- Subject field

- Easter Holiday

- Oh Happy Days & Where are my Outlook Notes???

- Road L104

- Re: batteries, 3c to Revo Via IR, writing to CF cards

- question to owners of Nokia 9300 & 9500

- funny characters & faulty screen backlight

- Standard batteries

- Subject: Psion 5mx to Nokia 9500

- 9300 User Comment

- Re: Psion 5mx to Nokia 9X00

- Learning to love the 9500

- Large CF card recommendations?

- buying a 5mx..., Compromises & Psion blinkers,

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2005
From: Digest administrator
Subject: Subject field

May we kindly request you all to check the subject field in the heading of the email _before_ you send out the message to the digest ? Besides not giving the readers the contents of your message at the top of the digest, it also stops the automatic program of the digest as it could be that with a subject field "The Digest ... etc" someone sent back the full last digest to us ...... . Thanks in advance for the co-operation.

With best regards
Itamar Engelsman
The Digest Team

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2005
From: Digest administrator
Subject: Easter Holiday

If you will be away for the Easter Holiday, please send us a message with ADMIN in the subject until when you will be away so we can temporary unsubscribe you. This will stop the digest mailbox being filled up with out of office messages and bounced digests due to full mailboxes. Again, thanks in advance for the co-operation and Happy Easter.

With best regards
Itamar Engelsman
The Digest Team

Date: 23 Mar 2005 01:27:30 +0000
From: Gary Jenkinson <address truncated>
Subject: Oh Happy Days & Where are my Outlook Notes???

Hi All,



I have at long last got around to configuring my Psion 5mx and have started to use it again productively. I've been pleasantly surprised to discover how much information I had retained about these machines and how instinctively it now seems to use one again. This, having tried, and rejected a Dell Axim X5 after using one for about 7 months.



I can truly say I do not miss the additional current hardware and software features of the Pocket PC/Palm/Windows CE range of PDAs. Unless, and until, there is a viable alternative to a 5mx then this is what I've decided I'll stay with.



As someone in the last Digest very clearly made the point, if I have my phone and 5mx as separate devices, this is only as much as someone who carries around a combined phone and PDA and ends up with a BlueTooth or IrDA keyboard too. It is one less than those who use a separate PDA, phone and keyboard!! If I am to carry two devices I might as well have each performing its own function extremely well, instead of a Phone/PDA combination that does neither that well. I have not, and neither do I intend to use my 5mx to email or surf the Internet. If I want to do either of these and/or have all the advantages of the current PDA, and a whole lot more, then I just use my JVC Mini Notebook (7230) which uses WinXP and Office 2003. These programmes are far more useful and compatible than the cut-down and compromised versions of these programmes on a PDA.



This brings me onto a request for information from the Digest readers; I have got used to using the Notes feature in Outlook, but despite having successfully synchronised my calendar and contacts on my Laptops with my 5mx, I can't find where my Notes from Outlook have been put on my 5mx. Can someone tell me where they are hiding from me please?



Many thanks,

Gary Jenkinson
email:  <mailto<address truncated> garyjenkinson AT email DOT com

Date: 23 Mar 2005 08:13:53 +0000
From: K. Liebmann <address truncated>
Subject: Road L104

All,

I have been writing to the Road GmbH to explain to them my preference for the technical details of the L104 (useable keyboard and screen, well thought out agenda and data application and ability to view standard Win documents, no camera). Last week they replied. For all of you interested:

...
> Der Handy PC wird voraussichtlich Oktober 2005 auf den Markt kommen
> und preislich unter 1.400,00 Euro liegen. Alle konkreten technischen
> Fragen werden derzeit gesammelt und beantwortet. Sie sind in Kürze
> unter www.road-gmbh.de nachzulesen.
...
> Wenn Sie noch Fragen haben oder weitere Informationen benötigen. Rufen
> Sie mich gerne an. Sie erreichen mich unter der Telefonnummer + 49 30
> 28 00 78 15 oder per Email unter<address truncated>Viele Grüsse
> Beate Figgener
>
> unlimited berlin
> Rosenthalerstr. 40/41
> 10178 Berlin
> 030 / 28 00 78 15
> 030 / 28 00 78 11
> www.ucm.de
><address truncated>BR>
The Mobile PC will be coming to the market in October 2005. It will cost under 1,400 Euro. All technical enquiries are currently collected. The answers will be available shortly under www.road-gmbh.de.

If you have further questions or need more information, please feel free to call. ... Phone number / e-mail

Anyone interested to do the same and explain to them what the user needs.


Regards

Karsten

Date: 23 Mar 2005 08:27:30 +0000
From: Ian Chapple <address truncated>
Subject: Re: batteries, 3c to Revo Via IR, writing to CF cards

Karsten,

>>I am also a supporter of standard size batteries for mobile devices.

...
Actually, its probably a misconception that the phone size would go up by using standard cells. The standard cells don't have a dramatically different volume for a given capacity. The only difference, the normal phone batteries are flat while the standard AA or AAA are round. If you would build a phone that uses standard AA or AAA, you would be able to fit everything into the same shell volume. You just need to re-arrange the components.<<

I don't agree with you regarding this point. If I look at the battery for my SE P910, it is about 4 or 5 mm thick, and completely flat. Replacing this with something of the shape and size of a pack of AA or AAA batteries would *inevitably* make the phone larger. If you package 3 rechargeable AAAs together to make a 3,6 volt pack, which is probably the minimum that a phone needs, this package is effectively flat anyway. There is not much (if any) "space" to fit components between the batteries, and the pack is much thicker; this leads to the phone being thicker than if a bespoke battery is used.

>>I would believe, designing for custom batteries either just misses the consideration for the life cycle of the product or this is deliberate to make business with battery replacements.<<

You certainly have a point here, though batteries often last longer than the "expected" life of a device. The battery in my 4 1/2 year old mobile phone has hardly lost any capacity since I bought it; when new, the standby time was 120 hours, now it's about 111 hours. The only reason that I replaced this phone was due to the problem of it not working reliably with my SIM card, but I suspect that over 4 years of ownership and/or use is far longer than the average.

The big difference between many new devices and something like the Revo is the fact that the battery is user-removeable; should the battery (or the device) play up, the battery can simply be removed.


Jake,

>>Is it possible to send an RTF file back and forth between a 3c and a Revo via IR?  Or are the IR protocols completely different?<<

It's not possible by IR, but I know of someone who has done the same between a netbook and a 3mx using a cable connection. I think he uses a null-modem cable, connects the two devices by cable, and then browses the netbook from the 3mx; the 3 Series has the possibility to browse the
remote computer, something which was removed under EPOC.

Alan,

>>On all Psion 5s I've used about a dozen CF cards from 16Mb to 256Mb. I've not had any problems with writing to a CF card - ever.  So I'd say, 'What problem?'<<

I think there *can* be problems when writing a large amout of data fast to a CF card, particularly if the batteries are running a bit low. I had this happen once when running FastBackup on my 5mx, and ended up completely corrupting my D: drive. I've always kept *important* files on C:, and only used the CF card for larger, relatively unimportant data.

Cheers, Ian.

Date: 23 Mar 2005 08:35:16 +0000
From: Franco Cozzani <address truncated>
Subject: question to owners of Nokia 9300 & 9500

Hello,

There are two issues that I see are not well enough addressed in the
discussion under way.

Nokia 9500 I played with a not-working dummy in a shop and noticed that
the screen hinges up to a fixed angle (about 130° ??) which makes for an
ackward reading position when placing the unit on a table.
Is it true also in a working unit? Is this a problem for other users?
I mean with this, I am 1.84 m high and I place the screen of my 15" laptop
at a flatter angle than my daughter (15 yrs old), who is about 1.70 m.

Nokia 9300 I played with a real unit - without turning it on - in
another shop and indeed could remark the apparent excellent build quality.
The keyboard was even a bit more tactile-feel responsive than I feared and
then...
I put the unit on a table. The 9300 is top-heavy in the screen half and it
flips over if you place it on a flat surface with the screen at any angle
between 90° (of course unreadable) and 180°.
In this last setting, you have to be with your eyes right on top of it,
which is indeed ackward IMO.
Any feedback on this?

Regards to everybody,

Franco COZZANI
Brussels

Date: 23 Mar 2005 09:18:18 +0000
From: Franco Cozzani <address truncated>
Subject: funny characters & faulty screen backlight

Hello,

1 Since less that a month my MC 218 (3 1/2 years old) enters
alpha-numeric characters all by itself when typing in Word and to a lesser
degree when entering data in Sheet.
Behaviour is random but seems to worsen when batteries are half full and
when battery drain is higher for writing on the CF card in the D drive.
I had the same behaviour when writing, on the C (RAM) drive only, on a new
Osaris, which I bought and gave back two weeks later in 2001.
Any clue?

2 I replaced via POP my screen cable over one year ago and now the
backlight is flicking. It comes back up when redressing the screen about 90°
but the screen goes darker again when I release the screen in its std open
position. I have however no other symptoms of a failing cable, such as lines
on the screen, which looks OK under a table lamp.
What is it?

Regards to everybody,

Franco COZZANI
Brussels

Date: 23 Mar 2005 16:45:38 +0000
From: Peter Rand
Subject: Standard batteries

>> I'd certainly hate to see my mobile phone and my PDA go up in size just to accommodate AAA cells.

> I am also a supporter of standard size batteries for mobile devices.

> I read this comment a few days ago. First, I decided not to reply but as a discussion is starting around this argument, I would like to add my 5 cents.

This is also a topic that interests me. At first, I was indifferent on the issue, and was quite happy to use a Revo and a Palm Tungsten (neither of which uses standard user-replaceable batteries) for a number of years. I got used to carrying around various rechargers with me, along with the necessary adapters for international travel.

When my Revo died recently, I decided to replace it with an MC218, largely because it uses standard batteries. This has turned out to be a very good decision in my case, since the MC218 averages about 25 hours on a pair of rechargeable AA's, and when they are empty I can easily replace them with no downtime, while the Revo was basically out of commission for 6 hours when it needed a charge. In addition, I enjoy a certain peace of mind knowing that if I don't need to use the machine for a longer period of time, I can just back up everything to card, take out all the batteries, and safely put the MC218 away indefinitely with no risk to data or hardware.

When traveling, I no longer bring any rechargers or adapters with me - a handful of AA's can keep the MC218 going for weeks, and if they are not enough, I can pick up a couple of AA's at local stores virtually anywhere in the world. It's great.

The freedom that standard batteries give me also made me take a long hard look at my Palm Tungsten, which runs only about 4 hours on its built-in batteries before requiring a recharge. As a result, I purchased a B&W HandEra 330, a PalmOS machine that runs on 4 standard AAA batteries, giving me the kind of freedom I discovered with the MC218. I am happy to give up a color screen for the vast-improvement in operating life.

So I guess I am now firmly in the camp of those who will now only buy equipment using standard user-replaceable batteries. Unfortunately, it's getting more and more difficult to find machines using standard batteries.

Is there any webpage on the Net dedicated to devices using standard batteries? I've got zero interest in the new color devices flooding the market which don't use standard batteries, as tempting as they may be.

Peter

Date: 23 Mar 2005 16:56:43 +0000
From: Martin Maxwell <address truncated>
Subject: Subject: Psion 5mx to Nokia 9500

Answer to: Lord Kimberley <address truncated> Subject: RE Psion 5mx to Nokia 9500
From: Martin Maxwell

Dear John,

>>How easy would this transfer be? I use Word, Sheet, Jotter and Agenda  on the 5mx and several databases. At present I use Data for my contacts.<<

As far as Word, Jotter and other text formats are concerned I'm working very intensively now in finalising the first version of SymPoc; an OPL application which, if run in a Psion can read Symbian Word formats (as in 9500 etc) and if run in a Symbian v6 or v7 device (e.g. 9500) can read EPOC Word formats and convert those formats accordingly. A version for viewing both EPOC Word and Symbian Word formats in UIQ and Series 60 is also planned. If these plans turn out successful I will have a go at EPOC Sheet/Symbian Sheet.

I cannot say any release date, because I'm completely unable to plan the small moments of time I have to do OPL development these days, but I'm trying to have it out within a few months time.

As for Data and Agenda, they are so called database files, i.e. the application loads and stores data piecewise rather than everything in one go. Therefore direct conversion is out of the question unless the files can be stored in an intermediate format, e.g. comma separated or as vCal.

Kind regards
Martin Maxwell
Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia

Date: 23 Mar 2005 20:21:58 +0000
From: Martin Hofer <address truncated>
Subject: 9300 User Comment

Being a longtime fan of various psion models, but "converted" everyday ipaq user i am still lurking to this digest with its many technical helpful and very knowing posters...

Last week i got my 9300 and have to say that I am very pleased with it

there are some restrictions and room for improvement, but still for me it is the nearest thing to a revo, but with:
-phone function with very good phone features
-mmc card slot
-superb (little) square screen
-bluetooth
-acceptable weight/ size (i wouldnt use a 9500 o2 9200, its not pocketable for me...)

the synchronization works well, the viewers are quite ok and the screen size is as i said acceptable

the lack of a touchscreen is something to get used, but the gui is done well and so you get used to it quickly

the keyboard: thumbs only, 10-finger-typers...forget it- but i prefer it to all the minitouchscreenkeyboards or the barbiekeyboard on the 910

one real bad thing is the time it needs to open apps: around 2 secs isnt really a fast thing...

nevertheless: a very good phone with nice pda capabilities, reminding of things revo users like me desired years ago..

just to mention: i have some other pdas and phones to compare, i'm no pda newbie :-) (psion3c,3mx,5,revo,mc218,jornada720,jvc mp-c33,simpadslc4,p900,ipaq2210 and a lot more...)

best regards from vienna

martin

Date: 23 Mar 2005 20:47:27 +0000
From: Steve Hodgson <address truncated>
Subject: Re: Psion 5mx to Nokia 9X00

>How easy would this transfer be? I use Word, Sheet, Jotter and Agenda 
>on the 5mx and several databases. At present I use Data for my contacts.
>
>All advice welcome. I don't want to go and buy one and discover things
>can't be transfered across.

Just to add one more query on this. Does the Nokia support object embodiment with the Agenda (and other apps) application that was available on ER5?

Regards,

Steve Hodgson

Date: 23 Mar 2005 22:02:36 +0000
From: Kevin Thorne <address truncated>
Subject: Learning to love the 9500

Chris Handley wrote:

<In my case, I think I could quite happily use a 9500, if loosing a few nicieties (which may take a little adjusting to) means that I only have to carry one device around, can render modern web pages fast & well and do so on-the-move (GPRS), natively reads/writes modern MS Word/Sheet formats, use bluetooth devices (such as a headset or GPS), surf wirelessly (WiFi), play DivX/XviD videos well, be always readable night & day, and of course still do a pretty good job of being a PDA.>

Chris, as you said, everything involves some compromise.  The more I use my 9500 out and about, the more I learn to like it.  I think my 5mx was the most capable PDA I have ever used (and I still miss that wonderful keyboard) but on reflection the 9500 can do just about anything my 5mx could for my own needs - plus of course all those modern options you listed above for the 21st century are a great bonus.  For example, I wouldn't dream of messing about with different cables now I have bluetooth to connect to my headset and PC, have no need to carry a separate I-Pod for my music anymore, have a very reasonable colour games machine for those boring moments on the train and even have a camera with me at all times for those shots I would otherwise miss!  All in all, I am really warming to my one box solution now.

<Also, I don't think that anyone here has really explained how the little 'joystick' plus the four CBA buttons (to the right of the Communicator's screen) manage to do a reasonable job of replacing the touch screen in most situations>

I still miss a touch screen on occasions but to be honest, sometimes using the CBA buttons or keyboard shortcut buttons is actually faster than picking up a stylus and tapping.  I have adjusted quite well to this and now I don't really miss it anymore.  I think the CBA button in general are quite intelligently programmed - I often find they have just the option I want whilst in a particular mode within a particular application.

Regards
Kevin Thorne

Date: 23 Mar 2005 22:59:42 +0000
From: Arne Christensen <address truncated>
Subject: Large CF card recommendations?

Hi all,

Can you help me? Prices falling all the time, I'm about to buy a 1 Gb CF card before summer vacation so I can take all my City Maps with me. Thus I'd like to ask everyone about their experience with large CF cards: Which cards work (or don't work) in a NetBook/5mx? Precise product names will be a help.

If you prefer, you're welcome to mail me (arne-at-chr-dot-dk) rather than post details to this list. In two weeks at the most,I will post a summary.

Thanks in advance,
-- Arne Christensen

Date: 24 Mar 2005 00:22:39 +0000
From: Itamar Engelsman <address truncated>
Subject: buying a 5mx..., Compromises & Psion blinkers,

Answer to: Chris Kantarjiev

Re.: buying a 5mx... - I think that is a wise decision, although I would look at the S7/nB/mB as well. I have had the S5, S5MX, S7 and mBook and never had any problems writing to the CF card as long as the battery had enough power in it. Anyhow, I have most of the program files on the CF card and most of the data on the internal disk so I don't write that much to the CF card anyhow.

Answer to: Chris S Handley

Re.: Compromises & Psion blinkers - Besides the carrying of 1 device and the rendering of modern web pages  I have got all of your requirements with my combination of mBook and SE 910i. I have got GPRS, can read MS Word and Sheet (nConvert & native on 910i), I use Wifi, watch videos on the 910i, etc. Surfing the web I have never believed in for any of the smaller devices. I don't think I have "blinkers" on and did move on with my combination. However, I do think that with Macro5 and other outstanding third party programs the functionallity of the EPOC machines is still unsurpassed in the PDA world. The Nokia's might get there once enough third party software will be available, but not at this moment IMHO.



Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK