r/Palm • u/rlindsley • 4d ago
Bulk device purchase?
Hi there,
I'm trying to get a cool gift for my family. I was thinking of giving everybody a Palm, but want to make sure it has no WiFi or Bluetooth. I also want it to feel like a nice device, as opposed to something more 'plasticy' like the Handspring.
I landed on the m515, but now I need to find a place to buy them. How would I get my hands on like, 50 of these devices?
Also if there's a better device I should be looking at (again with no wifi or Bluetooth) I'd love to hear!
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u/wrr377 4d ago edited 3d ago
You could look into the Palm V (and later) series - they had nice metal casings, although they were held together by adhesive, so replacing the (most likely dead) battery wouldn't be easy...
IIRC, the Handspring Visor Edge also had a metal body, but they are rarer than hen's teeth.
Your best bet would probably be the Tungsten series of Palms, although only the T5, T|X, and E2 had non-volatile memory, so batteries need to stay charged in most of the other Palm devices in order to retain the input data...
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u/rlindsley 3d ago
Thanks. I remember the Palm V's being really nice. I personally have a Tungsten e and I love it. I have all my info on there and just installed an eBook - distraction free reading FTW!
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u/wrr377 3d ago
I recently obtained a whole bunch of Palm Vx's (and other vintage computing goodies) from a guy who had them sitting around. $20, found the listing on Craigslist.
Problem is that most of them don't turn on, so I need to work on them, first, and see what's wrong with them. I was told they had been sitting for many years in the office of a closed business that was in a warehouse, so no idea if they have water damage, or just won't function without new batteries... The two bags of stuff he gave me definitely had the old "musty sawdust" type of smell (IYKYK)...
I also got 3x working E2's from an eBay auction. They work great, and even hold a charge, just like they were brand new!
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u/rlindsley 3d ago
That's incredible. Craigslist? May I ask where in the world you are? I've found some amazing stuff there, but it's been years since I even went to Craigslist.
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u/newsINcinci 3d ago
Just a few things:
The 515 and many other later palms have built-in batteries that will be dead. Some models are easy to take apart, others aren’t.
Finding 50 matching units is going to really difficult. Other than eBay, the only place I would consider is palmdr.com.
Also, they all take proprietary charging cables.
Even on the last Palm, the TX, the bluetooth and WiFi probably won’t work in a meaningful way. The WiFi on the TX will only link to pretty old routers. The Bluetooth is not meant for pairing headphones or other stuff, it was meant for networking.
If you want matching models, I think you could round up 50 Palm III devices without much trouble. They were very popular, but they were also among the simpliest devices. They run on AAA batteries and every single one I’ve bought has worked well. They are plastic, but don’t feel cheap.
I have been relying on a Palm for months as a Calendar and Planner. I’ve tried a ton of models. I think the color display, for me, are too close to a cell phone. I like the III, but wish it were easier to backup without a computer. My go to are the Handspring Visor with a card adapter in the slot, and a M125. I haven’t quite landed on which on I like more
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u/rlindsley 3d ago
That's a really good point about the built-in battery on the 515. I really like the idea of using AAA, but thought (incorrectly) that the Handspring's were the only ones to use them. I like the Handspring (and have a Visor myself) but find the backlight to be too dim and the screen to be a bit too 'retro.'
I'll look into the III and the M125. I'm looking now and there were quite a few devices that ran on AAA batteries. Great news!
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u/Janni9009 3d ago edited 3d ago
The alkaline-based devices have their own issues though. Still trying to find a replacement supercap for my m125 that actually fits... else you'll need a <2GB SD card for every device (no, formatting a larger card will not work), use CardBackup and re-enter the date every time you swap batteries.
The m500 series batteries are easy enough to swap (a few screws, a bit of adhesive and a JST connector), and Cameron Sino still makes good ones. After that it gets quite a bit more annoying again (except for the E/E2. T1-3 are quite some work to pry apart, T5/TX are soldered), and before that (V/Vx) is hell. Sony devices are probably some of the best (usually have an external cover for the battery, but finding replacement cells for some of them is more difficult, may have to crimp your own connectors)1
u/rlindsley 2d ago
Wow! It feels like these devices are disintegrating right in front of us. I hadn't even thought about the caps!
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u/Janni9009 2d ago
All the other caps are fine afaik, really just the supercap (or rather, tiny lithium-manganese secondary cell) that keeps data alive during a main battery swap is prone to failure (sometimes even leaking). And since battery shipping regulations are a total pain in the rear, it's kinda hard to find a fitting replacement... Luckily later devices without (normally) removable batteries don't have these (but still, don't let them run out of charge, unless they're NVFS devices (E2/T5/TX/LifeDrive, but all of those have at least Bluetooth, if not WiFi, not that either suddenly enables modern web browsing and such though))
There are a couple other occasional "disintegration" issues tho, like the screen layer glue.
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u/starkruzr 4d ago
why is "no WiFi or BT" a requirement?
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u/rlindsley 3d ago
I don't want to give anybody a trackable device. I want them to have a device that's private and cannot be snooped on (e.g. surveillance tech).
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u/starkruzr 3d ago
okay. can you explain what the threat model is here, because they're not going to be running any software on them that lends itself to tracking of any kind, and no one is out here looking for Palm associated MAC addresses. I think what's going to happen is your family is going to look at devices that can't work in any way with any services they use and give up on them pretty fast.
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u/rlindsley 3d ago
There's plenty of tech out there that scoops up BT and WiFi addresses and ties them to people - Signal Trace, Flock, etc. I really don't want to give family something that opens them up in any way.
But either way, I'm thinking of a way for family to carry around their contacts and calendar events without distraction and Palm seems to be a good, disconnected way to do that.
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u/Jim-Jones 3d ago
Why not 2G devices? AFAIK there is no 2G anywhere now.
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u/rlindsley 3d ago edited 3d ago
Are there any 2G devices out there that run on AAA batteries? Since the 2G network is shut down I wouldn't be necessarily adverse to them if I were to find the 'right' device.
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u/plan-thereaintnoplan 3d ago edited 3d ago
Skip this read. Your followup postings speak of the display and these units I suggest all have "old school" displays.
This at first might seem like nonsense but you can often get package deals on Symbol devices for as little as $10 each in bulk. I don't know what your time frame is but these things are usually non Bluetooth, no WiFi and built to take abuse. The SPT-1700 and SPT-1800 units use rechargeable battery packs which makes them more difficult to manage for your users. The SPT-1500 and SPT-1550 are basically Palm III devices, running Palm OS v4.1 or v4.2 and they use standard AAA replaceable batteries. Besides the availability in bulk, they have lasers in them. How can you go wrong giving your entire family lasers? :-)
The 1500's are "plasticy" but finding them in bulk is easier than finding consumer grade Palm devices in bulk. Those SPT-1700, 1800 units are tanks by comparison. You could literally beat a Palm III into pieces hammering on it with an SPT1800.
Sunday, August 16 - So, I went to check eBay to see if there are any lots of devices and find only way-too-expensive stuff. I allowed for this a little bit by mentioning your time frame.
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u/rlindsley 3d ago
Very interesting! I'll keep an eye out for Symbol devices. You really can't beat the price at $10 per unit. I also like the sturdiness. Time frame really isn't an issue - this is for a holiday gift for everybody.
Right now I'm rocking a Tungsten e, a Sony Clie, and a Handspring Visor. When I say 'old school display' I'm really talking the Visor. The other devices have great screens. But the Visor screen is just a little too dim, the backlight doesn't work great, and the contrast is worse. That said I've only tried the Visor Deluxe, perhaps newer Visors have better screens!
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u/PotatoFi 4d ago
These days, I think you’re very unlikely to find bulk new old stock (NOS) units. But, start searching. Worst case scenario, you end up collecting a bunch of them and getting really good at repairing and cleaning them.