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November 10, 2025
Ah, the Motorola PageWriter 2000X. Before we carried supercomputers in our pockets, this was the ultimate handheld communication device. It was the epitome of early mobile messaging—a full QWERTY keyboard, a flip-top screen, and that delightful BEEP that signaled incoming greatness. My particular unit was in fantastic shape, a clean piece of late-90s history, except for one critical, proprietary flaw: its battery was stone-cold dead.
If you're going to resurrect a relic, you need to give it a fresh heart. It was time for some battery CPR.
The issue with vintage tech is often the proprietary nature of the power source. This wasn't a standard AA or AAA affair; it was a custom battery pack, and its original cells were long past their retirement date. To bring this classic back to life, we couldn't just buy a new pack at least not at a reasonable cost. Instead we had to perform surgery on the old one.
Peeling back the outer label revealed three Toshiba AAA cells arranged in series with a couple of plastic endcaps and what was likely a thermistor used for feedback to the charging system. The batteries were quite corroded under the endcaps which wasn't a surprise, and certainly why the pack would no longer charge. The pain about the design was that three terminals are needed as you have a positive, negative and then feedback for the charging circuit.
Removing the label
Cells and endcaps visible
Battery crust and thermistor
The original cells were clearly toast and full of crusty corrosion. I decided to replace them with modern, high-capacity NiMH cells, ensuring the PageWriter would have plenty of juice for its second life.
I meticulously removed the old cells from the internal circuitry. This is the delicate part—you must preserve the original configuration and the thermistor as the charger relies on them. Once the dead cells were removed, I carefully spot-welded the new NiMH cells into the exact configuration of the old pack. A bit of careful work and we had a brand new power source that looked very much like the original.
Original Battery Pack
Rebuilt Pack
The moment of truth arrived when I slid the rebuilt battery pack into the PageWriter. It powered right up! Success! The charging circuit recognized the new pack, and the unit was ready to receive messages from 1999.
A feature of the 2000X was its ability to sync and exchange data via the docking cradle. I was eager to fully test this functionality, but I ran into the classic roadblock of vintage tech maintenance: the software is gone. I scoured the internet for the associated syncing and management software, but it appears to have vanished into the digital ether. Without that critical piece of software for the host computer, testing the cradle and its data exchange capabilities is a no-go.
The PageWriter 2000X is alive and kicking, thanks to a bit of battery surgery. It’s a testament to the fact that with some effort, you can breathe new life into almost any piece of vintage hardware.
But this project also serves as a stark reminder of the fragile ecosystem of retro electronics. The hardware itself can be preserved, but once the accompanying software disappears, a part of that gadget's functionality is gone forever.
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