Epocdigest V1 # 237

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Epoc Digest Sun, 27 Apr 2003 Volume 01 : Number 237

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Sent to: 784 subscribers

In today's Epoc Digest 21 messages:

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- Transferring mail

- Linking 5mx emulator and Windows

- silent alarms

- Mobile phone for a Series 7

- A few q's

- GlobeTrotter

- WiFi on netBook with Buffalo card - is WEP supported?

- Re: Free macro... (4 Sergio)

- Re: Yahoo (4 Eric)

- Re: on moving (4 Arent)

- Hmmmmm (4 Will)

- Re: T3 (4 Keith)

- Re: OpD2d app (4 mark)

- Re: iBook startup time (4 Simon)

- Restart (4 Eric)

- Re: One Serial on S5mx (4 Trygve)

- Re: Transferring mail (4 Ian)

- Re: Where to install apps

- Re: Infra Red

- SonyEricsson P800 - Second Report

- Contacts v. Data, "Data" application, Killing programs, Cunning tip, OPXs on C

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Date: 25 Apr 2003 07:38:00 -0600

From: "Mike Woodward"

Subject: Re: EPOC DIGEST V1 # 236[Scanned]

Reply to Ian Chapple"

Subject: Transferring mail

Ian

I transferred my e-mail account when I upgraded from a 5mx to a Netbook

without any problems, although it was about 18 months ago, instructions below.

Create a new e-mail account with the same details as the old Psion. Move the

e-mail files from drive C to D on the Netbook, even if you don't have any!

(select Tools then Move message store...)

Close all applications on the Netbook & transfer the CF card to the old Psion,

making sure the Netbook is switched off while CF card is removed.

Insert CF card in old Psion, load Mail app, move the e-mail files from drive C

to D by selecting Tools then Move message store...

Close e-mail application & swap CF card back to Netbook.

Load Mail application on the Netbook & all your messages should appear.

The above should also work when moving between any Psion that supports CF

cards.

Mike

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Date: 25 Apr 2003 13:09:58 -0600

From: "Chris Cooper"

Subject: Linking 5mx emulator and Windows

Is there any way in which I can connect the 5mx emulator and Windows via PsiWin or in a PsiWinlike way?

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Date: 25 Apr 2003 14:20:31 -0600

From: "Hoffman, Susan"

Subject: silent alarms

Some posted the following hint:

"Ever noticed that the only way to cancel an alarm on your Psion once it's gone off is manual intervention (i.e. press the 'Cancel' option)? Wouldn't it be handy if you could set alarms so that they only ever sounded once - and didn't repeat for ever... Well you can:- The solution is to set the alarm you want to hear as per normal. Then set a second SILENT alarm for 1 minute (or whenever) after the 1st alarm has sounded - it will cancel the sound of the first alarm (at least until you next get around to pressing the cancel key)."

This is a great idea (the alarm always seems to go off when I'm driving and the Psion is in my briefcase in the back seat). Is there a way to create a Macro to do this easily?

Susan Katz Hoffman

Pepper Hamilton LLP--------------

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Date: 25 Apr 2003 15:39:09 -0600

From: Derek Clark

Subject: Mobile phone for a Series 7

Hi digestives

I damaged my series 7 and mobile phone recently but the insurance came up trumps and I have bought a 7 off Ebay. My last phone was an Ericsson PF768.

I'd be grateful for suggestions of what to replace it with. Something similarly plain will do; it will get light use only. It doesn't have to be a current model I am happy with 2nd hand.

I'm in to areas that I don't understand here but if I can transfer my sim card and stay with one2one it would be handy.

Cheers......Derek

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Date: 25 Apr 2003 20:06:12 -0600

From: Tom Robertson

Subject: A few q's

Dear all,

Any help with these questions?

Is there any means of 'killing' an application on the 7 as one used to be able to on the 3 (and 5?). The only alternative I can find is the soft reset!

My P7 no longer closes as it used to. I now have to squeeze the casing around the button clip for it to clip shut - a known problem?

I have Opera installed, however the default program for html remains the web program. How do I change this?

Is there any method of synchronising the agenda and data files on a p7 and revo via infrared?

I have a garmin 12xl. Is there any way to get the gps to record waypoints and draw the route on a map? Does any epoc software exist to do this?

Ian wrote -

I sent my 7 in for repair (under warranty) because the microphone didn't work, but then later heard that in fact the microphone is not soldered to the motherboard, but is instead held under tension using sprung contacts, which can cause problems. Pressing down on the casing directly over the microphone often solves any recording problem that you are having, by relocating the microphone; this might well explain why you can record a tapping sound.

- does anyone know a more permanent solution to this problem?

Many thanks for any help,

Regards

Tom

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Date: 25 Apr 2003 20:32:23 -0600

From: Trygve Henriksen

Subject: GlobeTrotter

Greetings!

Saj wrote:

> If anyone recalls I have asked in this forum if Globetrotter

> http://www.option.com/products/overview.shtml works on

> netBook, which Ifound it won't.

It will work, but only on 'post september' machines which can deliver more power to the PCMCIA slot. (MalayBooks are 'Pre-september' and the S7 is even worse off)

According to a mail I recently received from the Option Tech support, it _may_ work on older models too, but NOT if it runs at max speed, and unfortunately, it's the network that decides on the speed...

If ip is used at max speed in an older model, it WILL cause it to lock up, and it MAY cause the netBook to either lock up or reset, or in worst case. both...

(A fun new version of Russian Roulette?)

In theory it SHOULD work perfectly in a PCMCIA pod made for the S3c/S5 machines since they have their own batteries (4 x AA cells) and no real power limit...

(I have this pod, but no Globetrotter. It works OK with the Nokia Cardphone II, which also draws too much power for a netBook)

:-)

Trygve

Todays fun gadget?

A US Robotics Pilot 5000, one of the original Palms...

*++++++++++&

Date: 26 Apr 2003 07:15:47 -0600

From: "Marcus von Cube"

Subject: WiFi on netBook with Buffalo card - is WEP supported?

Ian,

> The netbook is very nice, and came with the OS already installed; I >was able to get surfing straight away using my WiFi card (I bought the >low-profile Buffalo card, after Martin said that was the one he was buying >over on PsionPlace), and the speed of the whole setup (WiFi card, WiFi >router and ADSL) is superb; so far,so good.

Does the card support encryption on the netBook? I'm using the Agere/Orinoco WaveLan II Gold which does :-), but it blocks the stylus :-(

Marcus

http://www.mvcsys.de

*++++++++++&

Date: 26 Apr 2003 07:32:08 -0600

From: David Lir

Subject: Re: Free macro... (4 Sergio)

"A copy is on the way with another message!

I'm working on a new release with an easier setup procedure (the current one requires you to edit the opl file, make your changes and then retranslate

it; the new one will store its settings inside an ini file like EpoClock does), and I will send it as soon as it's a little more reliable ;-)

By the way, here it is a short description of what MyStartup does:"

Got it! I'll let you know offlist. Looks great and useful though!

"I'm really happy to share something I find useful for myself with other Epoc friends ;-)"

And we're happy to be able to share in such useful additions to our little EPOC world. Well, at least I know that I am!

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David Lir - \\:>{o>

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Date: 26 Apr 2003 07:32:18 -0600

From: David Lir

Subject: Re: Yahoo (4 Eric)

"I dropped contact with several lists run via Yahoo due to the way Yahoo did various advertising things. I certainly can't say that I'd drop the Psion Digest if it came via Yahoo, but for me at least it would be a distinct probability."

Could you provide more detail - offlist if necessary. Were your receiving SPAM as a result of your use of Yahoo Groups? I haven't received *any* SPAM messages as a result of my use of Yahoo Groups and I'm beginning to wonder why not!

"Not a Psion question, but I must admit I'm also curious about that, since I'm looking for alternatives to Windows (apart from trying to do everything on a Psion)."

If you don't mind me asking - why are you looking for alternatives to Windows? Also, I did consider my question Psion or EPOC related in that I wanted to compare the iBook - at least in terms of its instant on/off ability - with the true(r) instant on/off of my MnetBook :)

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David Lir - \\:>{o>

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Date: 26 Apr 2003 07:32:21 -0600

From: David Lir

Subject: Re: on moving (4 Arent)

"The problem here is not that the digest itself will be spammed but that when subscribing to Yahoo Groups you automatically give your consent to Yahoo and its partnering RBOC to share the subscribers Email adresses with their business partners

As you have given your consent , you will get LOTS of ISCE ( Indirectly Solicited Commercial Email ) and your ISP will pass that straight on to your mailbox"

and

"I did experience a very sharp increase in spam/ISCE after subscribing to the zaurus mailinglists hosted on Yahoo Groups , consequently the lists have been moved to .sf.net"

Hi Arent,

I've been receiving Yahoo Groups list mails from a number of different lists (or groups) (up to half dozen at any given time) for years at my current email address. I've only received about three SPAM messages at this address in the past YEAR. At least one or two of those were the same SPAM messages others on THIS digest have received. I've never received a single SPAM message that could be traced to my use of Yahoo Groups. So even though Yahoo Groups could be a cause of SPAM and apparently was in your case this has not been my experience *at all*. Not that I'm doubting you -- I'm just wondering why I've been so fortunate ;).

Let me add though that I'm not suggesting that the EPOC Digest be moved to ANY different format - I'm quite happy with things the way they are (except the removal of email addresses from the online archives - which makes it difficult to contact an author of an old message) and I appreciate all the hard work the Digest Team is doing on all our behalf. :)

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David Lir - \\:>{o>

*++++++++++&

Date: 26 Apr 2003 07:32:25 -0600

From: David Lir

Subject: Hmmmmm (4 Will)

"Any chance of censoring messages that begin with "Hmmmmm"?"

Hmmmmm...I hope not.

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David Lir - \\:>{o>

*++++++++++&

Date: 26 Apr 2003 07:32:27 -0600

From: David Lir

Subject: Re: T3 (4 Keith)

"> Please check out the review of the C700 on page 105 of the May > 2003 issue of the T3 Magazine.

I would guess few of us 'Yanks' could do that."

I don't know about you Yanks, but we Canucks, at least here in Toronto, can find T3 at quite a number of newstands. It's about one month behind though. British tech mags are pretty easy to find here in T.O - that's the good news. The bad news? They're bloody expensive!

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David Lir - \\:>{o>

*++++++++++&

Date: 26 Apr 2003 07:32:30 -0600

From: David Lir

Subject: Re: OpD2d app (4 mark)

">What's the name of the Windows app? I'd like to try this myself! :).

The app is called OpD2d see the download page.

http://www.opcode.co.uk/opd2d/default.asp"

Thanks Mark. I'll download it ASAP.

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David Lir - \\:>{o>

*++++++++++&

Date: 26 Apr 2003 07:32:32 -0600

From: David Lir

Subject: Re: iBook startup time (4 Simon)

"Yes indeed David, it sleeps using very little battery power, at a guess my over 1 yr old heavily used battery gives me 2 hrs normal use; sleep mode uses less than 5% overnight. I only shut down and restart when the computer starts misbehaving, on average once every week or two."

Thanks, Simon. 5% overnight is what in 24 hours then -10 or 15%? I wonder what a netBook uses sitting off for a 24 hour period - does anybody know?

A sleep mode isn't exactly the same thing as the true instant on/off of a Psion or Palm etc. Also, I wonder if the iBook's hard disk is safely parked during that time. An advantage a Psion has over a laptop (iBook or otherwise) is that it does not rely on a loud, hot, and delicate hard-disk to begin with. Fortunately some manufacturers (Panasonic for one) are providing their laptops with shock resistant gel-packed hard-drives -- is this something Apple is doing now too? (As an aside checkout Panasonic's R1 - it's lighter than a netBook and about the same size - in a word: beautiful!)

Too bad about the two hour battery life on the iBook though :( I'm used to at least double that from my three year old Panasonic sub-notebook, and double that again from my new MnetBook. Call me spoiled, I guess.

Anyway, enjoy your Mac! :) I use to be a proud MacHead myself - way back when.

BTW, I don't see this discussion as being off topic - I see it as being in context as, if I recall, you were comparing a feature of your iBook to that of a Psion machine. Of course, myself, I always find it interesting (and fun) to compare the features of similar devices to those of my Psions - which are now my main computers.

"Also OT, I saw last week a man at the pub pull out one of those swivel-screen Toshiba laptops. Amazing to see how discreet and natural it was for use on a pub table, a full-on Windows computer like an A4 pad of paper and a biro. I understand that the latest version of mac OS 10 includes full pen-interaction stuff, so maybe they're heading that way too?"

It will be interesting to see if these Tablet PCs eventually replace standard laptops or at least sub-notebooks. Will most buyers be willing to pay extra for the added Tablet functionality? Will most buyers rather leave this sort of functionally to a PDA? Seeing that there is some overlap in features between a Tablet PC and a PDA - will consumer's or corporations see buying a Tablet PC *and* a PDA as paying for the same thing twice? Myself, I'd buy a Panasonic R1 or T1 over a Tablet PC. I guess we really are off-topic now!

"Finally, not so OT, a full page colour advert for NetPad on the back of "Pen Computing" magazine this month."

If only the netpad weren't so EXPENSIVE. I can't recall - do you know if there is an external keyboard option for the netpad yet? Has anyone else noticed how Psion was spelling netpad as netPad and then changed it to netpad with only 'net' being italicized -_net_pad?

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David Lir - \\:>{o>

*++++++++++&

Date: 26 Apr 2003 07:32:39 -0600

From: David Lir

Subject: Restart (4 Eric)

"Program Name; Restart

>Description; If your machine crashes it can be real pain to find a paper clip to perform a soft reset. This small utility restarts the machine with a touch of a software button.

Hmm, I don't know of this application at all, according to my lists of applications. However what does it do that Shift+Ctrl+Fn+K doesn't do?

Or maybe you need to be at the System screen for that to work. (I can never remember how to reset a a Psion. Unlike with Windows, it isn't a frequently used process.)"

Restart is a free utility that adds an icon to your control panel for restarting (or soft resetting) the Psion from there. (Shift+Ctrl+Fn+K from System does not do a full restart or soft reset - it just restarts the System shell. If you have an app (or apps) running and then Shift+Ctrl+Fn+K from system that app (or apps) will still be running after the Psion has restarted because Shift+Ctrl+Fn+K (when run from the System screen) only closed System itself. Even better than Restart, IMHO, is ResetPlus (freeware) - from the same people as the fantastic AlarmPlus (also free) - which does the same thing as Restart but will also, optionally, close down all files before a restart.

I also HIGHLY recommend EPOC Task Manager from the same people which, amongst other things, is often the only way to kill a frozen process. I've had to use this a number of times which allowed me to then save my data in open apps before restarting the Psion. This one's not freeware but worth every penny I paid for it! It also has an excellent Task Switcher (which was the only switcher I could get to work with StickyKeys) and similar to Macro 5, ETM allows the silk icons to be remapped to any application. It uses a lot less memory than M5 on my netBook too. ETM also offers up a *much* improved Recent files list. It includes many more recent files than the inbuilt list, can be accessed from any app (by calling up ETM with a hotkey and hitting the 4 key to go to the Recent files list) and shows recently opened files of *all* apps. ETM also shows a list of every open file and process on the Psion and how much RAM each is using. Almost forgot - with ETM you can reclaim memory from within any application (by calling up ETM with a hotkey and hitting Ctrl-c). ETM should be on every Psion, IMHO.

Also, to reset a Psion you can use Flush which adds a toilet-paper roll icon to your Extras panel. If you don't have Restart, ResetPlus, Flush or some other utility, AFAIK, you must push a paper-clip or something similar into a hole in the backup battery slot to effect a full restart or soft-reset on a Psion.

Here are the URLs:

ETM: http://www.mypsion.ru/TaskMan.php

AlarmPlus: http://www.mypsion.ru/AlarmPlus.php

ResetPlus: http://www.mypsion.ru/ResetPlus.php

Restart: http://www.psionplace.com/software/files/restart.zip

Flush: http://pda.tucows.com/epoc/files/series5/flush.zip

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David Lir - \\:>{o>

*++++++++++&

Date: 26 Apr 2003 07:32:57 -0600

From: David Lir

Subject: Re: One Serial on S5mx (4 Trygve)

David Lir wrote:

> "Did you all know that the S5/S5mx only has ONE serial device,

> supporting both the RS232 and the IRDa port?"

> Would this explain why (some time ago) when using *both* the IR port

> and the serial cable to transfer data *at the same time* my 5mx

> spontaneously hard-resetted itself *and* destroyed all the data on the CF?

No.

It just shouldn't allow you to use both at the same time...(It's supposed to give you an 'in use' message and stop the attempt)

All the data, or just the email directory structure?

It's more likely that the corruption was caused by low voltages.(Both IRDa and RS232 takes a lot of power)"

That's interesting. I did NOT receive any warning or 'in use' message. I was getting my email via the IR modem while I was transferring a file via the serial cable using PsiWin when BOOM - the 5mx hard-reset. Also, *both* the 5mx and the IR modem were *plugged into AC* at the time and FWIW, into a high quality surge protector. As mentioned the 5mx spontaneously hard reset itself wiping out *all data* on the CF card in the process. Interestingly enough, my mail directory was on C (not D) and I was transferring the said file to C as well. I couldn't understand why the card was trashed as I wasn't using it at the time of the 'event' at all. I didn't have a single program installed on D at that time either. Still every file on the card was corrupted - basically everything was made to gibberish. The upside? I had a one hour old backup to restore from - so I didn't lose any data.

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David Lir - \\:>{o>

*++++++++++&

Date: 26 Apr 2003 10:58:06 -0600

From: David Lir

Subject: Re: Transferring mail (4 Ian)

"is it possible to transfer the email on my series7 to the netbook? I know I can copy the mail folders across via infrared,but I have a feeling that there may be other files involved, ie. some sortof master database file."

Delete the Mail folder on the netBook and copy/paste the Mail folder from the 7 into C:\System on the new netBook. You can use IR or a CF to transfer the folder over. The only thing similar to a 'master database file' is the Index file which is in the Mail folder already. BTW, you can have Email rebuild the Index, if it ever corrupts, by closing Email (may have to do a soft reset), deleting (or removing) the bad Index file from the Mail folder, creating a new file of (probably or possibly) any type (I've used Agenda and Editor, myself) and naming it 'Index' (without the quotes) and then starting Email. Can't take credit for this one though - it was Marty Scholes who discovered this 'trick' and let the world know on the psionplace.com netBook board.

Here's the thread:

http://www.pdastreet.com/forums/showthread.php?s=a05b8ff535525c08a1fc51ff06886c53&threadid=15961

Enjoy your new netBook!

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David Lir - \\:>{o>

*++++++++++&

Date: 26 Apr 2003 15:01:56 -0600

From: Rolf Brunsting

Subject: Re: Where to install apps

Dear Rico,

<< Are there any programs that shouldn't be installed on D: >>

There are a handful of old and long unchanged applications that don't work when installed on the D-drive. They're cases of bad programming because Psion's recommended practice is for applications to be neutral when it comes to drive installation. Just as the recommended practice is for applications to check the physical dimensions of the screen and to adapt itself accordingly. The applications from developers who follow Psion's recommendations can be installed on a Revo, Osaris, Series 5(mx), Series 7 and netBook without any problems.

<< Is it better to install OPXs on C >>

It doesn't matter for the functioning of applications that make use of OPXs as EPOC automatically searches for the drive location, starting with the external drives : first E than D than C than Z. What can make a difference are the speed of execution and available memory. The C-drive is faster, meaning than an OPX is loaded and activated quicker when installed on C. When available memory becomes scarce, however, the effect is that loadable modules like OPXs can be removed from memory when they're not needed and loaded again when needed. Installing all OPXs on C reduces the amount of execution memory and the number of applications you can run concurrently without OPX in/out swapping.

I keep execution memory as large as possible because applications like Web, Opera, MBMView and PDF+ use a relatively large amount of it. This allows me to use them almost at any time, also when I've already got a number of other applications (Contacts, Agenda ... etc.) active, without getting an out-of-memory message. Result is that I install all OPXs on the same drive as the application the OPX belongs to.

Kind Regards,

Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands

*++++++++++&

Date: 26 Apr 2003 15:02:07 -0600

From: Rolf Brunsting

Subject: Re: Infra Red

Dear Rico,

<< Should the InfraRed port activate automatically when Email or Web needs it for a mobile modem, or do I need to set it through Ctrl+L >>

Ctrl+L activates Psion's Link Protocol for communication with PsiWin via cable or infrared. And when Link is activated it has exclusive use of the port. This means you can't use applications like Comms, Email, Web, Opera, Phone Manager and others for data communication via the same port when Link is active. The same applies when you want to beam a contact, appointment or note over to Contacts, Agenda or Jotter on another Psion.

Web and Email use the netBook's dialling tool allowing you to select from which location via which modem you'd like to make a connection. The modem definition determines whether the serial port, infrared port or PC-Card slot of your netBook is used. When your Ericsson T68 appears not to dial the number of your ISP the first thing to do is to check that the modem definition you're using connects via the infrared port. When it does, there is the possibility that the netBook's infrared protocol stack has gotten its knickers is a twist so that a soft reset is required to correct this.

Note that the generic 9600 bps GSM modem definition for the T68 is:

Modem tab:

- Name : Ericsson T68

- Speed : 115200

- Connect : Infrared

- Fax Class : 2

Initialisation tab:

- Init (reset) : ATZ

- Data : (blank)

- Fax : (blank)

Advanced tab:

- Flow : Hardware (RTS/CTS)

- Terminal (DSR/DTR) : Checked

- Carrier (DCD) : Checked

- Type : Mobile

Kind Regards,

Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands

*++++++++++&

Date: 26 Apr 2003 15:02:21 -0600

From: Rolf Brunsting

Subject: SonyEricsson P800 - Second Report

Dear Friends,

Herewith the sequel to my 'First impressions' to report on the advances I've made since.

First, two corrections to what I wrote in my previous report. My mind was quicker than my fingers when I mentioned the P800's memory capacity. I was already thinking about the Memory Stick Duo card so that I wrote that the P800 had 16 MByte while it actually has 12. The second correction concerns the picture quality of the integrated camera. I mentioned that the colours were washed out but that's for the photos as displayed by the P800. Transfer them to the PC and the colours look OK though colour fidelity is not up to that of my Canon Digital Ixus 300.

As for the advances, I've got more experience with the Jot handwriting recognition and have worked a bit on the 'problem characters' so that the number of R/H, E/L, U/V and 5/9 substitutions has gone down. Not that my writing is now error free but it's sufficient to note down things without too many errors. I still have to think about what I do but am sure that it will become more automatic the more I use the P800.

Second advance is that the P800 now talks with my PC. I'm afraid Johan Lindahl's message arrived 16 hours too late as I'd already upgraded my PC from Windows '98 to Windows XP by the time I read it. I therefore haven't visited the SonyEricsson website yet, Johan, but will so the coming days. The Windows XP upgrade went smoothly as I don't have a PC loaded with third-party software and a big range of weird and wonderful peripherals. I only needed to reinstall the drivers for my CF/SD/MMC/MS multi-card adapter and my Canon Digital Ixus 300 camera. Installation of the software supplied with the P800 was a doddle. The software was copied, the desk stand was recognised after a reboot and the driver installed. First thing I did was to make a backup of the P800, of course. Better safe than sorry.

The PC software appears to be a 'Son of PsiWin' as the same 'squiggly worm' connection indicator is placed in system tray - a My P800 icon is installed on the desktop - the backup and synchronisation tools are separate tasks, etc. Double-click on the squiggly worm and you can select which port you use, in my case the USB desk stand. Communication speed between PC and P800 is an oddball 460800 bps, the maximum the P800 supports. Backups and file transfers are thus performed much quicker than with PsiWin.

Backing up a P800 is interesting. You start the backup tool and are informed that the P800 is shut down, after which you're asked to turn it on again. This places the P800 in a 'backup mode', indicated on the display, and a backup preferences window is shown on the PC. Enter your preferences, press the button and the process begins. PsiWin has the advantage here as it automatically shuts down any running applications (those applications that don't shut down on PsiWin's command are badly programmed). What's also interesting is that each backup can be given a name and that the tool keeps a list of these named backups. You can thus go back to a previous state of affairs much easier than you can with PsiWin.

Now that the data on my P800 has been secured it's time to think about getting the bulk of past appointments in my Psion (dating from June '95) into the P800. I don't use a PIM application on my PC as my Psions, and now the P800, have always been my only diary. There's a copy of Microsoft Outlook on one of the many magazine cover CDs that fill one of my desk's drawers. The plan is to install both Outlook and PsiWin, to synchronise Agenda with Outlook and then to synchronise the P800 with Outlook. A nice job for the weekend. Another job for the weekend will be to check the web sites Sergio Alisi and Wong Koi Hin mentioned for a P800 successor to ABP. Buy a new device and there are new avenues to explore...

As for data communication, I've got a new Vodafone account (while keeping the same phone number) but it appears that GPRS hasn't been activated yet. Another item to check - and to place in the P800's Tasks tool. It means that I've used plain 9600 bps GSM for data communication and works as expected. Setting up my Internet accounts (Planet, Tiscali and ClaraNet) was easy as it's all but identical to setting them up on a Psion. You use the P800's Control Panel, select the Connections tab and tap on the Internet accounts item. E-mail accounts are also set-up using Control Panel (Connections -> Messaging accounts) which I think is more logical than setting them up in the E-mail application on the Psions.

The e-mail, or messaging, accounts have a setting that's missing in Psion's Email - you can limit the download to:

- Just headers,

- E-mails smaller than [Enter value] kByte

and,

- No restrictions.

... which can be a nice money saver. Another option is that you can schedule the P800 to connect to you mailbox automatically to download headers and/or e-mails. You can either set up to three user selectable times per day or opt for a time interval. Meaning that you can schedule (say) 06:00am, 12:00am and 06:00pm or to say that the P800 has to connect every 15, 30 or 45 minutes or every 1, 2 or 4 hours. needless to say that you can also connect on-demand. Use the "Get & Send" function from the Message application's main screen and all mailboxes are checked. Select one of the accounts, followed by Get & Send and only this account's mailbox is contacted.

I've downloaded EPOC Digest no. 232 to see how the P800 handles long e-mails which it does with aplomb. Reading the Digest is a bit more convoluted as you can't get as much text on the P800's screen as you can with a Series 5(mx) or Series 7. Still, there's a zoom option (small - medium - large) for most of the applications that allows you to set the right text size. I've set zoom to 'small' as I have no problem reading small text (also on the Psions). Next job was to get Digest no. 232 over to my Psion as I keep a Digest archive in a Data file. What I did was to copy the whole text and paste it in a Jotter entry. Jotter allows you to send entries as an E-mail, SMS or MMS message or to transfer them via infrared or Bluetooth. I chose the infrared option and transferred it as text rather than a Jotter entry. plBeam on the Psion picked it up, asked whether the file's Unicode contents should be converted and saved it as Jottings.txt in the Documents folder. The P800's use of Unicode means that I can't beam a P800 entry to Jotter on the Psion. I think I'll have to play with plBeam's Unicode conversion options as carriage returns were turned into question marks. Something that's easily solved by a judicious application of search and replace but I'd prefer not to do this each time I download the Digest to the P800.

Using the P800 as a wireless modem is very easy. You activate the P800's infrared port as a modem (rather than a PC link) use the generic Ericsson modem definition on the Psion and off you go. Picking up the Digest is much easier this way as it's (a) in the right text format and (b) easily copied to my Digest archive.

Finally, I've played with MIDI and WAV files in order to get the right personalised ringtone. Something that's out of the ordinary but still nice to hear. I'm currently thinking about turning the title music to the BBC's radio play of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings into a WAV or MP3 and use that as a ringtone.

Till the next installment...

Kind Regards,

Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands

*++++++++++&

Date: 26 Apr 2003 22:04:36 -0600

From: Itamar Engelsman

Subject: Contacts v. Data, "Data" application, Killing programs, Cunning tip, OPXs on C

Answer to: Marcus von Cube

Re.: Contacts versus Data - Ok, I'll refrase it. For me there are no advantages to using Contacts above DATA, quite the opposite. If you regularly synchronise with other people or receive and send contacts this is of course different.

Answer to: Liebmann, Karsten

Re. "Data" application - Of course you don't have to open DATA files from the extra bar. You can create shortcuts in MACRO, ExAb, Assistance and other programs. I use also Merlin for this. I think it is worthwhile to keep different data in separate files. I have a DATA file for my UK contacts, my outside UK contacts and my business contacts. It is much easier to keep these all in separate files.

Answer to: Will Green

Re. Killing programs - Did I write "Ctrl-Shift-E" ? I think it should be Ctrl-Shift-Fn-K.

Re. Cunning tip - I think it is a lot better to use AlarmPlus, which will allow you to set how long you want an alarm to ring and than just stops ringing.

Answer to: Richard

Re. OPXs on C - I am not sure, but my OPX files are all on my D disk and it works without problems.