Epocdigest V1 # 394

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tips for Posting to the Digest and how to unsubscribe

at the end of the Digest

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Epoc Digest Sat, 06 Dec 2003 Volume 01 : Number 394

************************************************************************

Sent to: 788 subscribers

In today's Epoc Digest 13 messages:

==============================

- AW: Epoc Digest V1 # 392 (9)

- Psion replacement - Blackberry?

- Re: Epoc Digest V1 # 393 (9)

- eTrex Cables/T3

- Pearls of wisdom: Rolf & Anthony

- zExe

- Re: Psion 5mx & Windows ME synchronising woes

- Et tu, Brute

- Problem installing Opera on Revo / Mako

- Keyboard not working

- Sony Clie PEG-NR70: A possible replacement for my Psion?

- Progress

- re:benefit of a feature,re: wiss_kid: re Antony,Itamar,Rolf

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

Date: 5 Dec 2003 07:13:36 +0100

From: Pardo Francisco

Subject: AW: Epoc Digest V1 # 392 (9)

Answer to:- Digest sticking to Psion subjects

There is an interesting Device:

http://www.demolux.de/index.html

Regards

Francisco

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

Date: 5 Dec 2003 08:19:46 +0100

From: Upton, Ray J

Subject: Psion replacement - Blackberry?

Has anyone tried the Blackberry machines as a replacement for the 5mx?

They at least have a keyboard.

Cheers,

Ray Upton

Reading UK

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

Date: 5 Dec 2003 08:58:40 +0100

From: Chris Arden

Subject: Re: Epoc Digest V1 # 393 (9)

Subject: Re: Discussion of Non-Psion Machines Reply to: Wong Koi Hin

Thanks for your answer. Yes I was thinking about the Sony UX50 and by "not having instant on" I meant in the sense of the series 5 where you can instantly switch back on with multiple applications in the state where you left them. I'm also concerned that with Palm OS6 not far away this is not the best time to buy .... but am I right inassuming the OS can't be upgraded? Also the keyboard seems nowhere near as good as the Psion 5 series. I was also looking at the Symbian OS P900 + add-on keyboard = nice combination but screen too small other than for looking up agenda / address book items imho.

Regarding phone integration I meant actually having the phone in the device simply because the ideal, again imho, is to have just one thing to carry around. That's why I'd found the abandoned Motorola / Psion project so appealing.

On keyboards: I suppose I have to accept there's not massive demand for a "real keyboard" PDA otherwise someone would be making one and previous manufacturers (Psion, HP ...) would not all have dropped out. But I still find it hard to believe that the market can support so many different Palm / WinCe handwriting recognition PDAs but there's not a viable market for a single model with 5mx style keyboard!!!

Chris

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

Date: 5 Dec 2003 09:15:43 +0100

From: Rick Gillyon

Subject: eTrex Cables/T3

> From: Itamar Engelsman

> Re. Mapopolis - Two further questions. 1/ Where did you buy

> the connecting cable and

http://www.pc-mobile.net/

This website is great, lots of bizarre cables in all sorts of combinations! I bought a cable linking my T3 to the eTrex and also in the package a power cable and adapter to power the T3 in-car too (buy cables together and they are cheaper). Altogether it cost about $45, and although it seems to be a US operation they post the stuff from an agent within the UK, so it took only 2 days to get to me. Highly recommended.

> 2/ how do you secure your PDA in the car while driving ?

This is where the form-factor of the T3 comes into its own, really. It's so easy to place. I have a metal strip on the back of the T3 (and on the eTrex) with magnet mounts on the armrest, door sill and dash. I can move phone, eTrex and T3 between any of these points; but it must be said that the dashboard mount makes it much easier to do that peripheral task I need to perform while watching the moving map (i.e. driving...).

I never mounted the 5mx in the car at all, as I didn't want big trays sticking out from the dash, but the T3 fits almost anywhere.

For those for whom the keyboard is the biggest problem with Palms, you're absolutely right - even after a month, the on-screen keyboard is much faster than Grafitti. I'm more than happy with the machine, but neither input method available is great.

Rgds,

Rick

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

Date: 5 Dec 2003 09:49:43 +0100

From: George Cooke

Subject: Pearls of wisdom: Rolf & Anthony

>I don't like Outlook that much, either. It's probably down to me having a different 'outlook' on what a diary application should be.< (Rolf)

>IMHO there is a clear difference between a Psion user and a PocketPC user. The Psion user only needs the Psion - a desktop PC is not an essential part of the package. < (Anthony)

It is occasional gems such as these which make this Digest worth reading. Both of you said things as I never could!

Also, both of these pearls are possible because the Digest is flexible and allows us to vere off-topic occasionally. However, Off-Topic for this digest usually does mean something relevant to the sphere of conciousness of the Psion community.

Personally, I value the different experiences and ideas. I need them, because I know one day, whether I like it or not, my 5MX and MC218 will be playing harps and I shall have to choose a replacement.

It's not every message in my Inbox that informs me of Julius Ceasar's relatives, an offer of a cerveza in Gran Canaria and new ideas for compressing algowatsits.

IMHO I enjoy the variety and content - and look forward to reading people's opinions inthe future. It's a bit like Big Brother: Reality email, where we all get a chancde to observe people's conversations, yet occasionally add something ourselves. Thanks!

George Cooke

Chester, UK

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

Date: 5 Dec 2003 09:50:36 +0100

From: Daniele Squarci

Subject: zExe

I have followed the interesting discussion regarding zExe. However, I can imagine that if the zExe program should for some reason become corrupt, I would not then be able to open ANY application on the Psion, other than those loaded in ROM. If those applications were essential to me, I would be reluctant to use zExe.

Ciao

Daniele Squarci

Italy

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

Date: 5 Dec 2003 10:29:14 +0100

From: Wong Koi Hin

Subject: Re: Psion 5mx & Windows ME synchronising woes

Reply to Andrew

>>Is there anyone out there with a suggested solution to my problem - short of

a complete hard set on the Psion?

Dear Andrew,

if I were in your position I would likely re-install another OS on my PC, is that an option for you? You mention above a complete hard reset on your Psion, your suggestion seems to be this is a possible solution. Do you have access to another PC with a different operating system where you can install Psiwin and test your Psion, to see if it works this time? My concern here is that even a hard reset of the Psion will not solve your problem as the fault does not lie with the Psion in the first place.

Warm regards,

Koi Hin

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

Date: 5 Dec 2003 11:39:08 +0100

From: Timothy H.D. Williams

Subject: Et tu, Brute

On Friday, December 5, 2003, at 03:42 am, Epoc Digest wrote:

> When Caesar saw Brutus among the conspirators that were about to kill

> him he is reported to have said "You too, my son?" in Greek. (Source :

> De Vita Caesarum by Suetonius)

Most English speakers are more familiar with Shakespeare's

interpretation of the story:

> Et tu, Brute?

> (et TOOH BROOH -tay) A Latin sentence meaning “Even you, Brutus?”

> from the play Julius Caesar , by William Shakespeare . Caesar utters

> these words as he is being stabbed to death, having recognized his

> friend Brutus among the assassins.

> ‡ “Et tu, Brute?” is used to express surprise and dismay at the

> treachery of a supposed friend.

http://www.bartleby.com/59/6/ettubrute.html

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

Date: 5 Dec 2003 11:43:17 +0100

From: John Morris

Subject: Problem installing Opera on Revo / Mako

When trying to install Opera onto my Mako, the installation stalls at the stage "Installing to C:\System\libs\OprModel.dll" and goes no further. This is a reinstallation after deleting a previous time-barred free PDA edition. I uninstalled & removed all traces of the previous version.

Has anyone else encountered this problem and overcome it?

Thanks

John Morris

Cambs, UK

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

Date: 5 Dec 2003 15:47:35 +0100

From: Hoffman, Susan

Subject: Keyboard not working

New 5mx problem. Machine turns on (on/off key works) but keyboard is otherwise not working so I can't enter password. Soft reset doesn't help and I can't figure out how to make it do a hard reset. I suppose I can take out the batteries and replace them. Is this the dreaded screen cable problem? Susan Katz Hoffman

Pepper Hamilton LLP (215) 981-4990

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

Date: 6 Dec 2003 00:39:37 +0100

From: Aleck Cartwright

Subject: Sony Clie PEG-NR70: A possible replacement for my Psion?

I have been looking at the Sony PEG-NR70 as a possible replacement pda for my psion 5mx. Has anyone on the list used, owned or otherwise come in touch with this palm pda?

I have an ibook laptop and am finding that I don't need the keyboard on my psion as much, before it was my only computer so it was indespensible. WIth al this in mind, I was looking at the Sony Clie PEG-NR70 as it does have a keyboard (sort of), but I have never used or owned a palm. I have always had Psions!

If anyone has comments or recommendations, please let me know. I do need to read a lot of PDF's for work, I want to use avantgo and mobireader for news and I really like the colour screen etc.

Any help or further suggestions wuld be most helpful. (I did see one guy who was selling his palm pda to go back to Psion, so that made me have second thoughts!)

I may come back to the Psion fold, whimpering with my tail between my legs, but at least I will have tasted what Palm has to offer and be wiser as a result.

If this does occur, I will buy myself a Psion Revo+ and be done with it, at least for a while anyway! : )

Thanks,

Aleck Cartwright

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

Date: 6 Dec 2003 04:14:07 +0100

From: DKempster

Subject: Progress

For Rolf Brunsting

Alan wrote :-

<< This is often the case but for many years I've used the expression 'wizz-kid designed'; meaning designed by someone (probably just out of university) that has hardly ever used the previous product and therefore does not know it's features >>

Absolutely - I am perpetually amazed at what the comsumer of today will put up with compared with 10 years ago. You just have to compare the instructions you get with a device to those you got with a device in the past. A mobile phone comes with a minimalist manual these days when previously you would have got a complete set of AT commands etc etc. Witness the manual for the 3c and the 3mx - half the sixe. The Revo and the Revo Plus. Or what about the programming manual you got with the 3a?!! Customers are treated as relative idiots these days.

"And what you overlook is that there's no such thing as a "good feature".

Who decides this - the manufacturer. Who decided my manual would have half the information the manual for the previous model had? Maybe the manufacturuers have decided to dumb down the documentation because the consumer base is now more ignorant. A palm has always been a dumbed down organiser in my opinion - only suitable to look up information peviously entered. A Psion on the other hand was a stand alone platform before they gave up and tried to peddle themselves off as a Windoze accessory ( vis Revo - for the deskbound who could keep it on its charging cradle every day - I bought a Revo + Revo plus (Second hand) and both succumbed to the battery problem - viva the AA!)

"The benefit rating of a feature is therefore subject to change. And when its benefit rating slips and slips there comes a time that it's no longer interesting to supply it. "

Only when the benefit is defined by the supplier. People buy what they are sold - I should know as I am a merchandise manager and I'm always amazed at the crap people are happy to pay for.

"PsiWin made file transfer so easy that controlling your PC's drives from a Psion became a feature of all but zero benefit."

Great if you have a Windoze PC. Useless if you have a Mac or are Psion only as I am. I was never interested in a PC cos they always appeared shit. Boot ups, crashes, crap battery life and virii - forget it! The only thing that convinced me to get into computing was I could do everything I needed to on a Series 5 with a battery life far exceeding anything a PC could compete with and a portability factor second to none. Maybe my requirements are unconventional as I am an itinerant (How's it going Owen?!) who does all his computing on the road and has to carry everything in my backpack ( 24 countries and 17 States this year) But the Series 5 was far less capable than the Series 3 ever was and I fail to see how that was an improvement - the Series 3 had a lot of capabilities that were never replicated on the series 5 - accessing virtual drives, converting Word to RTF etcetc which I for one would find very useful in my PC-less existence. Trying to convince someone to let you load PsiWin onto their computer just so you can use their internet connection or load apps off of a CD - forget it. Thank god for Comms and PC card slots. And why can't you get a Floppy adaptor for CF as you can for Memory stick + SD?

"An integral keyboard became of such low benefit that it started to work against handheld computers that had them." "The answer to your question "So why is there no new Palm or Pocket PC device made with one" is simply that they don't sell to a mass audience."

As I said earlier fine if all you want to do is access data you've synched from your PC - useles if you actually want to enter data yourself. Sad fact is most everyone these days has a PC, either at home or work. So suppliers have to cater to most people's expectations of computing, which revolve around a PC. Try using a Palm as our sole computing device and you'll see what I mean. And don't try telling me you'd be happy to enter a database of hundreds of records on one of those fold out keyboards. You'd synch it via your PC - thus the prevalence iof keyboardless PDAs.

<< Progress for advancement yes, but often features that could be retained are lost through ignorance rather than difficulty in implementing them on advanced products >>

I agree wholeheartedly. Witness the impossibility of sending a fax from a modern mobile phone. My Ericsson SH888 5 yeas ago had both send and receive capability, something the modern crop of handsets find impossible. Is that progress? - I think not. "There is no demand for that" is the best answer I can elicit. People don't send faxes anymore?! How many times is a server down and the only way you can contact the office is via fax? Fine for the majority with their landline connection but useless if like me you pay extra for a fax number on your mobile which doesn't work! What's the point of being able to divert a fax to a local fax machine. Just use the fax machine! But then I do live most of the time on a tour bus and so am not your average user.

"Progress also means adopting the new and discarding the old. PsiWin is progress in the sense that it offers a much better overview of files directories that you can get on a small Psion screen."

Again only if you are one of the masses and use Micro$oft. Forget all the Mac (And Linux) users instantly.And who says you only want to view files on a PC - what about external storage devices? A Series 3 could interface with an external FDD 10 years ago. I see it as shortchanging the user. The Series 3 was a state of the art device in it's day and PC use was much more restricted. When I was a civil servant only my boss had a PC - now everyone in the department has their own terminal. As PC use has expanded so the PC like capabilities of handheld devices has declined in parallel to the increased user base. But I would argue this line has ben taken by the manufacturer's rather than the consumer. People readily follow the flock and when you consider the shelves of Dixons et al are full of identical Palm type PDAs then that's what people will buy. Companies lead and the public follows.

I'm probably in the minority but I hardly consider it progress when devices 10 years old were more capable than devices of today. Sure you can now listen to mp3s and take (poor quality) digital photos, but that has been at the expense of fax capability, viewing external drives, onboard conversion etc etc. It's less progress and more what's more lucrative for the manufacturer. Blind consumption is hardly something to tout as a sign of progress.

Darryl

In Sheffield on tour with Electric Six

Sent from a netBook and R520m mobile while speeding down the M!!

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

Date: 6 Dec 2003 06:43:22 +0100

From: Scott Lloyd

Subject: re:benefit of a feature,re: wiss_kid: re Antony,Itamar,Rolf

Hello my friends!

Its Friday night it Texas (pray for me), my lovely bride gave me some delicious wine, so I'm feeling no pain at the moment, and having a great night after a productive, but stressful week. I cannot help to respond to the last digest, some of the comments

struck a cord, but I do understand all of the issues. First and foremost I would like to thank Itamar, Rolf, and Koi Hin for their feedback. These are people I greatly respect. 1. They like myself have been dealing and using PDA's (since dirt) "Texas expression, sorry. And understand ALL of the aspects of small computers....and believe or not have been very humble in responding to some of you, and your concerns on moving to different platforms. Someone mentioned mass audience in the in the last digest....This is a marketing buzzword that reeks! What this means is that some marketing monkey

or software programmer has decided what is best for you? Thank you, but I believe I can make that decision for myself! Have you ever seen a 50 something trying to enter data into a palm or pocket pc in a heated program management meeting? Its

a sight to behold! God bless keyboards and large screens, I will have my data entered faster than anybody in that meeting

stumbling with with their stylus and text input stylus. If pocket PC works for you please email me. I will give you a stunning

deal on a Dell Axim 400mz with all the options,keyboard,thumbboard,spare battery,charger,leather case, and I just installed

a new backup battery. I believe in "live and let live" and will be the first to admit I am 49 and my eyes just tend to stumble with the small screens. So I know there is a difference in young eyes and my old but wise eyes.Its too bad that the young users of PDA's are locked into windows, via pocket pc, because you are basing your experience on probably the worst OS

ever contrived. But if you don't no better you do not do better. "Benefit of a feature"....so I can assume if the masses no longer like it ,it goes away? marketing strikes again!...Adopting to the new and discarding the "old". o ye of little faith...

I guess what I like best about getting older is I know what what works for me and that's that!

As far as Mae West Goes....I stuffed a netbook, a Series 7 and two 3mx(s) into my pocket.....She smiled