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lothar56 · Sep 23, 2005, 08:24 AM

I recently visited my university's surplus sale and saw for the first time a bunch of green translucent semi-laptops, and i was intrigued. I did some research and I think I actually want one. I hate carrying my 14" ibook around because, although it's relatively light at ~6lbs, when added to my other books, it is not pretty. Plus, with the way I ride my bike around campus, I don't feel safe having ~$1300 in my backpack. So I was thinking, I can get an eMate for $10 and a wireless PCMCIA card for $15 shipped. I've got a beige G3 I can sync to, so all I need are batteries and a sync cable. I have a serial cable used to connect a Stylewriter 1200 to a serial port, and some other sort of cable that plugs into the serial port, although it didn't come with the stylewriter, will either of these work? I found instructions on refurbishing the battery if it is dead, so that's easy enough. So here's what I'm wondering: Is there any comparable device that can keep all my contacts, to-do's, etc, play a couple games, AND do wireless internet for $25? Even so, I think this is a neat little piece of nostalgia.

zoroaster68 · Sep 23, 2005, 08:30 AM

Never heard of it.

SirCastor · Sep 23, 2005, 08:49 AM

I bought a Newton a few years ago. The appeal of the niftyness of the device was great. The Handwriting Rec. was awesome. I got a wireless card, and I got some apps. In the end though, it wasn't nearly as cool as I thought it would be. I was still using technology that was 5 years old. (Oddly, my computer is now almost 6, but it's still keeping up). Since it's so inexpensive, you don't have much to lose. I sank almost $300 in the Newton. At the end of the day, it wasn't really worth it to me though. I would say buy the eMat, and see if you really enjoy using it. Then drop the cash for the wireless card. $10 is pocketchange, so give it a shot.

Goldfinger · Sep 23, 2005, 08:54 AM

An eMate still weighs 5lbs...

Maybe pen and paper will do...they're fine for me.

lothar56 · Sep 23, 2005, 09:47 AM

I think it's closer to 4lbs (checked: 4.9, you win). Either way, it felt extremely light compared to my iBook. I think next Wednesday I'll pick one up (hopefully it works, there are no returns). Either way, it will be something fun to tinker with. And actually $10 for me isn't really pocketchange, being a college student with no job. It's actually about 1/6 of my current net worth.

starman · Sep 23, 2005, 10:13 AM

I bought one.

sucks.

starman · Sep 23, 2005, 10:13 AM

Honestly, here's a better idea - buy yourself a cheap Blueberry iBook.

Eriamjh · Sep 23, 2005, 12:30 PM

eMate: old

Don't.

lothar56 · Sep 23, 2005, 12:34 PM

Originally Posted by starman

Honestly, here's a better idea - buy yourself a cheap Blueberry iBook.

But that's....practical! Plus money is the biggest issue here for me, so cheaper is better. $25 to ~$125 is a huge difference.

mdc · Sep 23, 2005, 01:00 PM

How about this. Buy the eMate, if you don't like it, i'll give you $25 (shipped) for it.

Years ago I fell in love with an eMate. I was about 17, so unfortunately no job or income. My dad came to this country on holiday and said he would look for one for me, but they weren't all that cheap back then.
I'd love to get one just for the hell of it, even if i use it for 10 minutes and then put it on a shelf.

So yeah, i'd love one. If you don't like yours, or anyone else looking to sell one at that, steal (for me) of a, price, drop me a PM.