Series 7 Q's

[CNT]

Maybe a bad question (or ever repeated question), but anyway, here it goes...

I am not quite understanding what the Psion Series 7 is designed for? Is it a laptop (notebook), or HPC or PDA w/keyboard?

Is it an old model? If so, then that explains why such low memory.

Maybe it's comparing oranges and apples, but what would it compare with NEC MobilePro 790? Are the Series 7 keyboard smaller or same size (17mm pitch?)? If both keyboard are same size, how can the overall closed-position of Series 7 be smaller than the MobilePro 790?

The reason I am interested in this Series 7 is because it offers a full-screen (but then it would be sized closer to a notebook than the clamshell?). I am guessing that between the screen appears of Series 7 and MobilePro 790 screens, the Series 7 fonts and pictures would be smaller than the MobilePro 790 half-screen ??

Chuck

[cshandley]

Chuck,

Originally posted by CNT
I am not quite understanding what the Psion Series 7 is designed for? Is it a
laptop (notebook), or HPC or PDA w/keyboard?

The Series 7 (and Netbook) are not *any* of those kinds of computer - it is
fairly unique, so attempts at comparison will fail in some ways. You need to
look at what it does, rather than ask what is it like!

In truth, it is half way between a laptop & a PDA, which should suitably boggle
your mind :-)



Is it an old model? If so, then that explains why such low memory.

Not old exactly, 2-3 years I think, but since it was so amazing what it came out
it has aged quite well.

The low memory is because it does not use a bloated OS from Microsoft (or Apple
for that matter), and so it does not *need* much memory. 16Mb of memory is
quite acceptable, and 32Mb is almost "infinite" as far as Psion programs are
concerned.

The same reasoning applies to the "low" 130-200MHz processor. Sure, it won't
play Quake 3 (and sadly no-one has ported Quake 1), but it's not supposed to :-)



The reason I am interested in this Series 7 is because it offers a full-screen
(but then it would be sized closer to a notebook than the clamshell?). I am
guessing that between the screen appears of Series 7 and MobilePro 790 screens,
the Series 7 fonts and pictures would be smaller than the MobilePro 790
half-screen ??

Sorry, I don't know about the MobilePro 790, but I can tell you the Series7
offers a full 640x480 display in 256 colours. Whether this is sufficient for
you depends on what you want.

Personally I think the Series7 is much more of a "laptop" than any 'real' laptop
will ever be, and I would use it in preference to any laptop.


So to decide on whether the Series7 or Netbook is for you, I would make a list
of what functionality you *MUST* have. Ignore the "it would be nice to have"
items, because otherwise you'll end up carry around a 5KG "laptop" with 20inch
screen!

Regards,
Chris Handley

[MartinG]

Originally posted by cshandley
The same reasoning applies to the "low" 130-200MHz processor. Sure, it won't
play Quake 3 (and sadly no-one has ported Quake 1), but it's not supposed to :-)

Hi Chris,

Maybe not Quake but it'll certainly play Doom1, 2, 3... See http://www.yipton.demon.co.uk/content.html#EDoom for details. I loaded it on to my netBook originally. Not to play (these type of games give me motion sickness!) but rather to show people what an itty-bitty Psion can do...! ;)

Of course, you need the original Wad files and these take up quite a bit of precious space but it's darned impressive all the same...

Best regards,
Martin

[cshandley]

Originally posted by MartinG
Maybe not Quake but it'll certainly play Doom1, 2, 3... See
http://www.yipton.demon.co.uk/content.html#EDoom for details. I
loaded it on to my netBook originally. Not to play (these type of games give me
motion sickness!) but rather to show people what an itty-bitty Psion can do...!
;)

Of course, you need the original Wad files and these take up quite a bit of
precious space but it's darned impressive all the same...

Thanks Martin, although I already had Doom installed :-)

Yes it is quite a nice "demo", although I have to feel it is a bit more responsive
since I upgraded to a Netbook.

The only downer really is that the screen refresh rate is quite low, and the LCD
is quite blurry for high-speed action, so that it's not the best way to play
Doom!


Personally I think NoMandsLand is the best game available for the Psion, even if
the gfx aren't flashy.

Regards,
Chris Handley