- Re: File viewers/converters for EPOC5

- RE: Anybody using a 9500 in the US?

- Various Nokia 9500 observations

- Re: 5MX vs 9500

- Re: 9290-5mx via IrDA

- Nokia 9300--The Digest V2 # 699

- Nokia 9500, 9300 and 7710

- JPL Link

- Selling Revo's and 5mx

- Interested in a car tyre/oil/coolant/fuel predictor?

- Reverting back to using Psion machines & Psion 5mx Replacement

- Re: 5MX vs 9500

- BtKey

- 5MX,

- Re: The Digest V1 # 699

Date: 1 Mar 2005 10:33:12 +0100
From: unzip <address truncated>
Subject: Re: File viewers/converters for EPOC5

> Was I dreaming or is there no software for a 5mx to view Word, > WordPerfect, RTF, and other format files without running it through > the PsiWin converter? Occasionally I download files when I am away > from the desk and want to be able to view them.


Try nConvert. I'm not sure if it works with RTF and WordPerfect and newest Word and Excell (2003), but old Word and Excell works well. It has some problems with national characters, but if you go to really old formats (I think 6.0/95 works fine) - it can be fixed. I was using it quite extensively, but later I found PsiWin more handy (but I have PC almost always handy to make an conversion).

Best Regards,
unZIP

Date: 1 Mar 2005 21:08:09 +0100
From: Bob <address truncated>
Subject: RE: Anybody using a 9500 in the US?

Hi Chris,
I live in Washington State and have never seen any of the 9500s or any of the P800, 900 or 910s over here.  I will not spend the tremendous amount of money for something that I can see and play with.  When the 9290 first came out they sold them for a little while at Compusa, but they don't sell them any more either.  I thing that if they had them, they would work with Cellular and T-Mobile as most of the other smart phones that you can get here do work fine with them.  Its kind of the same with the Psions when they came out you could find them at several of the Outlets but then before long they were no longer sold in any of them.  I think the Psion's at that time were ahead of their time and many Americans didn't know what they had and what a great machine they were.

Thanks,
Bobbyr

Date: 1 Mar 2005 21:17:47 +0100
From: Kevin Thorne <address truncated>
Subject: Various Nokia 9500 observations

Franco Cozzani wrote

<The 9500 (as the previous 9210) seems to be a bit of a wrong form-factor.It is too small (keyboard! Screen) for a full replacement to a 5 MX or to aHP Jornada, that is, something that aims to replace a real laptop in someapplications. But is is too large and heavy as acarrying-everywhere-always-on-you smartphone.>

Yes, I have to agree on this one....I do miss the sheer portability of my tiny 8210 sometimes and the huge ease of use and functionality of my old 5mx.  Most of all I miss that wonderful keyboard but I certainly don't miss that gloomy green screen :-)

Patrick Warner wrote:

<Do you know whether anyone has released any 3rd party apps to provide additional agenda views with higher zoom level?>

Yes, there is one called Powerdesk which can offer a smaller font but it's then in a list view as opposed to the highly useful (but too large a font) Busy View.  Personally I don't find it any better as it still involves a lot of scrolling.

<Close actually - I do own an Pocket PC HP5550 which I intended to convert over to, but I could never bring myself to leave the 5MX as the 5550 was just way too many compromises on functionality that I found useful, and also it seems to be not very stable - it crashed several times and wiped all my data whereas my 5MX has never (touch wood!) done that.  That brings out a good question - what's the 9500 like for stability / reliability?  Does it crash a lot?>

My old 9210 seemed to have a habit of crashing fairly frequently (a bit of a shock after a 5mx) but I'm pleased to say the 9500 hasn't locked up once yet.  I'd guess a lot of it would be due to the fact there is much more RAM available so on the newer 9500 one isn't hitting the RAM ceiling every time a new program is run.  For example I'd be hitting the limits with maybe only 3 or 4 programs running on the 9210 but with the 9500 I have about 10 to 12 programs running and still have heaps of memory left!

Regards
Kevin Thorne

Date: 1 Mar 2005 21:27:30 +0100
From: Victor Marchand <address truncated>
Subject: Re: 5MX vs 9500

Concerning several poster with questions on this: I've moved from my MC218 (5MX) to a 9500 since December. I can fully agree to the frustration level with respect to the calendar 
app not showing enough info, due to the fact that it does not show small 
enough fonts. It limits me in my agenda use, but not to the level where 
I'd like to go back to the 5MX.
The 9500 does allow me to not bring my laptop on short business trips. It 
does all I need while away.
Also I carry the 9500 around everywhere at work, even though people in my 
surrounding joke of my 'refrigerator' being carried around.......
To me the 9500 has more advantages compared to the 5mx then disadvantages. 
I do not miss the touch screen. I do miss all the nice freeware/shareware 
apps for EPOC. But I suppose time will heal that wound.
All in all it depends on your personal use.
The 9500 is pretty stable, though not as well as the 5mx. I haven't had 
any real crashes, but I do feel I need to reboot it once every week or so, 
to tidy things up. ( I haven't had a firmware upgrade yet though)
Victor

Date: 1 Mar 2005 21:51:26 +0100
From: Jack <address truncated>
Subject: Re: 9290-5mx via IrDA

To: Ashoni who <>
>>..cannot seem to send any files from 9290 to 5mx or vice versa via infra red EXCEPT contacts >>
Re
Ever tried cBeam; Addressbeam; plBeam...?
Jack
Please *NEVER* give my @ddress onto the Net ... "Tell a friend" or similar

Date: 1 Mar 2005 21:53:53 +0100
From: Walker, Jan <address truncated>
Subject: Nokia 9300--The Digest V2 # 699

I see in the Expansys USA website that the 9300 USA model is discontinued. Does anyone have any update or info regarding the truth of that?  Mine arrived about 10 days ago and I have been fiddling with it when I get a chance but am so dependent on my Revo Plus/Mako that I haven't had much spare time.  First impressions:  a bit awkward to open as there is no latch (held closed by embedded magnets similar to a refrigerator door--they are inside the shell and not visible) and the outer skin is very smooth.  The screen is fantastic but seems about 25% smaller than the Revo and, of course, no touch screen feature.  Agenda is about 80% functional when compared to the EPOC 5 agenda.  The repeats by date; week; month; day-of-the-month are all there.  There is zoom but only 2 or 3 levels.  The enter key plus the side (similar in function to the silk-screened keys of old) keys, plus the joystick push button, plus the menu tabs offer multiple ways to select a function and so softens the blow of losing the touch screen.  There are to-do functions but I have had little time to explore them.  It is truly pocketable and feels slightly smaller in width and height than the Revo but is a little bit thicker.  The 180 degree opening feature is not to my liking.  I recall from an earlier digest comment that someone indicated that they preferred that full opening to the 9500's 130 degree opening.  While the 180 degree flat opening is much safer in terms of toppling over, it is hard to read the screen unless you position your eyes almost directly over the screen or prop the back up slightly with some object.  Trying to have it open at 130 degrees similar to the 9500 is not a good idea although it will stop in that position (or any other, for that matter), because the unit wants to fall over backward due to the weight of the screen(ed) half of the unit.

The phone seems to have slightly better reception (using the same wireless carrier) than my Motorola, and it is easy to use.  The help menus include an enormous number of subjects, however the information in each one is a bit brief.

Overall, would I buy one and plan to convert from EPOC 5?  Yes, but first I must find out the truth about the suspected discontinuation.  I don't want to repeat the closeout (ala Psion) of my much-loved PDA.

More later,

Jan in the SF Bay area

Date: 1 Mar 2005 21:59:18 +0100
From: Stéphane Sage <address truncated>
Subject: Nokia 9500, 9300 and 7710

Hello all!

Franco (Cozzani) just asked whether the above referred tools could possibly replace his 5MX, developing sound arguments against the form factors of 9500 and 9300.

I for my part consider more and more the investment in a 7710, which has got a *big*, touch sensitive screen and can be used while standing, a la IPAQ or PALM, in (to me) a more handy way than with the 5MX (which I always fear will thus fall on the ground and has to be opened each time with
difficulty).

A foldable (Bluetooth, as infrared is not available on 7710) keyboard would complete it perfectly while on my desk. I have just asked Nokia about it. A clamshell design would thus be avoided, contrary to Franco's "faint hopes"...

The only nagging point at this stage is the lack of sofware for Series 90: it is not quite clear whether Nokia or Symbian developers will propose as many as those already befitting the 92xx, 9300 and 9500 (like a good database for instance).

Best regards.

Stephane (Grenoble, France)

Date: 1 Mar 2005 22:07:22 +0100
From: Timothy H.D. Williams <address truncated>
Subject: JPL Link

On 1 Mar 2005, at 16:54, The Digest wrote:

> I¹ve very interested in doing this, Timothy, but could find no mention
> of
> the software with a google search. Where did you get it from?

http://website.lineone.net/~john.montgomery/psionlink/

It is a wonderful programming. My only complaint is that it sometimes
freezes in the most recent version of MacOS when it calls up a dialogue
box.

T

Date: 1 Mar 2005 22:12:56 +0100
From: Emil Granström<address truncated>
Subject: Selling Revo's and 5mx

I am selling my used Psion stuff since I am now on the Ipaq train....

If anyone is interested in any stuff below please mail me at<address truncated>(ie do not reply to this adress).

1 Original Series 5, broken hinge, peeling but works- used to have it in my car for navigation , ie "scrap but works".

1 Revo Plus 16 MB
1 Mako 28 MB - Yep you read right 28 MB Memory.
1 Mako 16 MB - Hinge problem.

All the Revos / Makos are some what affected of the battery problem as far as I can
recall. I am charging and testing them right now - They haven't been used for quite
a while.

There are no boxes or mauals or power supplies, I might have a few docking stations though.

I can throw in an extra 5mx and 1 Revo Plus (batt. problem) and one Revo as well (a friend is also selling).

I'd rather sell the whole package in one go - Give me an offer !

All are UK/US keyboards.

I might consider selling in parts for a higer price,  Give me an offer if you dont want the whole lot, I will charge you for post
and packing, ie add it to you offer.

Brg
Emil

Date: 1 Mar 2005 23:02:26 +0100
From: Chris S Handley
Subject: Interested in a car tyre/oil/coolant/fuel predictor?

Hello all,

I have finished writing the first version of an unusual piece of software. Although I wrote it for myself, I figure that other people could find it useful - but I don't know if anyone would ACTUALLY be interested in using it! So I am describing it here, to see if there is any point in writing docs & releasing it...


The idea is that you occasionally take measurements of your car's tyre depth, type pressure & oil level, and that you record when you fill-up your fuel & engine coolant, and when it has a service. The program will then analyse the data, estimate what the current levels are, and predict when they will reach levels which MUST be dealt with.

The idea is to give peace-of-mind about the state of your car, and reduce how often you need to check your car. The current version seems to work very well using the data I have collected over several years, but which I have only recently put into a database, and gotten around to writing a program to do the analysis.


For any aspect (such as coolant or oil) which you are not interested in, you simply do not input any data, and it will not be predicted.  So you only need to enter the data that you are interested in :-)

For the technically minded, it uses a general-purpose linear prediction (analysis/extrapolation) engine that I wrote. The current version's estimates use the passage of time, but I hope to improve it to use mileage instead, for increased accuracy.  However, it still seems pretty good at the moment.


If you want to show your interest, then please vote using this poll:
http://www.pdastreet.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=55825

It also has a screenshot, to give a better idea what it looks like.
---
Chris Handley

Visit the web page email.cshandley.co.uk for my address

Date: 1 Mar 2005 23:52:48 +0100
From: Gary Jenkinson <address truncated>
Subject: Reverting back to using Psion machines & Psion 5mx Replacement

Re: Incidentally, has anyone on the Digest actually gone back to a 5mx after finding out none of the modern machines satisfied their needs?



Yes, I have. I bought an all bells and whistles Dell Axim X5 with Pocket PC 2003, CF Bluetooth, IrDA, WiFi, FM Radio, Modem, External keyboard, plus spares of everything, including even the docking station, etc., etc., "just in case anything broke down" of course. Oh, don't forget the bucket loads of software too!! I did this at the back end of 2003 and kept it for 6 months. As I said in an entry to the Digest on 8th May 2004, "I found the PPC 2003 screen far too small to be usable for anything else other than checking an agenda entry or an address in contacts and how I missed a usable keyboard. I did buy a Dell folding keyboard which is fine when you need to do some heavy inputting, but pointless for making a quick agenda entry. So, what to do? You've guessed it; I've just bought a 5mx from eBay and waiting for it to arrive. Oh, the joy of transferring everything back to the EPOC o/s to look forward to!!"



I don't for a minute regret using a 5mx again, the larger screen, even though it's monochrome, long battery life, and the especially the keyboard, means it still can't be beaten. Whilst it would be nice to have colour and Bluetooth on a 5mx style and sized machine, the hardware isn't yet so out of date that it still can't used effectively today. The same goes for the EPOC operating system, it is a mature enough platform to have sufficient conversion software written for it to still work with Window$, still the world's most widely used OS. Unless and until this stops being the case, then I don't see the need to change.



However,...I have had a look at the new ROAD range of handhelds that someone on the Digest brought to our attention. I am really interested to see what the L104 will be like. It is a model that is currently being developed, it has all the updated hardware, including a larger keyboard, and it will have the Symbian OS on it. Depending on the eventual size of the keyboard and what capability the Symbian OS has compared to EPOC, then this may be the replacement I could give up my 5mx for...may be!



Regards,

Gary Jenkinson

Date: 2 Mar 2005 01:13:52 +0100
From: Chris C. <address truncated>
Subject: Re: 5MX vs 9500

Yes I can say this. I own a Tungsten T, I *love* the form factor, it's very small, fast and light. However, the digitizer is crap, I have to align it once a day and the batteries don't last very long. The built in calendar is pretty bad. OTH, my Series 5 has a decent agenda feature and lasts forever on batteries. Only thing I dont like is carrying it around as it's quite large.  I'd like to get a 5MX one day.... The series 5 isnt too bad once you load all your programs .. just have to switch back and forth after that. Something that the palm still can't do... multi-task!

-C

Date: 2 Mar 2005 11:05:27 +0100
From: Itamar Engelsman <address truncated>
Subject: BtKey

This is a  new program that will allow Nokia Series 60 and SE-UIQ users to connect ANY bluetooth keyboard using HID proflie, foldable or not, with their phone. The communication is encrypted for entering sensitive information. It supports 104 buttons PC size keyboards and it comes with a lay-out editor to program the keyboard to work correctly. Further details at http://yellowcomputing.de.

Could someone comment which keyboards use HID profiling ?  Does that include the keyboards made for the Palm platform ?

Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK

Date: 2 Mar 2005 13:01:14 +0100
From: Itamar Engelsman <address truncated>
Subject: 5MX,

Answer to: Franco Cozzani

Re.: 5MX - F.Y.I., the 5MX Pro English version is still for sale at Clove Technology (www.clove.co.uk) for Gbp 276.13 inclusive of VAT. They are also still selling the REVO at Gbp 175.08.

Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK

Date: 2 Mar 2005 15:49:34 +0100
From: Emilio Lambrini <address truncated>
Subject: Re: The Digest V1 # 699

Connection to a GPS

Dear friends,
I am now beginning a new experience; got a Geko 201 and intend to use it with a MC218.
I would like to receive some suggestion about the programs to install (RealMaps, PsiGar5, CoDriver or else?) and about chose and availability of the necessary hardware. I realise it is a bit too late but still I would like to have a go to test this possible use of the invaluable machine. Thanks in advance for all the information you will make available.

Emilio Lambrini  <address truncated>BR>
Moltrasio