- Waiting for Godot & Nokias 9300/9500

- Re. Recycled opinions

- Re: The Digest V1 # 726 13

- Contacting Psionflexi

- Re: WiFi Card for netBook

- *** SPAM *** Re:Treo 600, UIQ style guide

- Selling up, Opera / Web on mB,

Date: 7 Apr 2005 16:22:43 +0700
From: Franco Cozzani <address truncated>
Subject: Waiting for Godot & Nokias 9300/9500

Hello everybody,

I will take a deep breath and take a risk to say that ...
I think that Rolf goes too easy on Nokia and do not think that our needs and
expectations change that much over time.
Today as four years ago, I would need and buy something with:

* Form factor between a Revo and - say - a HP Jornada 720/728. It does
not have to be smack on a 5 MX form-factor, but a Nokia 9300/9500 is way too
small for confortable typing an viewing and an "old" Netbook starts to
approach size and weight (and cost, if it is not a Mbook) where one thinks
whether an Apple 12" - iBook or Powerbook - kept on fast rev-up mode is not
a better choice.
* A real keyboard like that of the 5MX.
* Longer autonomy than hard-disk laptops.
* An OS and applications like Epoc: much more poweful than a Symbian
Series 60, but no need to burn DVD, model folded proteins or play Doom3 on
these machines. Which means, 100% of my working needs and some 80% of my
personal needs.
* I can continue but you get the picture.

Now the two Nokias provide:
* no touchscreen (and no trackpad!)
* really small keyboards
* the screen of the 9300 is really, I mean really, small
* the 9500 looks as designed in the neolithic and looks/feels cheap
plastic on the outside
* the 9300 is top heavy and will flip over unless opened 180° on a
surface
* the 9500 does not flip, but the screen opens at a fixed angle and
that may not be the right one for all people and for all table/chair
situations.

I agree with Rolf about waiting for Godot but I better get myself one of
those Palm Lifedrive (plus keyboard), if they arrive anytime soon, hoping
these are not an illusion like a better Nokia communicator.

Actually, I had a better opinion of where Symbian was going last year ... I
hope to be wrong.

Regards to everybody,


Franco COZZANI
Brussels

Date: 7 Apr 2005 20:28:25 +0700
From: ian chapple <address truncated>
Subject: Re. Recycled opinions

Phil,

>>Ian (Chapple), you say you disagree that abandoning free software protected by a registration strategy is a little unfair. I'm afraid I don't understand why you think it's not a little unfair. I don't think it grossly or wilfully unfair, just a little.<<

All I meant was that "fairness" doesn't really come into the equation. I can understand that you are disappointed that the software in question can no longer be "uncrippled", but it is not unfair. For something to be unfair, fairness has to be implied; in the case of someone providing something for nothing, and then not providing it, this is not the case. Therefore the situation, to my mind, can not be considered unfair, no matter how annoying or disappointing you find it.

Cheers, Ian.

Date: 7 Apr 2005 22:47:21 +0700
From: Bernard Hill <address truncated>
Subject: Re: The Digest V1 # 726 13

>>
Date:  6 Apr 2005 09:42:03 +0700
From: Marcus von Cube <address truncated>
Subject: Re: Battery capacity

Hi Bernhard,
<<

Bernard actually. English spelling :-)

>>
>Lions are a pain as they need expensive duplicate batteries and
have >typically 750mAh. AAs have 2400mAh.

Did you compare the voltages, too? The total energy stored in a battery is
measured in mWh, not mAh (1W = 1V * 1A). You can compare the cpacities of
NiMH and NiCad because they have the
same nominal voltage (1.2V) but as far as I know, LiIon cells have a much
higher voltage than that.
<<''
Ah, but while a Lithium Polymer battery is 3.6v, other devices would use *3* or whatever AA batteries, so it's the same.

>>
Date:  6 Apr 2005 14:16:44 +0700
From: Bruce A.Knox <address truncated>
Subject: Wi-fi card for NetBook; Apple; this Digest


As a matter (maybe) of interest, I had trouble finding a card. The one
I have was bought for me by my daughter in London, from Misco (£23;
www.misco.co.uk) and brought in person to Melbourne. Misco has stocks
but - and it beggars belief - not only would not undertake postage to
Australia but would not accept payment by any card, including HSBC
Switch on an account in England, which does not have a U.K. address.
Might this be one of the (many) evil consequences of the EU?
<<

No. Misco is just not a normal store. It's a glorified stationery company who sell almost excusively to businesses by company invoice. They're not set up for credit card transactions (that costs them) and won't have a price structure for shipping abroad - they use a UK carrier and the goods are insured in transit.

Bernard Hill
Braeburn Software
Selkirk, Scotland

Date: 8 Apr 2005 00:53:20 +0700
From: Neville Smith <address truncated>
Subject: Contacting Psionflexi

Has anyone had recent contact with Paul at Psionflexi? My recent emails have not been returned.
--
Neville SmithMobile 0408 959 123

Date: 8 Apr 2005 04:21:59 +0700
From: Keith Giles <address truncated>
Subject: Re: WiFi Card for netBook

Matthew Walters wrote:

> Don't forget to use WEP and MAC filtering if you set up a router for > home use.

Just what does that mean, and how do I do that? I've managed to muddle my way through getting my nB to access the internet through my home router and at several free public access points, but have no idea if I've any of the above things.

Happy Cycling,
Keith
Sunnyvale, CA
http://ohsix827.home.comcast.net

Thought For The Day: People are certainly peculiar - they want the front of the bus, the back of the church and the middle of the road

All my outgoing e-mails have been checked by Norton Anti-virus.

Date: 8 Apr 2005 13:45:22 +0700
From: Jim Watson-Gove <address truncated>
Subject: *** SPAM *** Re:Treo 600, UIQ style guide

<<Re.: Treo 600 - Thanks for the answer. While in principle this is an EPOC / Symbian digest I think it is in the interest of the readers to hear from time to time about other devices as well, also because our EPOC Psion's will sooner or later "die" on us and than we all will have to make a new choice between either a Symbian model or other OS's. So do feel welcome to inform us from time to time [this is my personal opinion and if others are against this feel free to voice this in the digest].>>

I am one of those on this list who is a solid Psion user (between my wife and I, 2 MX5s and 2 MBooks) who is slowly migrating to Palm.

I have no use for a cell phone at all, being retired and living in a small town so I am not interested in any of the "combo" units.  I tried the combination of a Treo 90 (no phone) and the Alphasmart Dana - the Treo for mobility and the Dana for the keyboard.  Both had pathetic processors (I have an extremely large collection of Word files). I traded the the Dana for a broken MX5 which I had repaired as a spare to the other Psions.  The Treo became a mobile PIM machine, a task it performed with excellence.
I say "performed" as a couple of weeks ago I dropped it it on the kitchen tile floor and cracked the screen.  The repair bill would be $160 American and the machine only cost me $90.  I took this as an opportunity to move up to a Tungsten C with an IR keyboard.  The C has a thumboard like the the Treo but supports the external keyboard (which Palm is offering as a bonus on a C purchase until late May). This will give me mobility as well as the ability to enter large texts in my studio with ease.

The reviewers say the processor has blinding speed so I am hoping that my file access time is as good as advertised (45 seconds to a minute on the Treo 90 with 300+ word files).

More later as I learn more (C should arrive within a few days).

By the way, Palm's technical support is as excellent or better than Psion's used to be when Psion USA had an office in Burlingame, California.

jim - port townsend, wa, use - straddling the worlds of Psion and Palm

Date: 8 Apr 2005 16:07:16 +0700
From: Itamar Engelsman <address truncated>
Subject: Selling up, Opera / Web on mB,

Answer to: Steve Litchfield

Re.: Selling up - Don't say sorry, sooner or later we will all go down that route .... !

To All

Re. Opera / Web on mB - I suddenly noticed that Opera that came with my mBook has only 7 days of usage left until I need to register (almost 2 years, you will understand how much I use it). As I don't want to register it as I don't use it enough for that, what is the best option to change it for another program ?  Is there another version that is free and wher ecan I get that or should I revert back to Web ?  If Web is the better option, which version do I need for my mBook and where is that still around these days ?

Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK