Davis Remmel shows that hard-driving spirit that Newton owners are known for, especially after discovering the price of battery trays for his Newton MessagePad 2000:
The two clips on the front AA battery tray, the ones that hold two of the batteries in, were very damaged. One was missing entirely (!), while the other was broken on one side and about to fall off. Yada yada yada, I went online to buy a new one, and the only place that had them priced them at “ONLY $95!”
THAT is absolutely ridiculous, so I loaded up trusty ‘ol Inventor and started modeling a new one to be 3D printed.
Amazing what today’s 3D printing technology is capable of doing, but be sure and heed Remmel’s advice and actually try the thing.
[Via Ron Parker on Twitter]
Hehe, Nice NewtonSales reference :P Their prices are sometimes TOO high.
Posted by Vladislav Korotnev on November 8th, 2011.
Wait, do people really already own 3D printers capable of doing this? Or is he just hoping that someone who has access to one at work can use this? My MessagePad 2100 came with a rechargeable battery, and last year the thirteen odd years of use caught up to it. I didn’t use it for much anymore, but no checklist program for iPhone comes anywhere near the Newton Notes app. I’d like to start using it again for my grocery lists, but I can’t seem to find any cheap battery trays. Maybe this guy can start selling them.
By the way, I can’t wait until high quality home 3D printers become common so that I can start printing my own LaserDiscs of recent movies…
Posted by Steven on November 9th, 2011.
Indeed – I went there with the idea of getting my old 2100 back in the game. I saw “$95”, laughed, showed it to my collegues, made a few jokes about the Swedes and put the Newton back in the drawer…
Posted by Jim on November 10th, 2011.
Actually – has anyone tried this?
Posted by Jim on November 10th, 2011.
Steven, it’s my understanding that Davis did the design and legwork — now he just needs someone to print the thing out.
And yes, 3D printers are fully capable (although note his warning about the thin parts that might be tricky).
Posted by davelawrence8 on November 10th, 2011.