psion 3 vs 5 vs 7 vs revo
guy-jin
i dont want a palm, its not versatile
enough, and i dont want a WinCE, because,
well, its windows.
but i am wondering wether to get a
series 3, 5, 7, or a psion revo.
which, and how much software does
each run? which is compatible with
what others?
my first instinct is to get a 7, but
it is a bit pricey. but i am also
afraid to get anything smaller, since
they might be obsoleted.
thanks for your time
g.f.
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Before you buy.
Simon Wolf
which, although minor, are annoying. If you can get a bit more money
together then I would put a netBook before a Series 7.
The Series 3 is, in my opinion, almost out of date and has a limited life.
The Series 5 is surpassed by the 5mx which is a great machine and is well
worth considering. The only real difference between it and the Revo is the
size of the machine.
I hope this helps.
Simon Wolf
Webmaster, Access All Areas
http://www.athree.com
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Philip Lijnzaad
"Simon" == Simon Wolf <sw...@dircon.co.uk> writes:
Simon> The Series 3 is, in my opinion, almost out of date and has a limited
Simon> life.
I beg to differ, when comparing 3mx with revo (which are comparable in size
and price): the 3mx is still a very capable machine (advantages over revo: AA
batteries, backlight, OPL compiler, Agenda year view, list view, busy
view. Drawbacks: AA batteries, backlight, size/weight, no tcp/ip (mail/web)).
With e.g. the original Psion 3 machines still working after all these years,
it may not matter that much if Psion stops selling the 3mx in a year or two;
they may be expected to have a long useful life.
Philip
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Nigel Wright
> i am considering geting a psion pda.
> i dont want a palm, its not versatile
> enough, and i dont want a WinCE, because,
> well, its windows.
>
> but i am wondering wether to get a
> series 3, 5, 7, or a psion revo.
> which, and how much software does
> each run? which is compatible with
> what others?
>
>
Generally speaking, the software across the Revo, 5mx & 7 is the same
with some differences in what applications are included. The core
applications such as TIME, DATA, AGENDA, WORD, SHEET are the same, and
therefore files can be transferred across all these machines. This is
because they run the Epoc operating system - release 5 to be more
precise.
The Series 3 is now discontinued, but is still a very fine platform,
and superior to Epoc in some aspects such as file compatibility/ease of
file transfer with other platforms - this is largely because it has on-
board file conversion capabilities i.e rtf, WKS, WK1 etc. The keyboard
isn't as good as the Epoc machines, and e-mail/web connectivity is
limited in comparison.
The Epoc machines themselves are very different in the markets they are
aimed at, so you have to be more explicit in your requirements, but as
an owner of all three I would say:
S7/netBook: Spreadsheets, word processing, e-mail. Excellent screen and
keyboard. Not so portable due to weight/size.
Revo: ultimate portability - ideal contacts & agenda management. Forget
it for large amounts of word processing or spreadsheert work due to
small screen & cramped keyboard. No expandable storage and therefore
limited when you have lots of data or need to install 3rd party
applications.
5mx: good compromise between the two above. Excellent keyboard, good
battery life, expandable storage.
YMMV, but I tend to use my netBook for deskwork and when travelling to
remote locations and my Revo for an address book/agenda tracker when
out and about. My 5mx is now simply a backup machine, if only because I
find the screen hard to work with.
One thing worth bearing in mind is that both the S7 & Revo require
access to a mains adapter to ensure batteries are recharged. If you're
likely to be out in the field away from mains supply, then the 5mx is
possibly better - after all, nearly every corner shop stocks AA
batteries!
--
Nigel Wright, Palmtop Publications
Nigel Wright
> The Series 5 is surpassed by the 5mx which is a great machine and is well
> worth considering. The only real difference between it and the Revo is the
> size of the machine.
I disagree. The 5mx has a very significant advantage in expandability.
Basically, the Revo has none, and if you have lots of data or need to
install 3rd party apps such as Route Planner then you're going to run
into problems with the Revo. Additionally, the Revo has no backlight,
so if you find yourself working in very low light levels the screen
becomes difficult to read.
Tony Hodge
> i am considering geting a psion pda.
> i dont want a palm, its not versatile
> enough, and i dont want a WinCE, because,
> well, its windows.
aha - and there lies a significant consideration, because if you don't
like windows you may be using a Mac or Linux or something else on a a
desktop machine and document compatablity/ease of backup may be an
issue.
> but i am wondering wether to get a
> series 3, 5, 7, or a psion revo.
> which, and how much software does
> each run? which is compatible with
> what others?
If you have a Mac like me I suggest the 3mx simply because you will be
able to exchange word processor files via rtf format which I believe is
still not possible with a 5/revo.
Then again this may not be a consideration - you might be looking for a
stand alone machine in which case get the 5 as the best compromise of
cost/size/function (IMHO)
tony
Erik Sandblom
wrote:
> On Wed, 1 Mar 2000 21:05:45 -0000,
> "Simon" == Simon Wolf <sw...@dircon.co.uk> writes:
>
> Simon> The Series 3 is, in my opinion, almost out of date and has a
limited
> Simon> life.
>
> I beg to differ, when comparing 3mx with revo (which are
comparable in size
> and price): the 3mx is still a very capable machine (advantages
over revo: AA
> batteries, backlight, OPL compiler, Agenda year view, list view,
busy
> view. Drawbacks: AA batteries, backlight, size/weight, no tcp/ip
(mail/web)).
My Revo doesn't have a year view in Agenda, but it does have "busy
view" and "to do view". I don't know what you mean by size/weight,
but the revo specification is 200g and I find it's the only PDA with a
keyboard that fits in a pocket and is light enough. Even if other PDAs
physically fit in a pocket, they are too heavy to be put there in practice
since they make your jacket hang lopsidedly (if that is a real word =)
If you're going to be away from an AC plug for over a week, the Revo
might not be such a great idea.
Erik Sandblom
eriksrailnews.com
Daniel Ockeloen
Nigel Wright wrote:
>
> One thing worth bearing in mind is that both the S7 & Revo require
> access to a mains adapter to ensure batteries are recharged. If you're
> likely to be out in the field away from mains supply, then the 5mx is
> possibly better - after all, nearly every corner shop stocks AA
> batteries!
> --
> Nigel Wright, Palmtop Publications
We all feel the same it allways had a 'safe' feeling the AA thing given
that is there anyone
making a external AA connector for say the Netbok ? I for one would carry
it in my bag
with a few AA's for the 'o shit' times.
Daniel.
Ajai Khattri
> Then again this may not be a consideration - you might be looking for a
> stand alone machine in which case get the 5 as the best compromise of
> cost/size/function (IMHO)
The 5MX is worth the extra few $'s - the new apps are great, extra memory
useful and the 5MX also runs the latest version of EPOC (R5).
--
Aj.
Steve Drain
> Nigel Wright wrote:
> > One thing worth bearing in mind is that both the S7 & Revo require
> > access to a mains adapter to ensure batteries are recharged. If you're
> > likely to be out in the field away from mains supply, then the 5mx is
> > possibly better - after all, nearly every corner shop stocks AA
> > batteries!
Don't forget that you will nearly always be near a car with a 12V
socket, so get yourself a voltage converter for the occasional
boost away from home.
> ... is there anyone making a external AA connector for say the
> Netbok ? I for one would carry it in my bag with a few AA's for the
> 'o shit' times.
It would be a pretty hefty carrier, 10 cells for a netBook, but cheap
and simple to make. However, it would also be a very expensive option
for charging the internal battery.
--
; ,', Steve Drain. Kappa http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/kappa/
;,'
;',
,; ',,
Alan Morris, G4ENS
>The Series 3 is now discontinued, but is still a very fine platform,
Agreed. I still use my 3a for Agenda and Word's diamond key feature. Also
the keyboard has advantages over the keyboard....
>The keyboard isn't as good as the Epoc machines,
The 5 keyboard looks better, but you have to hit the keys in their very
centre. If you hit the key off-centre then key presses are lost. So the
smaller keys on the 3a are just as good.
Also frequently used keys + - / and * are a single keypress on a 3a. On a 5
+ - : ; = are now a Fn + x. A backward step.
If like me you need to type while standing away from a desk, the 3a fits in
both hands easily and is well balanced. The 5 is unstable and more difficult
to type. Another backward step.
Even without a backlight, the 3a screen is many times easier to read with
excelent contrast compared to my 5. Another backward step.
However for mapping apps used with my GPS, the 5mx is the best of all PDAs
available, but I cannot justify an upgrade from 5 to 5mx.
Now, has the Psion 6 number been kept for an AA powered colour screen version
of the 5mx ? But with a good contrast !
Alan Morris, G4ENS.
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK.
E-mail: al...@mainline.co.uk shortly being renamed,
without moving ISP, to: al...@fast-mail.net
both are working for the change over period.
Where do you want to go today ? Somewhere stable - away from Windows.
Ajai Khattri
> Also frequently used keys + - / and * are a single keypress on a 3a. On a 5
> + - : ; = are now a Fn + x. A backward step.
Not on a Series 7, which has a more notebook-like keyboard (though they did
[annoyingly] swap the Menu and Fn keys around in thr bottom left corner of the
keyboard -- instead of CTRL FN MENU we have CTRL MENU FN on an S7!).
> If like me you need to type while standing away from a desk, the 3a fits in
> both hands easily and is well balanced. The 5 is unstable and more difficult
> to type. Another backward step.
This is a matter of opinion - I switched over from a 3a quite happily and still
use the "thumb" technique on my S5 and S5MX.
> Even without a backlight, the 3a screen is many times easier to read with
> excelent contrast compared to my 5. Another backward step.
No backlit screen will ever be as good as the 3a.
Repeat after me:
"No backlit screen will ever be as good as the 3a."
Once you accept this you either learn to live with it, change your viewing habits
or stay with the 3a.
(I suspect the Revo screen is much better than the S5 but now people are
complaining about the lack of a backlight! As Ali says, damned if they do and
damned if they don't).
--
Aj.
Alan Morris, G4ENS
>"Alan Morris, G4ENS" wrote:
>
>> If like me you need to type while standing away from a desk, the 3a fits
in
>> both hands easily and is well balanced. The 5 is unstable and more
difficult
>> to type. Another backward step.
>
>This is a matter of opinion - I switched over from a 3a quite happily and
still
>use the "thumb" technique on my S5 and S5MX.
Yes the thumbs can still be used, but the 5 is still unstable compared to a
3a. In a 3a all the weight, when open, is in the middle and the central
ridge
made by the battery compartment makes a good finger grip; but on the 5 the
battery compartment is pushed to the rear and with this big lump there, it is
unstable without any decent grip.
If the screen sides are used to hold a 5, then heat from the fingers makes
the
part of the screen near them go darker.
>> Even without a backlight, the 3a screen is many times easier to read with
>> excelent contrast compared to my 5. Another backward step.
>
>No backlit screen will ever be as good as the 3a.
>
>Repeat after me:
>"No backlit screen will ever be as good as the 3a."
Insert 'Psion' after 'No' and before 'backlit'.
My Garmin GPS has a backlit screen with two levels of backlight - dim, very
dim and off. It does not suffer from the 'all black' to all white' when the
temperature changes like the Psion 5. The Garmin can be mounted on the top
of my dashboard in the motor and the contrast only had to be set once. It
gets quite hot and cold there but is still OK.
However the Garmin does not have a touch screen facility.
It is quite worrying when having been out using your Psion 5 on a warm sunny
day (like last Sunday) you open the lid when back home in the evening, to
find a blank screen. (As I did last Sunday.) You think it has stopped
working - plug in the mains power - etc. You are about to do a reset and
loose the days work, then you remember, last year you had the same problem
and adjust the contrast !
I'm not anti the 5, as I use a 5 everyday as well as a 3a, only giving the
original mailer my opinions.
I have never held a 7 so cannot comment, but I would like one when the cash
is available.
Henk van de Vis
used the remaines to repair his 3c. ) I often used my thumbs while typing in
an easy chair. Now I bought a REVO and the "thumb" technique works even
better. The smaller machine fits even better in the hands, and when you are
used to the new keyboard it works really nice.
Alan Morris, G4ENS <al...@mainline.co.uk> schreef in berichtnieuws
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