Psion Series 5

The Psion Series 5 must be one of the most useful gadgets around.  I've had one since September 1997 and have a number of software packages on it, either taken off the web or bought from software suppliers.  I've only recently upgraded to an Ipaq 3970 but my comments below still hold true.

Of the Shareware applications I have, the ones I would recommend are Backlite+ and Extrabars, written by Jason Kneen which can be taken from his website at Epocplus.com. These applications reside continuously in the background and can be called upon at any time to perform a number of useful tasks, such as shortcuts to applications or running macros in the case of Extrabars and turning on the backlight and acting as a jotter pad in the case of Backlite+.

If you like conversion lists, tables showing the Beaufort scale, morse code and various utilities, then Phil Spencer's 'Just What I Need' is great.  You'll find this at Phil's website at Homepages.nildram.co.uk/~nicko/index.htm.

The best site for commercially produced software, by far, is Tomtom.com.  I have 3 of their titles - Route Planner, Street Planner (an A to Z of nearly every town in the UK) and Halliwell's Film and Video Guide, which holds information on 19,876 films and 35,626 actors.

I've also got an Ericsson T68i phone which links to the Psion via Infared, so that I can e-mail or surf the web whilst away from home.

Although the Psion runs on an EPOC operating system rather than a Windows one, I would highly recommend it over the somewhat larger Laptops.  For starters, you can press the On button and immediately the Psion opens up at the screen you were last in. On a Laptop, pressing the On button can leave you waiting over a minute to get to the start menu.  The main reason for this time saving is that the Psion runs directly off the ROM and therefore is always in the computers memory.  This feature is extremely useful if you have to quickly look in your diary to check on a meeting or want to look up a contact telephone number from your address book.  Another big plus point in the Psion 5s favour is its size. Closed the Series 5 measures 17 x 9 x 2.5 cms and weighs only 378g.  A laptop will measure about 30 x 30 x4 cms and weigh about 3.3kg.  As a result the Psion can be carried anywhere without giving you a backache and can fit into a trouser suit pocket - although not particularly sightly.

The only draw back with the Psion that can easily be rectified, is the memory capacity.  The Series 5 come with 8mb of RAM, which soon gets used up.  I suggest you buy a Flash card that fits into a specially made port in the side of the unit.  My Flash card has 24mbs of memory which means the complete unit houses 32mbs, enough for almost anyone's needs.  These Flash Cards are the same ones that fit into digital cameras and are now very cheap.  The prices on these are always coming down so I would shop around first.

The only other item I need to mention is - how do I download Internet programs or upload Word files to the Psion.  The answer is simple.  The Psion 5 is bundled with a piece of software called PsiWin which when loaded onto your PC and the cable supplied connected to the Psion and PC, acts as the interface between the two different units.  When connected you can drag and drop files between the PC and Psion which means that if you start writing a report or letter on the train or in a hotel, when you get to the office/home, you can down load the file, convert it to say, Word, and continue finishing it off on the PC.  

Honestly, the Psion Series 5 or any of its newer incarnations, are extremely versatile machine and much better value than any of the heavier and more expensive laptops.

If you would like to ask any question on the use of the Psion or its applications, then please feel free to e-mail me by clicking on the symbol    and I will be happy to give any advice I can.

  Do you like our site or hate it?  
                  Please tell us by completing our quick website survey.  

Want to buy a Psion or other PDA?
We think we've found the best Internet Shop on the Net, with loads of discounts on PDA's and other PC goods.
 

Visit it and see for yourself by clicking on the banner above.

Click here to go to our Homepage or here to go to the Interests page