- re: Which mobile phone do you prefer to augment your 5mx

- RE: Quote by Benjamin Franklin

- 5mx reigns supreme (not)

- Re: The Digest V1 # 863

- Re: Comms and Infrared

- Psion Presentation Maker

- Re: Browsers with Banks

- Good Primer on EPOC graphics programming?

- Re: The Digest V1 # 863

- Psions vs Mobile Phones, Degrees, Browsers with Banks,

Date: 23 Dec 2005 00:17:05 +0100
From: Donald <address truncated>
Subject: re: Which mobile phone do you prefer to augment your 5mx

Hello Chris

In the meantime, is there a recent generation cell phone out there that would make up for my lack of WiFi access or that would act as a modem for my 5mx?

Good question - Chris

Their are many phone compatible with the 5mx, However not all are capable of sending and receiving faxes - if that means anything to you.
I use a SE T68i & T610 IR GPRS Phone and it's great - truly wireless useing of course the IR port

I choose this phone because faxing is an abosulote must for my business (the eFaxing service that's available, just don't cut it - too cumbersome) besides why not have that option always available to fax as well as emailing (sometimes fax printing is more easily available than someplace's computer and printer)

never had any problems with the phone just a little slow
I've tried many - Love Nokia phones, but only the SE phones are fax compatable, Good Luck

Donald from New York USA

Date: 23 Dec 2005 21:07:18 +0100
From: Bob <address truncated>
Subject: RE: Quote by Benjamin Franklin

How the heck did that get in the Digest????  I sent it to others in my mail list but obviously the Digest is not part of that list---well maybe not obviously.  I am sorry for any inconvenience this might have caused anyone as this Digest is not a place for political talk.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year from here in the US.

Thanks,
Bobby

Date: 23 Dec 2005 21:59:35 +0100
From: Ian Chapple <address truncated>
Subject: 5mx reigns supreme (not)

I was interested to read Martin's 50 (25) points about why the 5mx reigns supreme. I was extremely happy with my 5mx until my old Ericsson mobile phone died (actually, it technically didn't die, it just stopped talking to my SIM card, but that's another story), so when it came to buying a new mobile phone, a smartphone was the obvious choice.

I went for the P910 for a variety of reasons; it was cheaper than the then newly released 9300/9500, it was also smaller than the 9300/9500 and I already had a variety of compatible Ericsson chargers/handsfree kits etc. Although it has several downsides when compared to my 5mx, such as no real keyboard, a much smaller screen and a much more limited variety of freeware, it does have one ENORMOUS advantage; whereas I hardly ever took my 5mx out and about with me due to its size, I (nearly) ALWAYS have my mobile phone with me. This means that I am hardly ever without my agenda, contacts, access to email etc., which has proved to be a real revelation. The fact that I can also watch videos, look at photos and listen to music, all on the same device, is fantastic. Using a Bluetooth headset in the car is also extremely convenient; no more pesky wires!!!

Although I do occasionally regret not having gone for a 9300/9500 (or the forthcoming 9300i), mainly due to the screen size and keyboard, I am generally extremely happy with my phone.

I haven't abandoned my Psion roots entirely; I still do all my emailing on my netbook via WiFi. In fact, I have done all of my emailing on a Psion for the last 7 years or so, first with a Series 7, and then a netbook. This only causes problems when receiving those incredibly illegible HTML emails you get from companies like easyjet; although you can often open the email in Opera by copying the email text to an HTML file, you then can't print it!!! I also do all of my OPL development on the netbook, as the keyboard is simply excellent; in fact, I think it vastly better than my wife's iBook keyboard, which is rubbish in my opinion.

I am about to get Route66 for UIQ from Santa, so I will pass on my experiences with it when I have had time to try it out.

Congratulations to Martin for having started an extremely active discussion.

Merry Christmas to all, Ian.

Date: 23 Dec 2005 22:09:27 +0100
From: Anthony Cartmell <address truncated>
Subject: Re: The Digest V1 # 863

Re: 9300 keyboard:

> Agreed. Can't see why they didn't backlight this.

I find I can type quite happily on my 9300 in the dark by tilting the 
(very bright) screen towards the keyboard a bit. Much better than the 5mx, 
in the dark, at least.

The 9300 "joystick" does take some getting used to. But it's OK once you 
have.

Some annoying bugs in my version of 9300 firmware, but hope to get it 
upgraded (trip to repair shop required) in the new year.

There doesn't seem to be Home, End, PgUp and PgDn though. Ctrl-cursor 
moves in word increments, as on a Psion.

9300 is excellent size vs. readability for carry-always use. I still use 
my 7book for quite a lot of things though.

CopyAnywhere can be done on the 9300/9500 using RemoteS80, and in 
combination with CopyAnywhere to a Psion the clipboard is shared between 
my PC, 9300 and 7book - very useful!

Happy Christmas all!

Anthony
--
www.fonant.com - hand-crafted web sites

Date: 23 Dec 2005 23:53:56 +0100
From: Jakfish <address truncated>
Subject: Re: Comms and Infrared

Marcus--

Many thanks for your quick post.

>> All parameters are either fixed or being negotiated. IRDA  knows about device types and names and can simulate a simple serial  communication *on top* of the IRDA protocol. <<  Very  interesting--thanks, I had never had it explained so succinctly.

>> EPOC Comms on the netBook supports both operation modes; on the  Mako it should be the same. <<  No, unfortunately, that's the  trouble.  Comms in netBook has more menu possibilities, including an IR RAW  selection.  Comms in the Series 5, 5mx, and Revo don't give tweaking  options.  RAW may be the default,
but the defaults in Comms remain a  mystery so far.

Despite my scouring of the internet, old posts, etc., I have never come 
across anybody who has successfully connected Comms and another terminal (other 
than another Psion) via Infrared.  So I'm not certain it can be done.

But thanks again for your help,
Jake

Date: 24 Dec 2005 01:34:59 +0100
From: Austin
Subject: Psion Presentation Maker

Reply to: Wong Koi Hin - Subject: Why I still use my Psion

-------------
You wrote: 1. Its not a complete Laptop replacement. The bane of every travelling executive...try as you might, at some point you will need to do a presentation. For many it seems presentations are only what they do! 2 missing ingredients: the lack of a presentation tool and a VGA-Out. I can hear folks at the back screaming at my ignorance now...yes, I am aware you can get some rudimentary presentation software for Psion. However, frequently I will need to uh... 'borrow' presentation material from others and they usually are in MS Powerpoint format. I need to be at least able to open and display PPT or PPS files. I can't do this on the Mbook. There is of course the Voyager PCMCIA VGA-out card but I do not have one and its not easy for me to get.
-------------

Psion Presentation Maker was developed about 10 years ago, for the Series 5 I think.  You can create, open and edit full presentations on any ER5 device (in colour if available, such as yours).  If you have the appropriate converters loaded on your desktop/ laptop computer you can also exchange presentations with M$ PowerPoint, right up to the 2000 version at least (I don't know about v2003).  I know because I do it from time to time on my 5mx.

You describe it as "rudimentary", which it may be when compared to a full desktop product, however, it's interesting to note that, in comparison, its taken till now for Pocket PC (Windows mobile 5, 2005) to incorporate a PowerPoint viewer - and even now, it still isn't capable of editing presentations; it's just a viewer.  I have to concede that it'll deal with animated transitions etc, which the Psion version won't - though if you really need that you can get round it with careful presentation design.  But when you consider that Presentation Maker is a decade old and has what I would regard as more useful features than the latest M$ offering it just underlines yet again the utterly fantastic programming and other skills that have been dissipated in other directions.  Presentation Maker is sometimes available on eBay or you could find it on Martin Guthrie's excellent site at http://www.pscience5.net/lost/Presentation_Maker.zip.

I can't help on the VGA-out card, other than to suggest you look out for the Voyager PC card on eBay - I have seen it occasionally.

In relation to the ongoing debate about the 9500 vs. Psion, I wonder if Presentation Maker can be used on the 9500 or if there is an equivalent PPT viewer?

Merry Christmas.
Austin

Please do not type my e-mail address into any web pages (e-card or send to a friend or similar)

Date: 24 Dec 2005 05:49:46 +0100
From: Wong Koi Hin <address truncated>
Subject: Re: Browsers with Banks

<FWIW, I use Opera on my PC, access 4 different bank websites, and have no problems with them. Maybe UK banks are different?>

I get excellent results from Firefox on my 2 local banks sites in Singapore. Either the browsers have got better at emulating the 'standard' or Banks have made progress in this area. I highly recommend folks give Firefox a try if they are still using IE.

Cheers,

Koi Hin

Date: 24 Dec 2005 14:52:35 +0100
From: Wong Koi Hin <address truncated>
Subject: Good Primer on EPOC graphics programming?

Hi all,

can anyone recommend any good books on EPOC graphics programming whether in print or available online?

Also has anyone worked with Lua to write apps/utilities for Psion? If anyone would care to share their experiences it would be wonderful.

Cheers.

Koi Hin

Date: 24 Dec 2005 16:01:33 +0100
From: ashoni <address truncated>
Subject: Re: The Digest V1 # 863

DOS emulation
DOS emulation is clearly a niche area where the 9500/9300 have absolutely no equivaleent
Can folks who use this on their Psion identify themselves & share what programs they use & where to locate them

I use supermemo DOS version a learning tool available at supermemo.com



_____________________________________
National Patient Safety Agency - supporting Doctors.net.uk members in safe practice.
http://www.doctors.net.uk/NPSA

Date: 24 Dec 2005 19:38:41 +0100
From: Itamar Engelsman <address truncated>
Subject: Psions vs Mobile Phones, Degrees, Browsers with Banks,

Answer to: Alan Morris

Re.: Psions vs Mobile Phones - I have to disagree with you here. My mBook is just as stable as my 5MX ever was. I have in abt. 2 years of using it (if not more, can't remember) never ever had to reboot it and reinstall the OS. Can't be more stable than that, right ?

Re. Degrees - I tend to agree with you but with a different reasoning. I think the software writers think of the software they write as a project that needs to have the latest in technology and to use all the newest tricks possible, but don't try and look at it from the point of view of the future user and what would be most convenient and best for this user. It becomes a project where the enduser is forgotten and only the technology and advances count.

Answer to: Keith Giles

Re.: Browsers with Banks - I also use internet banking on my PC, but the discussion was about using it on a small PDA.

Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK