-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tips for Posting to the Digest and how to unsubscribe
at the end of the Digest
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Epoc Digest Fri, 13 Aug 2004 Volume 01 : Number 574
************************************************************************
Sent to: 753 subscribers
In today's Epoc Digest 09 messages:
==============================
- Re: Epoc Digest V1 # 568 (15)
- Re: netBook Backlight
- More netBook Bits for Sale
- Batch URL downloader for EPOC?
- Re: netBook Backlight
- Re: Series5
- News from the Psion Teklogix Press Centre,
- Street Planner,
- Re: Toolbar Patcher
*++++++++++&
Date: 10 Aug 2004 23:40:02 +0100
From: Rolf Brunsting
Subject: Re: Epoc Digest V1 # 568 (15)
Dear Alan,
<< When I got my Psion 5 I was told that it could communicate with RCOM, but they were never able to tell me how; nor could I get it to work >>
You use RComm exactly the same way with a Series 5 as you'd use it with a Series 3/3s/3a/3c/3mx. The only restrictions are that RComm doesn't support a Series 5's 115k2 port speed and its 256 character file names.
<< I still wish there was an RCOM that would work with EPOC, as it could be automated with batch files >>
There are a number of scripting applications that do for Windows what Macro5 does for EPOC. I've used one of them but can't remember its name as (a) it was a long time ago and (b) it was put on my PC by one of our R&D guys so that I could use their scripts. It should therefore be possible to automate some repetitive PsiWin tasks using one of these scripting applications.
<< RCOM is a lot like DOS; if the amount of development that has gone into windows had gone into DOS, we would have a far better OS than windows. If RCOM had been developed on a developed DOS, then it also would be much better than PsiWin. >>
I'm sorry, but this is rather silly. DOS had reached the end of its development as it was a single tasking OS with a 64 kByte segmented memory model, no memory protection to speak of, a poor way of handling device drivers, etc, etc, etc. Microsoft's developers had to overcome these barriers when developing Windows 3.xx and later Windows '95 while remaining backwards compatible. The developers who'd modernise DOS
would have faced exactly the same problems. It's highly questionable whether they'd be able to come up with much better solutions so that a modernised DOS would have been a much better operating system than Windows.
With hindsight I'd say that the PC world would have been much better off with a switch similar to the one Psion made when it moved from Series 3 & SIBO to Series 5 & EPOC. In other words, replacing a PC hardware and software platform that had it roots in the era of early 16-bit computing by a completely new 32-bit hardware and software platform around the time Windows '95 was launched. It would have been a painful switch, of course, as we'd have lost the backwards
compatibility with DOS and Windows 3.xx. However, it would have saved us the stability problems the demand for backwards compatibility gave us.
<< But we live in a silly world were laptops don't have serial ports, stopping thousands of folk using expensive serial linked products; and no decent replacement for our most capable EPOC Psions. >>
This is equally silly and rather selective at that. The design of the Series 5(mx) and Psion's other EPOC devices has been frozen in time while technological development in the PC world continued. It's therefore to be expected that Psion and PC no longer match as easily as they did in the past. But we haven't reached a point at which they
don't match at all. Desktop and laptop PCs may not come with RS232C serial ports as standard but can be expanded with them. Most laptops
are still fitted with a PC-Card slot and there are RS232C PC-Cards available. I've used and 'industrial' one which gave me four additional RS232C ports and two printer ports. A number of laptops are also fitted with SD or CF card slots so that an RS232C card in SD/CF format is a solution. Finally, Belkin supplies very good USB to RS232C adaptors.
Besides, you're talking PCs while forgetting the hardware/software decisions Psion itself made. It replaced the 6-pin SIBO bus port of the Series 3/3s/3a by the Honda-connector RS232C port of the Series 3c/3mx and the Siena. Many people had asked for this as they found the soap-on-a-roap Serial 3Link cable cumbersome to use and preferred a simple cable. Well, they received what they asked for and the consequences as well. They could replace their serial and parallel
3Link cables as well as their Cyclone external diskette drives at additional expense. The introduction of the Series 5 means saying goodbye to the SSD cards people use with their Series 3 models as the 5 had switched to Compact Flash. And you couldn't run Series 3 applications on a Series 5, except for relatively simple OPL applications. You can therefore blame the whole computer industry for its technological development and technology 'A' being replaced by technology 'B'.
As for "expensive serial linked products", what you forget is that the netBook you currently own won't fetch the price you paid when you
bought it. It's therefore no use to keep looking at the purchase price. What's more, you've had the benefits of using your netBook for the period you've owned it. Something which can also be expressed in dollars, pounds or euros. And when you've switched from one EPOC Psion to another, as I'm sure you did, you also have to reckon with the financial benefits of not switching brand and/or platform.
We're therefore not living in a "silly world". It only becomes a silly one when you refuse to make sense out of what's happening in the world.
---
Kind Regards,
Rolf Brunsting - Darp - Netherlands
*++++++++++&
Date: 12 Aug 2004 04:41:43 +0100
From: Victor Marchand
Subject: Re: netBook Backlight
Regarding the netbook backlight getting dimmer. I have a series 7, which has the same behaviour. I´ve used it for about 3 years intensively (3 or more hours per day switched on) And indeed the backlight is a little dimmed at switch on. I have always blamed this to temperature, and I still think it does play a role. If I take it inside from a cold car, the screen needs more time (a couple of minutes maximum) to get to its best backlight output. I´ve had the opposite as well, after leaving it in a car in the sun....the screen seemed totally gone then, no vissibility and funny colloured shaedes ion it. But letting it cool down fixed it all.
Right now I do not use the 7 a lot anymore, so I don´t notice any dimming anymore.
Victor
*++++++++++&
Date: 12 Aug 2004 09:32:49 +0100
From: Andy Hayes
Subject: More netBook Bits for Sale
Hi All
Just a quick update on what is sold, what is available and what is
newly available
Sold:
netBook
netBook Battery
GPS power data cable
GPS data cable
USB cable
Route Planner
CityMaps
Proporta case
Psion 56k/Fax/Ethernet card
Psion 56k/Fax/Ethernet card
Parallel IR printer adaptor
netBook power supply
Unsold:
Psion CombineIT fax card - reduced to £10 delivered anywhere in the UK
Psion leather case - reduced to £22 delivered anywhere in the UK
Psi-Win cable - reduced to £7 delivered anywhere in the UK
Newly available:
Null modem adaptor. Simplest way to connect two psion computers to
synchronise them using EPOCSync is by plugging a Psi-Win cable into
each of them and then plugging this adaptor between. Its a small
connector, about 3 inches long with a male 9 pin d-sub plug at each
end. I have two of them. This is my spare. I intend to keep the other
one as they are so useful in other applications. Just £7 delivered
anywhere in the UK
I have also got got a very unusual and extremely useful adaptor. It is
slightly smaller than the connector on the Psi-Win cable and has a
Honda female adaptor at one end and a 9 pin d-sub female at the other.
This is wonderful for converting your Psion to GPS cable into a cable
that you can use with your laptop without having to carry yet another
cable. Assuming that your laptop has a serial port of course. If it
doesn't, and you use a USB to serial adaptor for your laptop, you can
still use it! A bargain at £7 delivered anywhere in the UK.
I also have a Psion to router/hub/switch cable. This allows management
of managed routers, hubs and switches. It has the Psion Honda connector
at one end and a Y with two connectors at the other. One has the
standard 9 pin d-sub female serial connector so it can be used as a
standard Psi-Win cable, or can be used on a serial port of a managed
network resource. The other connector is a UTP connector, thus allowing
connection to UTP management sockets. The locking tag has snapped off
the UTP connector, but it is very tight in an ethernet socket so it is
probably not needed. I will though, be supplying a spare connector
which can be fitted using a network cable tool if required. I have
personally used the cable on HP, D-Link and Cisco hubs, routers and
switches. £10 delivered anywhere in the UK.
You can get me by email
Genuine buyers only. Thank you.
Thanks
Andy Hayes
*++++++++++&
Date: 12 Aug 2004 09:44:27 +0100
From: Peter Rand
Subject: Batch URL downloader for EPOC?
Hi,
Is there an EPOC app that would let me batch download URLs to my Psion?
I'd like to take a list of URL's, like this:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=index2&cid=716
http://www.iht.com/frontpage.htm
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/
http://news.google.com/news/en/us/mainlite.html
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/
and automatically have them downloaded them to my Psion when I am online (without having to cut & paste each one separately URL into Web).
Thanks,
Peter
*++++++++++&
Date: 12 Aug 2004 10:36:18 +0100
From: Chris S Handley
Subject: Re: netBook Backlight
Hello Steve,
Stephen Hodgson wrote:
> I have previously posted here
Unfortunately, I don't recall reading your previous posts, so sorry if I say anything you already know.
> about my belief that my Psion
> netBook screen is gradually getting darker, particularly when
> first switching on. Once more, I found myself checking the
> control panel this morning to see if the brightness had
> reset. The problem has nothing to do with temperature other
> than it seems to brighten markedly after a few minutes use.
The type of LCD screen used by the Netbook (before the days of TFT) means that it *does* take a few minutes to brighten-up. This is perfectly normal, and even occurs on brand-new Netbooks.
As for darkening with age, this has been reported by a number of people including myself. I believe brightness to drop exponentially with use, dropping fastest when brightest.
I also believe (but with less proof) that having the Netbook's brightness set high causes it to darken faster, hence I keep it as low as I can. On a new Netbook I always used a setting of 3. Nowadays I use 3 if I can, but sometimes need to increase it to 6. Keeping the brightness low is DEFINITELY good for increasing battery life (by up to a factor of two!).
> wondered just what technology Psion used for the netBook. My
> recollection is that it might be EL panel.
I believe the technology was used in old laptops, was a three letter acronym, and contained the letters H and (maybe) S somewhere. (e.g. HSD?)
Regards,
Chris Handley
*++++++++++&
Date: 12 Aug 2004 15:53:21 +0100
From: Korbinian Demmel
Subject: Re: Series5
Hi Itamar,
"Wasn't there a 4 MB version for some short time?"
"I don't think so. The S5 was 8 Mb and the 5MX improved it to 16 Mb."
...which was then improved to 24 MB after short time...
But now *hehe* I've found the proof :)
Just look (did you own a Serie5 anymore?) at the back of your keyboard!
At mine is written:
Series 5 / Series 5mx
4MB, 8MB, 16MB, 24MB & 32MB
*gg*
regards
Korbinian
*++++++++++&
Date: 12 Aug 2004 18:08:14 +0100
From: Itamar Engelsman
Subject: News from the Psion Teklogix Press Centre,
Answer to: Manuel Campos Galvan
Re.: News from the Psion Teklogix Press Centre - Unfortunately also this was to be expected. If Teklogix wants to sell vast quantities of products that have to integrate with the most used machines in the workforce they have no other option but to change over to WindowsCE. Let's face it, these are the facts of life, we just don't like it <G>.
Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK
*++++++++++&
Date: 12 Aug 2004 18:08:27 +0100
From: Itamar Engelsman
Subject: Street Planner,
Answer to: Mark Whiskin
Re.: Street Planner - The program needs to be re-installed each time you change machines. You can do this either from the CD or copy the .SIS file onto your Psion and activate it from there. If you don't have the original file anymore, you have a problem AFAIK.
Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK
*++++++++++&
Date: 13 Aug 2004 01:39:01 +0100
From: Alan Morris
Subject: Re: Toolbar Patcher
Martin Maxwell wrote:-
> It is described in
>
> www.dp.com.my/dpNotes.htm#dpNote0017
A good resource.
> and downloadable at www.dp.com.my [downloads]
>
> dpToolbar version 1.11 now includes an external battery
I keep getting 404 Not Found, when trying to download the zip file.
--
Alan R Morris, G4ENS.
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK.
Using a Psion netBook & Nokia 6210e.
*++++++++++&
To reply or to send your own messages,
subscribe by sending an email to
with SUBSCRIBE in the subject.