m500 ac adapter specs

[Pepone]

Hi everyone,

I'll be spending a few days in the states next month and thought about getting an m500, since it's almost $100 cheaper than in Europe.

The only Potential problem I anticipate is the US AC Adapter that comes with it. I read somewhere it's only good for a 110V outlet.

I figured that maybe using a properly rated european 220V adapter could do the job.

Could someone please shine some light on what the correct specs. should be?

Thanx

[JohnKes]

It is supposed to be 100-240V input. But remember that it will have American prongs. What AC outlet will you be using? (e.g. France has the round prongs) You may have to buy a plug adapter kit.

[djmangen]

Plug adaptor kit will work fine; no need to get a European adaptor, unless you will spend most of your time in Europe.

[vollie]

Just in case you'll need it (or someboddey else)

if Pins are numbered 1 to 10, and you're looking at the back of your palm Pin 10 is left.

Pin Index:
1: DTR
2: +3.3V (+4.07V for Palm 5 Connector)
3: RxD
4: RTS
5: TxD
6: CTS
7: GPI 1
8: NC
9: NC
10: GND
Sync button shorts Pin 2 and 7

[JohnKes]

I think you guys misunderstand. Pepone lives in Europe, and wants to buy an m500 while he is in the US. He was worried that the adapter would not work well with 220V when he got home.

There is no question relative to the HotSync connector pins because he will probably use it with a PC, which is pretty much the same anywhere in the world.

[djmangen]

Good catch JohnKes - I certainly had misunderstood.

[Pepone]

Thanx a lot for your help guys!

JohnKes: thanks for catching up on and ********ing my somewhat misleading phrasing!! Anyhow, prongs should not be a problem, since I got plenty and good enough plug converters at home. What was worrying me though was the voltage input, since someone in this forum mentioned once that it was only good for 110V. I figured that nowadays any adaptor should take 110V-240V, after all it's supposed to be a global market, isn´t it. But then you never know.

Thanks again for your quick response.

Cheers.

:)

[keithcompton]

Pepone,

I was wondering the same thing. I live in Austria and just purchased an m500 for myself and one for my German brother-in-law. I have used a 220v to 110v travel adapter to charge the unit, but would be curious to know of your experience - I don't want to fry the unit by experimenting too much, but on the other hand, we don't want to have to go out and buy new European hotsync cradles.

A related question - the m500's sold in the US have a US English PalmOS installed. Does anyone know if the ROM can be flashed with a multilanguage version of PalmOS 4.0? Is it legal to do so? If so, where can that be obtained? Thanks -

[Pepone]

Hi Keithcompton,

FYI I haven't purchased the m500 yet, since I won't visit the States until next month.

Maybe you could take a closer look at your power adapter and see if it says the voltage range it's good for.

As far as flashing the ROM with a European version is concerned, I read dsomewhere that a) the ROM is not available for download b) you could damage you device (don't ask me why)

[keithcompton]

Thanks for the reply. The charger that comes with the m500 that I bought is manufactured by MEI International (P/N MADA-3025-PS) and has the following rating:
Input 120 V 60 Hz 10W
Output 5.0 VDC 1000 mA

At this point, I've charged it a couple of times using a 1600 W Samsonite travel transformer. The only thing that makes me a little nervous is whether the 10 Hz frequency difference would cause a problem in the DC output. Haven't had any problems so far, but I'm thinking about just ordering a USB hotsync/charger cable and letting the thing charge from the computer. Will post again if smoke ends up coming out of the PDA or if I encounter any other problems in using a US PDA in Europe. Thanks again -

[JohnKes]

50 Hz or 60 Hz shouldn't matter to the output because the internal rectifier circuit converts that to 0 Hz (DC).

I am surprised that your power supply only takes 120VAC. Must be a recent cost cutting measure :( Mine has:
Input: 100-240VAC, 50-60Hz, 350mA
Output: 5VDC, 2000mA

I got my m500 last April.

[peterde lang]

hi folks,

i bought a M500 a couple of weeks ago, in holland. it goes together with a hotsync craldle which also charges the thing. unfortenately, the guy i bought it from blew up the AC adapter, but that shouldn't be a problem - i thought you could buy these things in every electronic store. since i was going to the states, i planned to buy an AC adapter and use it with a travel voltage converter. i went to several stores here in New York, but they told me i had to get a whole new cradle for $50!! being a Dutchman i refuse to pay this amount of money for a stupid AC converter. Can anybody tell me where to buy such a converter in NY? thanks a lot

[JohnKes]

That's the retail price for a cradle. You may be able to something on E-bay if someone has a broken Palm m5xx. A Palm Travel Charger is $40, which you can take with you on travel.

Being a cheap Chinese, I wouldn't pay $50 either. I got a cheapo travel charger for my m500 for $10. It runs for weeks on a charge, so I don't use the cheapo charger much.

[keithcompton]

Peter,

Even though I'm american, and therefore love to spend money, I would also not waste money on a new cradle if all you need is a power supply. I am using a US-manufactured m500 since mid October in Austria. I have found two solutions. The first is a 220-110 travel convertor, which seems to work just fine (just needs to be unplugged when not in use, because it tends to heat up). The other is a combined hotsync/charge cable that draws power from the USB port. The German firm EDNet sells a kit for around 50€ that offers a hotsync/charger cable together with a 110/220VAC to 5 VDC wall adapter and a car adapter. The wall and car adapters simply produce a USB power signal and the cable plugs into that (Don't ask me what happens if you try to hotsync with your house or car:-)!) I have just the cable, and it has worked fine when plugged directly into my computer. My brother in law bought the adapters, and I assume that they are functioning ok. I will post later if I run into anything.

[JohnKes]

Ha Ha, that's good: "Even though I'm american, and therefore love to spend money ..."

A USB/Sync cable is a good idea.

[keithcompton]

One addendum to my previous posts on using US-bought Palms in Europe. I discovered about a week ago that my previous solution of a travel adapter + palm charger may not be a good idea. After the power LED on the palm failed to light, I am afraid that I have fried the adapter. Upon checking the output of the travel adapter with a multimeter (strange, the things that I decided to bring to Austria), I discovered that it was putting out *150* VAC rather than 110. Will wait until we are back in the states to see if the transformer is well and truly kaputt, but in the meantime, a regular 220VAC/5VDC transformer seems to be working well thus far, and the PDA itself has not yet complained. Will post more if any new misadventures arise...