A good friend and I were stilling in the office one day reminiscing about the “old” cool technology we remembers in our younger days. Over a few days and some ebay’ing, there was an Apple Newton 2100 winging its way 😀
When the Newton 2×00 was originally introduced, it came standard with 4 x AA sized alkaline batteries that were loaded into a battery tray. Alkaline, rechargeable NiCd or NiMH batteries may be used. An optional rechargeable NiMH pack could also be purchased.
Sometime after the initial introduction, things got swapped the other way around and the Newton shipped with the rechargeable NiMH pack became standard and the tray became the optional extra. The trays are highly valued because they allow off-the-shelf AA batteries to be used; and as rechargeables end their usable lives, it requires no skill to replace them. These days the trays are becoming more difficult to get.
Me and by big mouth I said I would make a replacement battery pack to keep this amazing bit of kit running, Time to get busy first by making an exact copy to get size and fit right. Once that is done I can then work on making it old AA batteries……. stay tuned 🙂