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Memory Cards

With the term "card" in this text, I'm talking about PC-Cards (formerly PCMCIA) of type I (one).
(Dimensions are about 54*85*3,3 mm). There are type II and III cards, which differ in thickness. Thinner cards will work in wider slots. All Newton MessagePads have PC-Card-Slots:

• OMP, MP1x0: 1* Type II
• MP2000,2100: 2*Type II
• eMate 300: 1*Type III

We distinguish between ROM-Cards and RAM-Cards. Software can be burnt into ROM-Cards during manufacturing. They can't be erased. Perhaps, you still have the "Columbo's Mystery Capers" in your drawer, a pretty old Newton game. As it had been clear to software houses, that Newton wouldn't be the mass market success they expected, more and more software was shipped on floppies, to avoid the expensive ROM-Card manufacturing. Nowadays, the internet is used to distribute Newton Software, ROM cards are almost forgotten.
Features of SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) + better data rates while writing + works with every Newton OS model - expensive - only available with small capacities - Backup-Battery required Features of Flash RAM (developed from electrically erasable and programmable ROMs) + higher capacities available + less expensive + no Battery required - slower writing speed - partly incompatible with different Newton models because of writing voltage requirements		A more interesting thing are RAM-Cards. They can store documents and programs. There isn't any difference in user experience, if software or data are stored internally or on a RAM-Card. It is even possible to spread data internally and on a RAM-Card and it looks like a single store. This is a special feature of Newton OS. With Newton, you can use "linear Flash RAM" PC-Cards and "SRAM" PC-Cards. Flash-RAM Cards of ATA type and Compact Flash (even with PC-Card Adapter) as used in digital cameras aren't supported wihout third party software (see below). New: ATA-Support: Almost finished Paul Guyot is developing ATA-Support for more than a year. There are betas available. With his software, you can use cheap ATA PC-Cards (or CompactFlash Cards w/ PC-Card adapter) with your Newton. It works with all NOS2.x models, that is MP120 w/NOS2.0 and newer. Details here: ATA-Support To download, visit Paul Guyot's web page here: <http://www.kallisys.com/newton/ata/>

An important manufacturer of Newton-compatible Flash RAM PC-Cards was INTEL™.
They produced the following models:

• INTEL Series 2, P/N: iMC0nnFLSA
  nn is the memory capacity in MB.
  Available in 02, 04, 10, 20 MB.
  Reading voltage: 5V; writing-/erasing voltage 12V.
  Compatible with Newton OMP, MP100, MP110, MP120. MP130, MP2000, MP2100
  Remark: The eMate 300 can read this card, but can't write to it
• INTEL Series 2+, P/N: iMC0nnFLSP
  nn is the memory capacity in MB.
  Available in 04, 08, 20, 40 MB.
  Reading voltage: 3.3V,5V; writing-/erasing voltage 3.3V,5V,12V.
  Compatible with Newton MP120/2.0, MP130, MP2000, MP2100, eMate300
• INTEL Value Series 100, P/N: iMC0nnFLSC
  nn is the memory capacity in MB.
  Available in 02, 04, 08, 16 MB.
  Reading voltage: 5V; writing-/erasing voltage 5V
  Compatible with Newton MP2000, MP2100, eMate300
  

  IMPORTANT: INTEL Value Series 200 Cards don't work with Newton.

Newton Memory Cards from Apple

Apple sold this types of RAM card under the "Newton" brand (Source: TIL n24010)

• Newton 1MB Storage Card (SRAM), P/N: H0028LL/A (for all Newton models)
• Newton 2MB Flash Storage Card, P/N: H0008LL/A (for all MessagePad models, eMate: read only)
• Newton 4MB Flash Storage Card, P/N: H0092LL/A (for all MessagePad models, eMate: read only )
• Newton 4MB Flash Storage Card, P/N: H0230LL/A (for MessagePad 120 (2.0), 130, 2000, 2100, eMate)

Remark: Apple cards sold internationally have part numbers ending in Z/A (H0230Z/A for example).

Writing Speed of different memory media in MP2100

All test were done with Nick's TestIt V.1.2.2.

Problem is, Nick's TestIt doesn't calculate the write performance right (it's underestimated), but you can still use the figures to compare different memory technologies.

Details are in the FAQs (von Paul Guyot)

Each test was performed 12 times, the best and worst results were disregarded. From the remaining 10 values, the arithmetic mean value was calculated. All tests were done with newly formatted cards. The writing speed of cards which are almost ful will slow down by about 20-25%. The writing speed of fragmented cards decreases about 60%, so it's highly recommended to backup, erase and restore memory cards from time to time.

Here is the exact writing speed of freshly formatted flash memory: internal Memory 15,29 kB/s Intel Series II 10,0 kB/s Intel Value Series 12,61 kB/s Fujitsu SRAM 17,81 kB/s

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