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Epoc Digest Fri, 26 Dec 2003 Volume 01 : Number 410
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Sent to: 798 subscribers
In today's Epoc Digest 13 messages:
==============================
- Palmtop magazine
- To Rolf B.: Re: Data to Contacts, REM and quoting
- Dutch Dixons prolongued guarantee, Backwards compatibility,
- No brainer
- MP3
- All sorts
- Netbook & Digital
- Re: Dana v. Mbook
- MBook Warrantee
- Re: Psion's Backside
- Re: netpad infos
- Re: PhoneMan, REM and quoting
- Re: Rolf..opps!
*++++++++++&
Date: 26 Dec 2003 07:17:00 -0500
From: Steve Litchfield
Subject: Palmtop magazine
Cue from Itamar(!)...
Hi all,
Well, I'm not the editor, but Palmtop hasn't been a Psion magazine for two years now. The number of new things happening in the Psion world that we can report/review has dropped and dropped, to the extent that if I can
find a couple of news items and a couple of pieces of software for Shorts or Game Zone then I consider I've done well.
Palmtop aims to cover the best news, reviews, tutorials for all makes of handheld/palmtop/communicator. Along Psion's evolutionary path this now means lots of coverage for UIQ (the P800/P900), Nokia's Series 80 (the 9210i) and (soon) Series 90.
I haven't seen the dedicated Psion journal yet, but I for one am very glad it exists. Certainly, if Palmtop had resisted coverage of everything after ER5, our readership would now be down in the hundreds!
Comments? ____________________________________________________________________
Steve Litchfield, 3-Lib, http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/
For Psion and Symbian handhelds, with computer-based training on CD
Also PocketInfo, for useful files - http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/pocketinfo Journalism: sub-editor and/or senior contributor to:
Palmtop User - http://www.palmtop.co.uk/
PDA Essentials - http://www.paragon.co.uk/mags/pdaessentials.html
PC Basics - http://www.paragon.co.uk/mags/pcbasics.html
Reviews editor, AllAboutSymbian - http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/
*++++++++++&
Date: 26 Dec 2003 09:27:07 -0500
From: Rolf Vonau
Subject: To Rolf B.: Re: Data to Contacts, REM and quoting
Reference is made to the mail in the Epoc Digest V1 # 409 (39):
Rolf Brunsting wrote at 25.12 2003 (> ):
> The functions are ok but they're implemented in a poor
> way - it's a bit of a monster to me. I know Rolf Vonau
> will be disappointed when he reads this, but I
> can't make anything else out of it.
Hi Rolf,
I'm not disappointed, at all. As I already wrote 2 or 3 Digests ago, I know that REM wasn't write under the rules of EIKON styleguide. It's quit so, that the 1st version of REM was written as a simple macro and then it blew up to the program, while I implemented the various requests of users.
You are right also, that a program has to work after installation without any additional settings. The new "MailHandler" will do that.
--
Best Regards
Rolf
Munich
http://home.arcor.de/rhvonau/index.htm
*++++++++++&
Date: 26 Dec 2003 10:53:48 -0500
From: Itamar Engelsman
Subject: Dutch Dixons prolongued guarantee, Backwards compatibility,
Answer to: Thomas F. VAN DER ZIJDEN
Re.: Dutch Dixons prolongued guarantee - If your machine is under guarantee, why do you have to pay anything at all ? Pulster gives 2 years guarantee, but you pay considerably more for that I believe ? His price is Euro 599.- while the other Company charges currently $ 450.- including a Wifi-card and a card-modem. Even if you have to pay custom duties and/or VAT it is still considerably cheaper.
Answer to: Rolf Brunsting
Re. Backwards compatibility - Again, I understand what you say, but it is from the point of view of the producer. I do not talk about features on the Symbian OS6 machine, I talk about programs I use on the OS5 machine that I don't want to have to buy all over again for a new machine, making the total purchase costs that much higher. When I upgraded to Windows XP almost all of my programs that worked on the Windows Millenium version I could just transfer to the XP machine and I got a vastly improved system, faster due to an improved processor and a better OS. I am trying to say that with that compatibillity I stayed with Windows. If however Windows tomorrow comes with a system where I would have to buy all programs again, adding over a thousand pounds to the purchase price, I would at the same time look at the Apple and Linux machines and could well decide - noting my interest in photography - to switch platforms. The same applies for Psion. As long as I could copy my progams over to a new machine I would most probably stay with Psion. Now that that is not the case, I already bought a Palm to try it out and get some features unavailable with the Psion machines instead of automatically thinking about the OS6 machines. Maybe my way of thinking is unfair or incorrect, but I think many people think this way.
Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK
*++++++++++&
Date: 26 Dec 2003 11:43:59 -0500
From: Timothy H.D. Williams
Subject: No brainer
On 26 Dec 2003, at 00:43, Epoc Digest wrote:
> Illustrating that it takes more than faith to sell a Series 5mx, or a > successor, in a market that's no longer that much interested in it.
In three years a new Mac iBook has dropped about sixty percent in price. Yet the old Netbook seems to be selling at close to its original price.
Isn't price dictated by demand?
T
The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that's the way to bet.
Damon Runyon
*++++++++++&
Date: 26 Dec 2003 14:35:32 -0500
From: ian chapple
Subject: MP3
Rolf,
>>Or somebody like me who doesn't see any point in having an MP3 player. Whether it's in the form of a dedicated MP3 player or a PDA with MP3 functionality. MP3 is only fit for the spoken word as far as I'm concerned as It can only get its small file sizes by throwing data away... <<
I beg to differ. I have had an iPod for the last year, and have ripped most of my music at a high enough sample rate for the quality to be outstanding. I'm sure the musical purists out there probably think like you, that MP3 is basically rubbish, but the convenience of carrying that much music in such a small device more than makes up for any percieved loss of quality.
Don't forget, the same argument could be used against digital cameras which save their images in the form of JPEGs, yet this is by far the most common format used.
Cheers, Ian.
*++++++++++&
Date: 26 Dec 2003 15:07:39 -0500
From: Andy Hayes
Subject: All sorts
Hi all
I hope that you all had a good xmas. Mine turned into a bit of a nightmare when the chicken (couldn't find a turkey in Shetland for some reason) decided to self destruct as I got it out of the baking tray. Much gnashing of teeth from my partner as it then fell apart as I cut it. Xmas will be cancelled next year as it always turns into a complete nightmare.
EpocSync has been causing me problems too. I was probably the one that nagged the author into adding support for serial cables with a null modem in the middle. I too saw the benefit of being able to see both screens. I actually screen captured the error messages but never got around to letting the author know, so I only have myself to blame. I was trying to sync 2 UK netBooks at the time and it might have been due to large file sizes.
Memory cards have been the bane of my life and what has probably stopped me investing in certain manufacturers products. I started off with CF in my Psions and SM cards in my Fuji digicam. I appreciate the reasons for being able to deliver smaller memory cards to the marketplace if the benefit is smaller devices. Where a manufacturer will not get my money is when they have their own proprietary memory system. Sony is my best example of this. They have many brilliant products, but I have no wish to get involved in the ownership of any of them. A friend of mine predicted years ago that you would be able to buy memory stick at the same price per megabyte as CF. I said that you wouldn't. All these tears on he is still wrong. My next digicam is likely to be the Canon Ixus 400. It runs on CF. That suits me. I would probably never buy another Fuji digicam as they have kept the secret of the comms protocol that they use. I wanted to be able to use a Psion to send signals to my digicam to take pictures at pre-defined intervals. Someone wrote and excellent app to be able to do this but it only worked on certain Fuji digicams and not the MX2700 that I own. I respect the right of the company to secrecy as I am sure they will respect my right never to buy another one of their products!
The Psion Computer Journal arrived a couple of days ago. What a brilliant read. If you haven't signed up or a subscription then you should. It just goes to prove that there is still plenty of mileage left in a magazine that produces tales of EPOC. I cancelled my subscription to Palmtop mag as soon as they went over to the multi-platform layout that they now have. It was quite obvious at the time that the EPOC content would fade away to nothing. The content might suit others but it wasn't for me. Palmtop magazine followed the best business sense, so they can't be criticised for their decision, but it is great to see someone more than amply filling the boots that they have stepped out of.
I finally bit the bullet and bought a P900. Four pounds and eighty pence seemed a bit steep, but I had to have it. Before you flood my mailbox to ask where you can get this phone at that price I have to admit that it is a dummy phone. I have just bought it for a laugh.
I have also bought an MC218 for about £30 which doesn't turn on. Probably going to be a broken motherboard. Although someone has offered me a working motherboard, they haven't given me a price and are awaiting an offer. I try to avoid offers as I don't want to offend. Is there anyone on the list who has an MC218 with a broken screen who wants to sell it cheap as a donor for mine? I haven't actually seem mine yet, so I am only assuming that it is a motherboard failure at this stage.
Both the P900 and MC218 are Ebay purchases that have been won through sniping. It seems to be a good example of how well it can work!
Chris Handley - my emails to you from my FSNet address are being bounced when I send them to the BTInternet address. Can you let me know if you have another address? The error is: -
The SMTP Server program
: host moongate.btinternet.com[194.73.73.118]
said: 550-http://www.spamhaus.org/SBL/sbl.lasso?query=SBL12077 550 mail
from 193.252.22.158 rejected: administrative prohibition (host is
blacklisted)
Oh well, the time has come to start rebuilding netBooks. I have got two newish netBooks, one a UK one and the other a Malay one. I have also got an early netBook which has donated the extra 32mb DIMM and that is now about to have its personality module swapped out for the mBook one. Getting the OS onto a mBook is an absolute nightmare. If you ever have to do it prepare for a delay in your life!
Best wishes one and all
Andy Hayes
*++++++++++&
Date: 2 Jan 1999 03:34:23 -0500
From: robertsont
Subject: Netbook & Digital
Dear All,
I have recently bought a digital camera which runs off an SD card. I notice on the internet there are available devices which will enable you to slot the SD card into a CF adaptor. Has anyone tried this with a netbook? Or does anyone know the best place to buy this adaptor? The idea is that I will be able to view images quickly on the netbook and email them on. Secondly, does anyone know of software for the netbook that will make it possible to easily resize images to 640x480 as this is the optimum size for netbook viewing. Finally, is the CF slot on the netbook type I or II?
Many thanks for any help - Have a very happy new year!
Regards,
Tom
PS - is it possible to use pcmcia cards which convert to USB ports with the psion, or wi fi cards?
*++++++++++&
Date: 26 Dec 2003 14:09:51 -0500
From: Jim Watson-Gove
Subject: Re: Dana v. Mbook
Melvin,
I manage an elist for an arts organization here in Port Townsend and the Psion mail client will not to BCC other than on CompuServe. I am a retired engineer from Sprint so get Earthlink essentially for free. So I am holding onto the Dana for email list work.
The reasons I am moving away from the Dana:
1. The processor is too slow. I have over 1,500 poetry files and spent far too long waiting for my word processor app to load up (it sorts all files
prior to loading) when moving from another app- a real PITA. I suspect a user not having a massive number of files would not have this problem.
2. The Malay book raised its head. From the beginning I wanted a 7 or a Netbook to supplement the Mako, 5 and 5mx. I wasn't willing to pay the high cost of either. At $450, it suddenly became possible to own a netbook.
The pluses for the Dana are:
1. Low cost. The newest Dana (a 16 meg machine) is even cheaper than the earlier model that I have (an 8 meg machine).
2. Rugged. The machine is almost bullet proof.
3. Very long battery life - when using the Dana on a regular basis, I was charging it maybe once a week.
4. The rechargeable battery pack can be temporarily replaced with AA's if you get caught away from the AC mains.
5. The new unit comes with WIFI (not my cuppa) and a new web browser (I haven't played with it but some report it quite slow).
6. For simple chores (address book, Agenda, word processing) the computer is excellent.
Some negative points:
1.The word processor that comes with the Dana (AlphaWord) is designed for easy access and use by students. It allows single file transfer to the desktop.
The downside is the file management capability of AlphWord is primitive. I solved this by buying WordSmith and then badgering the WordSmith people into adding widescreen capability to WordSmith. The file management of WordSmith
is excellent - as good as it gets with Palm OS.
The email program that AlphaSmart has selected for the Dana is Mark/Space.
The new Danas come with it and the web browser. I found Mark/Space wanting and loaded up SnapperMail which is excellent.
The added software apps are around $30 each - not prohibitive.
I tried various spreadsheets- the one in documents to go is the best of the two I checked and it is inferior to EPOC Sheet.
HandBase looks good but about the time I was playing with that, I gave up and moved back to Psion. The multitasking ability - the ability to set up and
work with folders - and the powerful processor finally carried the day.
Palm OS is really meant for a PDA that is an extension to a Windows (or Apple) machine where most of the work is done on the desktop machine.
At the current price of the Dana, you could check it out without wasting too much money if it doesn't work for you, but with the low cost of the MBook, I really think the MBook is the way too go despite the iffy future of
Psion.
<<but the larger keyboard on the Dana seems a significant advantage over the MBook.>>
The keyboard on the MBook is superior to the keyboard on the Dana (IMO). They are both excellent compared to the 5 series, which is excellent compared to
the Revo (and they are all extremely better than thumb-boards). It's all relative. The screen is color (great for indoors work) and the screen is much larger than the Dana.
The only downside is the battery on the MBook. I find the 8 hours speced a bit low and it will drive the way I use the machine (at home plugged in a lot
- using the 5mx when away from the house).
And oh by the way, the spell check on AlphaWord (recently upgraded) is excellent. The wordcheck on WordSmith is terrible. I tried an add on program (SpellCheck I believe it was) and it was almost as bad. But then, the Psion spell check has spoiled me.
jim - port townsend
*++++++++++&
Date: 26 Dec 2003 14:10:01 -0500
From: Jim Watson-Gove
Subject: MBook Warrantee
<<From: Chris S Handley >>
<<Jim, I think you are in for a nasty surprise :-( . One reason for the Malayabooks being so cheap is that Psion provide NO warranty. I am surprised & saddened that this was not made clear when you bought it.>>
<<If you are lucky, the company you bought the Malayabook from will provide some kind of warranty, but most likely it will only be for a few months (6 at the outside).>>
Chris,
To be honest, I was asking only because I had made the assumption that there was a warrantee as Psion/Telelogic or whomsoever made the thing. At the price, if I had known there was no warrantee, it wouldn't have slowed me down.
I am happy with my purchase as I have wanted a 7 or NetBook since they came out - just didn't want to pay that much for a PDA.
Most of my Psions have gone into trouble way after the warrantee date - I expect the same performance. Psions are not known for being rugged reliable (hardware) machines so I expect to pay for repairs down the road in any case.
If I had wanted rugged/bulletproof, I would have stuck with the Treo/Dana combination.
jim - port townsend
*++++++++++&
Date: 26 Dec 2003 17:47:41 -0500
From: Scott Lloyd
Subject: Re: Psion's Backside
Dear Rolf,
I thoroughly enjoyed your response to my comments regarding Psion's failure in the PDA market. Your direct directions to the location of Psion was very amusing. I lived in Germany ( a long time ago) but I did do quite a bit of traveling in Europe
including London. Oxford street was great, I even went to the London production of "Hair", giving away my age alittle. I stand corrected in the fact that I was under the impression that Psion still had a design team given the rumours that a new "Revo" was in the works. I stand behind what I mentioned in a previous digest about Psion's lack of good marketing.
Microsoft did a wonderful job of marketing a lame product, while Psion did a horrible job of marketing a great product.I hope that the remaining "manangers" at Psion are not the same ones who had any resposilblity marketing their PDA products. So your statement saying that having to make 500,000 units to break even when you only have 250,000 potential
buyers is a dire statement at that, if this were true I would fold up shop myself. Even though this is a technical digest, I fell compelled to respond to your
*++++++++++&
Date: 26 Dec 2003 20:03:58 -0500
From: Steve Hodgson
Subject: Re: netpad infos
Friday, December 26, 2003, 4:39:34 AM, you wrote:
ED> IP67 says that the netBook is dust proof and can withstand ED> being submerged in the bath or in shallow waters
Can I be the first to say...
Immersed in water!!!!????
--
Regards,
Steve mailto:steve
*++++++++++&
Date: 26 Dec 2003 21:44:59 -0500
From: Owen H. Morgan
Subject: Re: PhoneMan, REM and quoting
Oops! Sent this just to Astrid and not to the list!
Howdy!
Astrid (now there's a good Norwegian name) wrote (> ):
> I recently read on Psionwelt.de that Zenobyte has
> made PhonemanPro freeware.
I suppose this means that it is no longer being developed. A shame for those of use who have registered it. Still, I suppose that having registered and started to use it when the Ericsson SH888 first came on the market, I've already got my money's worth... :o)
>> Rolf Vonau
> The combined and enhanced REM and
> Dighandler Rolf is now working on will be just great.
I'm looking forwards to this.
>> Quoting
> No need for uniformity as long as everybody can
> understand the posting with ease. I prefer Rolf's
> style for the reason he mentioned (different
> length of lines).
The problems occur when someone replies to one of your or Rolf's messages and makes a mess of the quoting. Not really your fault, but there are always some people in any electronic community who just don't get it and can produce some very confused and confusing messages. This can lead to interesting and at times quite annoying situations where things I have written have been attributed to other people or even worse, things I strongly disagree with have been attributed to me.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to ask again that everyone keeps quoted text to the minimum required, but please keep enough of the original text that people's statements aren't taken out of context and twisted around.
Owen
Thought for the day:
Anthony's Law of force:
Don't force it, get a larger hammer.
--
28°07.85'N 15°25.66'WLas Palmas, Gran Canaria
Owen H. Morgan, Yacht "Naomi J.", LD-9311
c/o Idrettsveien 6, 3188 HORTEN, Norway
Phone and SMS: In Spain: +34 620520079 In Norway: +47 92053097 *++++++++++& Date: 26 Dec 2003 23:45:13 -0500 From: Scott Lloyd Subject: Re: Rolf..opps! Rolf, So sorry, I hit send when I meant to hit save. To finish what I was saying, I was myself agnostic for many years and most of the scientists where I work and my wife for the most part are somewhat agnostic. In my life, as everyone, I have encountered many emotional and tragic situations where I alone with all of my strengths was incapable of getting through them. Though I am not religious I do consider myself somewhat of a spiritual person who does believe in a power greater than myself, I choose to call this power God. This is a personal thing with me but please do not misunderstand, I am very pleased to have found this, and It has brought me great joy and comfort in my life...hence my good byes with god bless. Being this is a technical digest I will not bore anybody with my personal beliefs, but you brought it up so I responded. As for my flying out to the UK that is part of my plan this summer. Belfast will be my starting place, and then so traveling around, perhaps even to the Netherlands, I do recall some wonderful visits to Amsterdam, some are kind of blurred but I think I had a good time at the "milky way". I would love the idea of hanging out with you for allittle drink and conversation. This digest is a good thing, and I am also sorry Antony for my rather snotty reply on your conversion to Pocket Pc, I am in no position to judge who should use what personal computer or anything else. Happy New year to everyone...and God bless.
*++++++++++&
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