Palm z22 touchscreen not responding - Palm Z22 Handheld

The Z22 palm PDA is subjected to 3 points of failure. I got a used Z22 and discovered all 3 over the course of a few years. The touchscreen digitizer on the front is a plastic sheet on the top, and a glass screen on the bottom. Invisible layers of conductive paint are facing each other. Simply carrying the Z22 in your pocket, purse, briefcase, or even storing it in a drawer with pencils, staplers, rulers, etc., will, over time, deform the screen, and the damage is cumulative, so that the screen gets worse and worse. It is imperative to have a solid sheet of plastic or hard material over the screen at all times that you are not using it. Leaving the Z22 in direct hot sunlight will heat up and soften the screen, making the problem worse. Carrying the Z22 screen in your pocket on a hot day when you are sweating, will do the same. People report that the Z22 will work in a cool place like North New York, but the screen will quit, when they travel to Florida (hot). I have temporarily fixed the touchscreen by putting it in a ziplock, and sticking it in the freezer to shrink the top layer of plastic. That only worked twice. Then I use a hair dryer to heat the screen VERY hot, to shrink the screen - which worked very well, until I put it in a soft zippered camera case, which gently pushed the screen. Then I took the screen apart completely ( which no one has ever reported doing) and this worked amazingly well, -again- until I put it in a soft case that pushed the screen against the glass backing. I eventually replaced the touchscreen ($10 free shipping from China). All the information is on my tiny website at
http://kidbots.com/WEBADD/Z22_PALM_PILOT/Z22_PALM_PILOT.html
The Z22 is incredibly well designed, and after ripping it apart a dozen times, and carrying it around under extreme heat and freezing cold, I would have to give the original design team at PALM, 5 stars. Your data, on the device, even though the screen may be dead, is very safe, and unless you do a HARD RESET, the data is stored on permanent memory. I had problems with a weak and dying battery, which ALL Z22s are now experiencing, since the decades of time, even with a "new" in the box, sealed Z22 will have. Low glitches of power on the battery seem to cause the BlackScreen of *****, where the LOGIC circuits that control the ON/OFF/SLEEP etc. functions get out of sync, and the unit will not charge or turn on until ALL power is removed ( typically, after a few weeks the battery drains to dead ).
All these problems are discussed and solutions posted, with photos on my website. Also are discussions on what to do with the Z22, where to get parts, how to maintain the Z22, and how to get data off the device onto the new 64 bit WINDOWS computers...
Good luck. The Z22 was an amazing device in its day, and people report that there were a few software programs for it that have never been made since - hence, they still use it...
robindustygraves Sept 2014
( I am posting this answer on a few places on fixya, so that people with Z22's can find it easily ! )
Z22 PALM PILOT
Z22 PALM PILOT