brand new Zire 71 won't turn on

[mwsz71]

I purchased a brand new Zire 71 on Ebay as a Christmas gift for my wife. It arrived in its original plastic packaging, never opened. When I connect it to its cradle, it turns on and behaves like a hard reset. I can see the lightning bolt on the battery indicating that it's charging. As long as it's connected to the cradle it works fine - I can change preferences, use the calculator, even use the camera.

However, as soon as I disconnect from the cradle, it turns off and will not turn back on. The only way I can get it to turn on is by reconnecting to the cradle, which turns it on with another hard reset. I have charged it for several hours over the past few days, but it always dies as soon as I remove it from the cradle and won't turn back on. I know the power button works because I can turn off the Zire while connected to the cradle (but can't turn it back on without disconnecting and reconnecting the cradle).

It seems like the battery is either disconnected, or 100% dead, and not accepting any charge. I have tried performing hard and soft resets, both connected to the cradle and disconnected, with no success. Please help me with any suggestions or similar experience! Was there any battery recall or widespread problems with this unit? If it needs to be repaired or have the battery replaced, is there a repair center you would recommend?

Thanks,
Mark

[BAB2000]

The Zire71 was released in late 2002 or early 2003, so the battery is at least 5 years of age, and with out full charge and in storage it likely has suffered shelf spoilage.

I did not think possible a month or so ago, but another with like tale and a m500 expressed the same concerns and for cost of replacement battery returned the unit to full function and was quite happy.

There is a sticky thread located at top of the PDA forum, here. Provides details for repair options. From members feedback Chris Short is a very good option for repair, as is USEDPDAPARTS.com.

Both are respectable venues, and nary a negative has been spoken of their services.

If talented with repair and assembly you could attempt yourself, yet handling the slider may require a trick or two to remove and reassemble.

Best wishes.

[Strife89]

Just don't give up on the 71! It's a great model!

Mine was actually purchased by another person in December 2003, and given to me as a birthday present 3 years later. Still works perfectly.

[lelisa13p]

I concur; my Zire 71 is still the dearest to my heart. It's fast, the camera is very handy and I've had mine in use since August 2003. I've noticed over the last 3 or 4 months that the battery doesn't stay at 100% as long as it did in the past so I think I might be looking at replacing the battery sometime next year. I'll definitely have that done; I'd not attempt it myself because the camera cable might be tricky. If that's all that you need to do, you'll be sorry if you don't.

[MuseCat]

I've had many Palms... my Zire 71 was my favorite. I recently gave it to friend as an upgrade to her older Palm (so it still has a good home!). I hope your battery charged up and is working now.

[Hook]

This may be a silly question-- but did you put it in its cradle, connected to the AC, and let it charge for 3-4 hours before you did anything with it?

[Renee5949]

I purchased a Zire 71 in September, but didn't get to use it till December since it had to be shipped to my FL home address and I'm currently overseas. It worked from Christmas Day till this morning (Jan 2) and now doesn't come on at all. I tried a soft and then a hard reset. Nothing. It doesn't boot while in the charger either. I had a Clie' for over 5 years and only tried to replace it with a Zire because Sony doesn't make the Clie' anymore. Help!

[BAB2000]

It worked from Christmas Day till this morning (Jan 2) and now doesn't come on at all. I tried a soft and then a hard reset. Nothing. It doesn't boot while in the charger either.

Along with your Zire71, did you receive the cradle with USB cable that also includes a pigtail with a female connector located near the cradle end?
And, also a AC power adapter, rated output 5 VDC 1A (or 1000mA)?

The Zire 71 does not charge via the USB port, it requires the cradle to be connected to the AC wall wart of input current.

When in the cradle the battery icon, should change to a battery with a bolt of ligthning which indicates it is charging.

The time frame described by your dates indicates a little longer than normal battery life between full charges of this model.

Hopefully this is all your problem may be.

And if overseas, due to miltiary service, I thank you for your services

Respectfully,

[Strife89]

It doesn't boot while in the charger either.

If the battery is dead, then this is normal. Wait half an hour to a full hour and it should turn on.

The Zire 71 does not charge via the USB port, it requires the cradle to be connected to the AC wall wart of input current.

Technically it can charge through USB; just not with the cradle. The travel cable allows USB charging (it's a separate accessory).

[Renee5949]

After several IM to Palm, it was finally decided that I'd burned out the cradle by connecting it to 240V. All our other older electronic equipment does fine with an adapter, but apparently Zire 71 does not. (Hence the small tag on the cord that I ignored till AFTER I started to have problems.) I ordered a new 120V/240v charging cable, and I now can at least charge the battery. Of course, the cradle still doesn't sync with the PC, so I'm still waiting on a new sync cord now.