechargeables (or alkalines) and extend the runtime on the road, but there is a small chance of memory loss...
The backlight is ok to read in the dark.

I agree. The monochrome Palms have a big advantage over the newer power-sucking color Palms. The older ones use two AAA batteries that can be purchased anywhere in the world. My batteries usually lasted a month. Just try charging your color Palm while you are on a train in China!

Screen size is an issue you might be concerned with. The older Palms with the original screen size were very usable. I think the line length using a normal font was 40 characters. Of course you can use a larger font if you need to. I didn't need to unless the lighting was poor. Some of the newer Palms have a slightly smaller screen. I have a TRGpro with the larger screen. The Palm III and others of that era had the same size screen. I also have a M125. That class of Palm has a smaller screen. If you are going to get an older Palm you would do well to consider this.

The first Palms had good backlighting. Then they changed the backlighting to a reversed scheme. I didn't like it. I never use it. There is a hack that will reverse it again. I haven't tried it but others report success with it.

The ideal would be to get a Palm that has the larger mono screen and also takes some sort of memory card. The TRGpro uses Compact Flash. That way you can just connect a card reader to your Mac and put ebooks on it through the card. It is faster anyway.

Here (http://user.pa.net/%7Eankney/Table/TableOld.htm) is a table that will show you what to look for. It indicates screen size and connection method and memory expansion type for all of the older Palm models. I hope you find something you can enjoy.

The first Palms had good backlighting.Nit-Picking Alert! True the first Palms had good backlighting, but their predecessors the Pilots, had no backlight at all, so be careful you don't get ahold of one of those, if you want the backlight. :nice:

Don't meant to be obnoxious, but I thought that needed clarification. :shrug:

A gizmologist is, by definition, never obnoxious ;)

I have a Palm IIIxe. It's gray-scale only, and holds 8MB. I have both the Palm Reader and Acrobat Reader installed, with plenty of space for books.

I certainly prefer the Palm Reader but the PDF reader is usable. There are lags between pages--probably a newer and higher horsepower Palm wouldn't have these problems.

I bought my Palm a couple of years ago at Fries for $50 (refurbished). I've seen them on eBay for less than $20.

By the way, the IIIxe uses AAA batteries. This is actually good news since you don't have to worry about buying a machine which can't hold a charge. I bought a set of 4 rechargable AAA batteries and a charger for $10. A charge lasts a good long while--unless you use the back lighting.

Rob Preece
Publisher, www.BooksForABuck.com

A gizmologist is, by definition, never obnoxious ;)Hmm ... maybe I should change my title to "Obnoxious Gizmologist" then .... :laugh4:

Palm M500 will take a 64MB SD card. So you can fit quite a lot of books on it via Plucker etc. Battery life is very good.

Never tried a PDF, probably never will, so you'd have to ask someone else about that.

I think the Sony Clie NR70V is a good eBook reader.

- 480x320px Screen
- JogDail
- MemoryStick Support (up to 128MB / 2x128MB MS-Select)

Is available on ebay for about 60 EUR.

Hmm ... maybe I should change my title to "Obnoxious Gizmologist" then .... :laugh4:
That's why I went for yvanleterrible; then you know what to expect! :wacky:

Sorry to dig an old thread up -- I know it's bad manners -- but this thread was the reason I joined this forum. I found it looking up info on how to stuff a CF card into my A-11, and Google sent me here. I've ordered a PCMCIA/CF adapter, but I still have one question: is there a limit to the size of a Compact Flash card that an A-11 can access? ...No, make that two questions: what is the limit? (A simple 'yes' answer wouldn't be all that helpful.) I think it may be 1 gig, but then again, I've seen clues that it might be 2 gig. (Or maybe I'm wrong completely and it's waaaay lower -- this is 1997 technology, after all.)
Anyway, I just wanted to see if anyone here knew. Then we can lay this moldy, shambling old thread to rest again. Remember: when shooting zombies, aim for the head. If you disable the head, you disable the thread that came back from the dead, thus putting it back to bed.

While I cannot answer your questions about the compact flash, I do want to say, it is much better to post in an old thread that relates to your post then it is to start a new one. You did very well digging up this thread.

Sorry to dig an old thread up -- I know it's bad manners -- but this thread was the reason I joined this forum. I found it looking up info on how to stuff a CF card into my A-11, and Google sent me here. I've ordered a PCMCIA/CF adapter, but I still have one question: is there a limit to the size of a Compact Flash card that an A-11 can access? ...No, make that two questions: what is the limit? (A simple 'yes' answer wouldn't be all that helpful.) I think it may be 1 gig, but then again, I've seen clues that it might be 2 gig. (Or maybe I'm wrong completely and it's waaaay lower -- this is 1997 technology, after all.)


Unlike SD, where the format changed from MMC (1GB max) to SD (2GB max) to SDHC (??? max), I don't believe that the "interface" of CF cards has changed over the years. The only question really is whether the A11 supports the FAT32 file system. If it does, there should be no max size. If it only supports the older FAT file system, then I believe that restricts you to a 2GB max size (I'm sure that someone will correct me if I'm wrong).

This thread inspired me to go search for a Handera 330 on Ebay. I discovered that i had missed one for $39 earlier this month, and now i'm just sad. :(

I haven't had a device since my (tragically stolen) Handera that i was completely satisfied with.

Ah yes, the 2 GB FAT limit. I remember when I got a hard disk soooo big I had to divide it into two partitions. Yup, 2.5 gig. Anyway, I spent some more quality time with Google and found another message board with some more pertinent information. (What did we do before the Internet? Accost random strangers on the street?) FAT32 support wasn't introduced until WinCE (the name still makes me giggle) version 2.11. The batteries in my A-11 have gone dead with time, so I can' tell whether it got the upgrade until they charge, but in any case, I believe the ROM upgrade was only up to 2.0...and I doubt I have it, anyway.
So...definately a max of 2 gig. Now time to wonder if the machine will be able to read all of a 2 gig card. I know from my experience with mp3/mp4 players that the machine will sometimes have an arbitrary limit. I have an mp4 player that will only accept up to 1 gig cards...and needless to say, it's a lot newer than my A-11. I'd hate to buy an expensive CF card to find I have no use for it. But then I had a brainstorm: CF cards are physically larger than SD cards, aren't they? I wonder if someone makes an adapter? That way, I can try all sorts of sizes with SD cards I already have. Lo and behold, someone does. (Try searching with 'CF SD adapter' on eBay.) Only about 15 bucks, which is a lot cheaper than buying a $60 CF card I may not have a use for. Actually, they make an adapter that goes directly from SD to PCMCIA for about the same price...that knowledge comes a little too late for me, but maybe some other cyber-wanderer will come across this thread looking for help like I did. Thus, I'm trying to forge a nice, clear path. More details (like, for example, whether or not this works) as they happen. Thanks for the help. :2thumbsup

I think the Sony Clie NR70V is a good eBook reader.

- 480x320px Screen
- JogDail
- MemoryStick Support (up to 128MB / 2x128MB MS-Select)

Is available on ebay for about 60 EUR.

I can 2nd the Clie. I just scored an NX73v at a thrift store in Santa barbara for just $16....LOVE it as both a PDA and a ebook reader. It is small and can fit in my pocket.

It is essentially a Palm with a Sony name as it runs Palm OS 5.0.

Loaded up Mobipocket and some test books from Baen...reads well. With the color screen turned down it is still quite readable. And the likely 4ish year old origiinal battery is still giving about 2.5hrs battery life playing chess and about 2.5-3.5hrs reading. With a new battery they say I'll get a solid 5hrs. Of course replacing the battery is not a task for the timid...not to worry I have a plethera of hammers handy on my "operating table". :)

It also can be used while sitting in it's cradle so that helps battery life while working at my desk.

Sorry to dig an old thread up -- I know it's bad manners -- but this thread was the reason I joined this forum. I found it looking up info on how to stuff a CF card into my A-11, and Google sent me here. I've ordered a PCMCIA/CF adapter, but I still have one question: is there a limit to the size of a Compact Flash card that an A-11 can access? ...No, make that two questions: what is the limit? (A simple 'yes' answer wouldn't be all that helpful.) I think it may be 1 gig, but then again, I've seen clues that it might be 2 gig. (Or maybe I'm wrong completely and it's waaaay lower -- this is 1997 technology, after all.)
Anyway, I just wanted to see if anyone here knew. Then we can lay this moldy, shambling old thread to rest again. Remember: when shooting zombies, aim for the head. If you disable the head, you disable the thread that came back from the dead, thus putting it back to bed.
I have once inserted a borrowed 1GB SD card into a CF adapter and inserted that into PCMCIA adapter and loaded it into my Cassiopeia A11. I was able to open a few text files from the card. I did not have time to try it out. The only thing that interested me back then was if a CF-PCMCIA adapter was useable. I have purchased an old third-hand 32MB CF card. Oh ... THAT was something. The memory size increased 7fold. I was able to allocate all staggering 3.8MB of RAM exclusively to Word (I used that as an e-book reading program). No more splitting text files to 200KB chunks. I was able to load up 30 books. What a luxury!

By the way. After a full hard reset you have to update the firmware. Otherwise your dear Cassiopeia A-11A eats your batteries in a day even when switched off. I was usually able to get up to 11 hours of reading from a pair of 2000mAh NiMH AA accumulators.
I am talking about THE oldest version here. The one that came with MS Windows CE 1.0. The worst OS ever released by MS.