Faster colour successor to 5mx, Psion back in handheld market!

[Noetus]

Oh, I wish.

In reference to recent discussion about whether Psion will return to the PDA market, I think it's a crying shame that all the technology exists for a machine that we want (faster 5MX with Bluetooth, colour screen, bigger memory, longer battery life, USB or other fast connectivity, updated EPOC, same form factor) but no-one is making it. Why do these ridiculous keyboard-less Palm look-alikes sell so well? People who see my MC218 often respond with something like, 'Wow, look, I've never seen one with a keyboard like that" as if having a keyboard was some big desirable hi-tech deal that other machines can't implement.

The HP Jornada series with keyboard is ok, but why do they make the things so big and heavy? Compared with a 5mx/Revo, I mean. There is no reason the clunky things couldn't be smaller and lighter. (And sleeker.) And it lacks basic functions, like coming on when you open it up, and being able to record when the screen is closed.

Worse, the Jornada runs Windows CE or the later "Handheld PC 2000 Version 3.0," which is a joke. Apparently this latter "2000" OS, which replaces Win CE, is just a version of Microsoft Windows 95 squeezed onto a handheld! So, you have to "right-click" just as you do in Win 95 and for that you need to press the ALT key while tapping with the pointer! How completely useless. As a friend of mine and former employee of Symbian once pointed out, the whole design concept for the operating system of a handheld must be different than even that of a laptop (never mind a desktop), worked out from the ground up (not bottom down). Psion well understood this. Microsoft, as usual, just want to cash in on whatever they can, with little real thought to good design, and will rehash old, defunct products of theirs to achieve it.

Ugh! Bring back Psion, someone, please! And quick!

[netBookBabe]

Bit of a cruel headline to taunt us with, Noetus! ;) I did NOT hold my breath however.

I have to say, I whole-heartedly agree with every single comment you make, and I should think the majority of people on this forum do too.

If only! :(

Julie

[106112909]

I also agree 100% with what you say

I'd like to add that the price of WinCE machines is far too prohibitive. Who would pay £ 700 for a WinCE machine when you can get a decent 5mx for less than £ 200? £ 500 for a colour screen, That's a lot!!!

[netBookBabe]

Originally posted by 106112909
Who would pay £ 700 for a WinCE machine when you can get a decent 5mx for less than £ 200?
It has to be said that £200 is not the "real" price of a 5mx, though, they launched at more than double that, and maybe it's the previous higher prices which contributed to the problems, I don't know.

What do we think would have been the launch price for a colour 5mx? £600? I'm guessing that would have been perceived as too high by a lot of people. If Psion couldn't do it for less than that, and didn't think the market could stand that kind of price, then, well.... we know the rest.

It seems to me that S7s started selling when the price dropped to around the £450 mark, but the original price was too high for many.

Of course, a lot of people just wouldn't realise what wonderful value they would be getting with a Psion machine!

Sad, isn't it?
Julie

[Noetus]

I agree, and it is not with a lump in my throat that I look back at the MC400 and think, uh oh, same thing's happening to the 5mx. We'll look back at it in 10 years time and think, it was way ahead of its time, why didn't more people buy one?

[Check out http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/historyofpsion.htm for info on history of Psion. There's a page with info on the MC400 at http://www.btinternet.com/~slimsimms/psion/psion400mc_word.htm]

It's interesting to note that Psion came out with this machine in 1989, which was also the year that Apple came out with the first "portable" computer, the "Mac Portable," running an early version of its GUI operating system. (See http://www.apple-history.com/quickgallery.html?where=aI.html) However, while the MC400 weighed 4.3 lbs (compare to the laptops of today) the Mac Portable came in at 15.8 lbs! And while the MC400 set you back £695, admittedly not cheap, the Mac Portable was $6,500! In terms of hardware specification, they are actually quite comparable - the Mac Portable is more powerful, but not *that* much more powerful. And I wouldn't be surprised if the efficiency of that early EPOC operating system made up to some extent for lack of speed and memory, just as it does today. It wasn't until 1991 that Apple introduced a true "laptop" computer with its Mac OS, the Powerbook 100. It cost $2,500, with a similar hardware specification to the Mac Portable, just smaller and lighter.

So it seems that the MC400 was one of the very first usable small computers with a GUI and a reasonable price tag. I would be interested to hear from others more knowledgeable than myself about how it compared in terms of technology and market value with other portable computers of its day.

[For example, the Cambridge (Sinclair) Z88: http://www.z88forever.org.uk/z88specs.htm]

By the way, MC400, MC218. Any coincidence here? Replay of history?

[alexandr0s]

Originally posted by 106112909
I also agree 100% with what you say

I'd like to add that the price of WinCE machines is far too prohibitive. Who would pay £ 700 for a WinCE machine when you can get a decent 5mx for less than £ 200? £ 500 for a colour screen, That's a lot!!!

However that was then? How about now?? If you try to by a second hand 5mx/mc218 and a Jornada 680, you will find the prices very similar. I have not used a Jornada so I can't make comparisons, but it comes with a comfortable keyboard, colour screen, integrated modem and a cut-down version of Windows 95/98. Now personally, I don't find the latter a problem: if you're already a Windows user, the ce interface must be very easy to get used to, and the synchronisation should be quite smooth with all current and future versions of desktop Windows, since ActiveSync will continue to be developed while the same can not be said with certainty for PsiWin.

Maybe it all depends on how people use their machines. I'm using it as a laptop replacement, and I'm rarely away from my desktop pc so limited battery life is not an issue. So if someone offered me a trade (a J680 for my mc218) I would be seriously tempted. That doesn't mean I'm not happy with my mc218 and that I don't recognise its advantages, one of them being its very supportive user community. I'm just putting things into perspective. And probably the masochist in me enjoys being unpopular.... ;)

[netBookBabe]

Originally posted by alexandr0s
...And probably the masochist in me enjoys being unpopular.... ;)
Ohhh, Alex - I can hear the rustling in the bushes! ;) LOL

Julie

[bobbyr]

I agree with the comments also. If Psion did build a new one, it would be great and we would all want and probably have one. Their biggest mistake, and I told them, and wrote many articles in different places including Foxpop and many other forums, was that they had absolutey no Marketing in the US and Canada. I heard that they didn't do much in Europe either, not sure about in England. I have sold about ten or fifteen here in the states by just showing mine off. If they would have Marketed properly they would have sold a lot of them here in the States. Whether they agree or not, with the Global Market, you pretty much have to be able to sell here and Canada. Big Markets. The machines would really sell themselves if they had them in the shops and let people play with them.

Anyway, enough said, I agree we would all love to see them make new ones.

Thanks,

Bobbyr

[cyberneticist]

I completely agree with the previous comments as well, and am taking it upon myself to do something about it!

I am a software and hardware developer who is trying to get together a group of people willing to work on the Psion 5MX to make it into the laptop replacement we all know it could be. Already I have implemented a version of the "jotter pad" which will be present on the Tablet PC :D and am now moving into hardware/software solutions. I am working on an I/O port design which will work on a standard 5mx through the compact flash socket (yeah, I'm bluetooth enabling any 5MX owner who wants it!!) and generally doing a few bits and pieces that I feel would be useful to Psion Owners, and breathe new life into the Psion. I don't really want to go 2 far into details here, but anyone who is interested or who has something to contribute to the project, feel free to send me a message!

Chris :rolleyes: :D :cool:

[Benard]

I agree with all comments. After having used a first Psion 5mx, I left it to buy a Visor. I could not take real notes during meetings of interviews with my Visor. I tried to complete it with a Visorphone, but I was really disappointed. The Visorphone was not working properly (the alarm sound is too weak) and I got a lot of problems to get my email with it. So, I decided to come back to my old Psion. It works well and I collect email with my Nokia, using infrared connection..
In my view, Psion managers made a big strategic mistake when they decided to develop the series 7 instead of developing a faster 5mx with a color screen. The "7" is too big and enters in competition with faster laptops providing more memory
After so many years, the Psion is still the best handled! What a pity to not develop it!
Dom

[netBookBabe]

Originally posted by Benard
In my view, Psion managers made a big strategic mistake when they decided to develop the series 7 instead of developing a faster 5mx with a color screen. The "7" is too big and enters in competition with faster laptops providing more memory
Personally, I can't agree with you there, Dominique. Remember that the netBook was developed first, before the S7, and was specifically targetted at the enterprise market, not as a potential S5 upgrade. I don't believe it was anything like an "either/or" type of decision. It seems it was consumer demand which brought about the S7 some while later, so the format obviously had its attractions to many people.

The 7 (or netBook in my case) is the perfect size for me, and I'd choose it in preference to a laptop every time. Well, that's exactly what I did!

Memory (or lack of it) is scarcely an issue - we all know how efficiently Psions make use of the resources available to them, and there is plenty of expandability in the form of CFs and microdrives for extra storage. The netBook is my portable office - I can do just about everything on here that I would on a desktop PC, and I don't have the inconvenience of dragging around a bulky laptop with insufficient battery life.

Ask me if I would like a colour 5mx and the answer is "of course I would!" - but it would never be in preference to the netBook, it would have to be "as well as". :D

Julie

PS: Message composed on and submitted from netBook ;)

[bobbyr]

I also would like to see a Color (colour) ) 5mx, but I also think that my Series 7 and Netbook are great. I have different uses for them. When I am out working where it is real bright, or if I don't want to carry to much. I use my 5mx as it is smaller and the screen is better in bright light. If I want to do a lot of typing, I can use my 5mx, but prefer my Netbook as its just that bit bigger, but not to big to have to "lug" around. Its a good size.
So they have their place depending on specific use.

Thanks,

Bobbyr