Does Psion still manufacture handhelds?

[Commando]

All right, I've never owned a Psion. I have four handhelds, but they're all WinCE/PPC/PalmOS. I've been thinking about picking up a Psion, but am unclear on whether Psion is still in the business or not. Well?

[MikeMcC]

Psion no longer manufacture the "consumer" market products - Revo, 5mx and Series 7 - though it may still be possible to pick up a new machine from existing stock at some outlets. The netBook and netPad products are still being developed and manufactured, essentially for the commercial and industrial markets though I don't believe the netPad has actually been released yet. These products are not available in "High Street" stores and must be obtained from specialist Psion suppliers.

[makoman50]

the revo and revo plus are still manufactured and sold by psion usa (www.psionusa.com) and they sometimes come new in box on ebay.
Mike: the netpads are on the "beta" testing stage and should be availible to commercial users soon for $1800 us.
cheers
makoman

[spegru]

My understanding is as follows:
1. Psion is very much still in business - concentrating mainly on the industrial side. However the netBook (sub-notebook) is still being made & sold. Indeed they just released a new OS and new hardware in order to better support ethernet. They also remain the single largest shareholder in Symbian - which has extended Psion's OS so that it can be used by Smartphones - and is being used by the worlds major Phone makers - Nokia/Ericsson/Motrola/Panasonic/Seimens

2. Although Psion is not mass manufacturing consumer products (Revo/5MX/7 etc) there has been some recent manufacture due to increases in demand brought about by lower prices. Psion is also committed to supporting these products - see http://www.psion.com/futuresupport.htm

3. However, if you are a potential buyer I suggest that what you consider is whether the products do what you need them to do as far as you can see for (say) 2 yrs. What Psion products really benefit from is support forums (fora?) like this one, and a range of useful applications - Like Word Process/ Spreadsheet/ email/ web/ graphics etc etc plus file conversion using either Psiwin (on PC) or Neuon nConvert (on Psion). These devices are so useful that I think you will find they will continue to be widely used and supported in this way for around 5 yrs. By that time all devices will have changed out of recognition.

My advice is to go out and find a nicely priced Series 5MX, Series 7 or Netbook either in the shops (try expansys) or second hand (try ebay). You won't regret it.

regards

spegru

[106112909]

I bought a second-hand 5mx from http://www.psionex.co.uk/ and I am very happy with it.