Clie SL10 AC adapter question

[krazyivan]

Hi, I am new to the forums and just got a Clie SL10 used but hardly used. I know it's old school but I am a PDA noob and could not pass up the sl10 my friend was selling for $40. I purchased an AC adapter off of ebay and noted that the AC adapter specs are 12Vdc,400mA,3.6W (MAX). The Clie requires 5.2Vdc,300mA. Will this AC adapter fry my Clie or will the Clie just draw what it needs?

[palmgeek]

Welcome! 

Are you sure you have an SL10?  The SL10 is *not* a rechargeable unit, and as far as I know, you cannot use an AC adapter with it.  It runs on 3VDC (2, 1.5V AA batteries).  If you do plug it in, you'll probably find that nothing happens. 

[KrazyIvan]

I am reading directly from the back of the Clie and it says: " SONY PEG-SL10/U" The documentation I have says that the SL10 supports the AC adapter to power up but not to charge batteries. So I am pretty sure it can accept an AC adapter. I want it for use when I'm synching and for use at work where a cradle is not feasible. It should help extend the life of my batteries.

EDIT: It also states that DC is 5.2V and Battery supply is 1.5Vx2, again reading directly off the back label.

[x ACS x 989 x]

Yeah, you can have an AC adapter with it, but I think you would overload it with that one.

[zx7dave]

The batteries last such a long time in the SL10, I would not use the AC adapter unless you are sure it is the correct one for your model..I would not think Sony would even make one as again, batter life is very good with a set of alkilines...

[AV1]

Hi KrayIvan,

I used a SL10 for about a year with both a AC power supply and rechargeable batteries. I never had a problem.

I purchased a power supply kit on sale at Comp USA. The power supply kit was 14.99 which included: a car 12V adapter, a 120Vac adapter, both with a USB output port, and a cable with a USB connector on one end and the connector that attaches to the wide port on the bottom of the SL10 on the other end. The Kit was intended for the SJ20 and the SJ30. The wide cable plugs into the bottom of the unit and the USB end of this cable plugs into the power supply. It works great and the USB/ Wide cable will also serves for sync purposes. The power supply will run the unit but will not recharge the battery.

For battery power I used AAA NiMh batteries and plug in charger. I kept one set in the SL10, one set in reserve and one in the charger. I found the battery charger and batteries on sale at Borders.

I really liked using the SL10 and it was very nice to never need to buy batteries for it.

Good luck,

Tony

[ebook junky]

I have an SL-10 and an SJ33. The SJ33 charger will power, but not charge the SL-10. I find it useful to plug it in when I am going to be using the SL-10 in one spot for a long period of time.

[KrazyIvan]

Originally posted by AV1

For battery power I used AAA NiMh batteries and plug in charger. I kept one set in the SL10, one set in reserve and one in the charger. I found the battery charger and batteries on sale at Borders.

I really liked using the SL10 and it was very nice to never need to buy batteries for it.

Good luck,

Tony

Tony: How long did the rechargables last in the Clie? I have been thinking of getting some.

[AV1]

Hi KrazyIvan,

MY experience is that I could get about 4 to 5 days of use. I mostly use the calender and Docs to go for work. no gaming. I tried 2 types of batteries Maxell and Sanyo industrial. The Sanyo store more power and gave 5 days min for me. The Maxell gave about 3 days.

I purchased industrial grade NiMh batteries from a company that builds battery packs for RC planes, Electrodynamics in MI. I paid about 12 for 4 AAA cells. These cells need to have a small button of solder applied to the + end to work in the SL10 battery holder.

If you get the rechargeables remember to reset the SL10 battery type parameter so the unit knows it has a non standard battery. This is done in Memo. Write the cursive "L", the symbol for short cut. Then write two dots".". Then write a numeral "7". Each time you do this the screen will show the type of battery the systems is configured to report on the battery % available indicator. Repeat this process until you see the type of battery in use, NiMh, and your Clie will be calibrated. You can also download batmon from Pam freeware and play wit the low voltage turn off point.

You can find lots of information on Nimh batteries on theWWW, chargers too. Try: http://faq.alltekpower.com/faq/index.asp?a=6

Regards,

Tony

[KrazyIvan]

Thanks for the info.

An update: I e-mailed the seller of the AC adapter and he stated that the adapter has circuitry that automatically adjusts the voltage for the correct PDA. Since it can be used with a wide range of PDA's it has a maximum rating of 12 volts. I finally got up the nerve to test it on my Clie and it worked fine. Left it plugged in and used it for 30 minutes. It did not even get warm ( the adapter and Clie). So, for $10 I guess I can live with it. I am still going to look into those rechargables. Thanks to everyone for the help!

[Rich1]

Originally posted by AV1
Hi KrazyIvan,

MY experience is that I could get about 4 to 5 days of use. I mostly use the calender and Docs to go for work. no gaming. I tried 2 types of batteries Maxell and Sanyo industrial. The Sanyo store more power and gave 5 days min for me. The Maxell gave about 3 days.

I purchased industrial grade NiMh batteries from a company that builds battery packs for RC planes, Electrodynamics in MI. I paid about 12 for 4 AAA cells. These cells need to have a small button of solder applied to the + end to work in the SL10 battery holder.

If you get the rechargeables remember to reset the SL10 battery type parameter so the unit knows it has a non standard battery. This is done in Memo. Write the cursive "L", the symbol for short cut. Then write two dots".". Then write a numeral "7". Each time you do this the screen will show the type of battery the systems is configured to report on the battery % available indicator. Repeat this process until you see the type of battery in use, NiMh, and your Clie will be calibrated. You can also download batmon from Pam freeware and play wit the low voltage turn off point.

You can find lots of information on Nimh batteries on theWWW, chargers too. Try: http://faq.alltekpower.com/faq/index.asp?a=6

Regards,

Tony

[Rich1]

I would like to change my SL10 to use NiMH batteries but don't see how to reconfigure the battery as suggested. Within Memo, selecting "New" and writing a cursive "L" (lower case I assume) + "."+ "."+"7" , results in a the cursive "L" and the dots being erased and leaves a 7 on the screen with no indication of the battery type selected. Obviously I am missing something here. Please advise.

[palmgeek]

Rich1,

Go to http://home.arcor.de/uwe.klimmek/. In the left sidebar, click 'English Mainpage', then click on 'P.-info'. Install it on your SL10. P-info gives you a UI to simplify the selection of battery type, as well as many other useful utilities. I've used it for years, on many different Palm OS devices. I have it on my SJ20 right now.

That should do ya!

Palmgeek

[adric22]

I've been using Energizer NiMh rechargable AAA batteries in my SL10 for a couple of weeks now. The battery guage is thrown off a bit, I think since the voltage is different on rechargables. (1.2 vs 1.5 volts) so it jumps down to about 50% on the battery guage really quick. I do a lot of ebook reading at night with the backlight on and so far I haven't even run the first charge down. I think I've probably gotten 8 hours so far (100% backlight usage too) and the guage is reading about 10% now. May have to recharge soon.
--DavidM

[paul-st-marks]

HI I got a SL-10 for christmas it is the best pda ive owned (the others were a win ce and a psion 5.

I see sony make a psu called the AC10 which works with the sl-10 for the purpose of powering it only andf not charging the batteries. \i recently saw one on UK ebay but the man selling it did not have the wide adaptor bit which fits in the bottom of the pda so i did not buy it as I guessed it needed this to work with the SL 10. I will keep an eye out for others that have not lost the wide adaptor plug on the bottom.
I have also seen on UK ebay lots of dual purpose usb/charger leads I also wondered if these might work and if anyone has tried them. they must power the clie from the voltage on the usb port. they usually come in the form of a Y shape with one connector for synching and one for charging. I assumed that they would power the sl 10 like the sony charger does but didnt really want to risk it.

I have great fun using the pda to read reference works off the net. I also use yapps to store secret info like cards and passwords. I also like avant go for bbc news website and other pda tech channels. I use handstory to get a few channels and also mobipocket. avant go is best as you get stuff like rolling stone, vnu net etc. its a great pda.

i use 1.2v 750mah Nimhs which usually last a day or two before I swap em round I use the backlight a lot . I also regularly use msbackup to keep a uptodate backup on my 64mb m/stick.
I have had some fatal errors at first when installing odd software programs and find that using ms backup makes things real easy if something goes wrong.

all the best...paul