Flash cards

[dbourne]

I have just decided to start using my Psion 5mx more intensively and have bought a Flash Card. This may be a very basic question but how do I know which way up to insert it? It's a 128MB Kodak Flash Card (which I read somewhere should work fine).

Also, does just having it in place increase battery use, or is it only when I am reading programs/information on the card?

Many thanks.

[netBookBabe]

The main coloured label on your card should be towards the top of the machine, and the white back label to the base - assuming your card is like all others I have seen. In any case, there is a small lip on the outer edge of the card which prevents you inserting it the wrong way.

As far as I know, just having the card in place doesn't cause extra drain on the battery, but I'm sure someone else here will correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Julie

[dbourne]

Many thanks!

Flash Card now in place and my Psion is "seeing" it just fine: now I can start filling it with e-books etc.

[netBookBabe]

Just another point - if you're going to leave the CF card permanently in the machine (I do with both my MC218 and my netBook) then it can be a good idea to install any extra applications to the card and run them from there, saving space on internal.

Useful if you're using anything that requires a lot of memory in which to run, such as the Opera web browser.

Julie

[dbourne]

Thanks again. I was thinking of doing just that, particularly if I decide to try the MobiPocket reader for e-books, as it is 2.1MB (if my memory servs me right) which is quite a chunk out of even a 16MB HD but not much out of a 128MB CF card.

On the other hand I presume that for small applications which I am likely to use all the time it would be more sense to put them on C? In particular I'm thinking of loading Macros5, which I think will allow me to get at all my programmes (Data, Time etc.) by keyboard shortcuts and not be totally reliant on using the touch-sensitive screen.

That brings me on to how I load/run programmes, which I have not done before. If I copy the programme from a website to a PC than onto the Psion does that make it run or what? I know, another very basic question but not one I've been able to find anything about in the manual...

[diem]

EPOC programs are distributed as .SIS files. You can either double-click these on the PC which will start an install process (requiring initiation of the serial link obviously), or copy them to the Psion and double-tap them to start the install.

[netBookBabe]

You'll find out by trial and error which apps are better placed where. In most cases you won't notice whether a program is running from C: or D:, although some apps are noticeably slower when run from CF. Usually just slower to start up, but then they run fine, in my experience.

As for installation of programs, after downloading you should in most cases find a file with a .SIS extension. Assuming you have PsiWin installed and activated on PC, double-clicking that file will automatically install to the Psion via the serial cable. Alternatively, you could copy the .SIS file to the Psion and install from there, in which case the .SIS file is normally auto-deleted once you have done the install.

Julie

[netBookBabe]

Oops! diem has already answered that one - apologies for repetition.

Julie

[dbourne]

Many thanks to both of you for that information. Why they don't bother to include details like these in the manual I really don't know.

Thanks again; I'll go try loading some programs.