- Airplanes & Skype (not specific EPOC, sorry)

- Re: PsionWiki

- Re: The Digest V1 # 951

- Parlez vous Francais

- Use of Psions

- Nokia 9500

- Re: About the 9500

- About the 9500

- Re: About the 9500

Date: 3 Jul 2006 01:42:25 +0000
From: Itamar Engelsman <address truncated>
Subject: Airplanes & Skype (not specific EPOC, sorry)

I thought this might be of general interest. This week I made a business trip with 2 flights of abt. 5 hours each in a Boeing 747-400. Boeing now have a new service where you can connect in flights to the internet for a reasonable amount (for business surely) of abt. $ 9.00 per hour. So I took out my laptop and connected to the Boeing website which is free of charge. I had some difficulties and choose the option to get life support. Low and behold I was conected to someone and got online support.
I connected to the internet and via Remote Access I logged in to my office computer and worked as if I was sitting in my office ... at 10 km above earth. As I have Skype on my laptop I rang my assistance in the office who also has got Skype and spoke for free to her. Than I decided to try out Skype dialling and dialled my wife's mobile. Shewas totally in shock and thought I phoned her on my mobile to tell her I was kidnapped and going to die .... . We spoke for 5 minutes or so at the price of a normal Skype phonecall. It was a totally surreal experience. Don't ask me how it works or how it is possible, I don't know.
Now, if they would introduce a Skype connection for EPOC or Symbian instead of only for Windows for pocketPC's we would be able to do this without a laptop even ! Well, who will write that ?

Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK

Date: 3 Jul 2006 08:05:03 +0000
From: Steve Hodgson <address truncated>
Subject: Re: PsionWiki

On 3/7/06 at 02:42 The Digest wrote:

>Do you know what I'd dearly love to see? A Psion wiki.
>
>I'd like to see all the Psion wisdom scattered through this Digest's
>archives and across the Web consolidated, linked and then progressively
>improved in a Wikipedia-like structure.

The sort of thing you are describing might best be described by looking at a real example. <http://www.macfaq.net/twiki/bin/view/Main/Welcome>

This is obviously a Mac example but represents another niche product and the wiki is probably a similar mix to what Chris describes.

Regards,

Steve

Date: 3 Jul 2006 08:45:54 +0000
From: Anthony Cartmell <address truncated>
Subject: Re: The Digest V1 # 951

> points I will raise about this device and if 9500 owners could provide 
> feedback that would be great.

I've a 9300 which is very similar...

> Is the zoom feature still available which was on the 5mxs left hand 
> menu, does it work just as well?

Yes, but it doesn't zoom as much as you'd like in many of the built-in 
apps.

> Is the mouse key easy to use as I understand the touch screen is no more?

It takes some getting used to the "joystick", but it's OK especially if 
you use it together with the keyboard keys (e.g. the menu switches between 
tabs in a tabbed window more easily than using the joystick)

> The text size in the messaging app and calendar cannot be zoomed out 
> enough and so is much less flexible than the 5s, is this a pain. I like 
> small fonts, thankfully my eye sight is still good?

Yes, this is a pain. The screen is excellent, and the apps could work very 
well if smaller font sizes were possible.

> Is the PC connection software reliable, does it work properly with 
> Outlook 2003 and generally with Win XP?

So far so good. Seems to be updated quite often.

> What is the 9500 like to type on if no table is available, on the psions 
> I remember you needed some kind of platform?

You can easily type with thumbs, holding it in two hands. This is easier 
than with a 5mx. Typing on a table is less easy as the keys are quite 
small. Still OK for composing e-mails and text messages though.

> Does the screen make a buzzing noise and how readable in low light and 
> direct sunlight is it?

No noise at all. Excellent to read in low light and direct sunlight. 
Screen is protected by the clamshell design, as doesn't get dirty or 
scratched as it isn't a touch screen. To be honest, a touch screen 
wouldn't be of much use as it's small with very high resolution.

I think I can take my machine to have a ROM update, which hopefully would 
fix a few minor bugs, but I haven't found the time yet :)

Anthony
--
www.fonant.com - Quality web sites

Date: 3 Jul 2006 19:33:07 +0000
From: Prar <address truncated>
Subject: Parlez vous Francais

Bonjour,

and that's about where things run out.  I've secured a French MC218 for back up purposes. (It seemed like a good idea at the time - the perils of post pub ebaying!) See
<http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38331&item=190002584322> if you fancy one.

Any suggestion how I convert it back to English? I'm already struggling
with Ctrl-Q vice Ctrl-E to exit applications. Lord knows how I'm going to
get on with an AZERTY keyboard...



PRAR

--

(Insert witty comment here.)

Date: 3 Jul 2006 19:54:00 +0000
From: Jim Watson-Gove <address truncated>
Subject: Use of Psions

I am fairly much a basic user.  Since finally getting epocsynch up and working, i am able to use either my mbook or my 5mx as appropriate without worrying about losing track and losing data.  I am also still carrying arout my tungsten C.

I use the psions primarily for word processing, and have my complete collection of poetry and fiction on C and D drives.  I also have my main contacts database for addresses (and a frequently used seperate contacts database on my tungsten).  I have club treasury records in sheet.

I use my tungsten for agenda, email and daily use contacts.

I seem to be carrying around three machines (four if you count my cell phone) but i have carried multiple machines since my Zaurus and 3a combo.

Oh and i use the tungsten for ebooks - i have moby dick and oliver twist loaded at the moment - the better screen and small size makes it more convienient for casual reading.

jim - port townsend - wa - usa

Date: 4 Jul 2006 06:28:00 +0000
From: Thomas VAN DER ZIJDEN <address truncated>
Subject: Nokia 9500

Hello,

I currently use a Nokia 9500 together with a Psion netBook. After 1,5 years of service of the 9500 (and 3 of the netBook(s)) here are my comments.


> Date: 30 Jun 2006 23:25:42 +0000
> From: "Fergus Flanagan" <address truncated>
> Subject: About the 9500

> Currently I own a Qtek 9100 and have been looking at the
> 9500 from Nokia. I fondly remember the psion 3 and 5s
> along with their rock steady OS and very functional PIM
> apps. Has this been carried on to the 9500 or has the
> PIM functionality been diminished along the way. There
> are a few points I will raise about this device and if
> 9500 owners could provide feedback that would be great.

The 9500's Calendar is still clearly recognizable as a Symbian calendar, but it has the following annoying niggles:

1. "Week" view is unusable. The screen is too small and this only works if you have max. 1 appointment per day.
2. The "Search" function is EXTREMELY slow and as such unusable. I do keep the Calendar synchronized with the netBook to use the search function on the netBook. I find this ridiculous and I cannot understand how they screwed it up.

> Is the zoom feature still available which was on the
> 5mxs left hand menu, does it work just as well?

It works with the buttons and in many applications it works well. However, the 9500 was apparently designed with the elderly business man in mind: you cannot zoom until small fonts.

> Is the mouse key easy to use as I understand the touch
> screen is no more?

Absolutely. Navigation is not a problem, not even in Opera. This part of the user interface is well designed. The side buttons help.

> The text size in the messaging app and calendar cannot
> be zoomed out enough and so is much less flexible than
> the 5s, is this a pain. I like small fonts, thankfully
> my eye sight is still good?

This is indeed a pain, but still workable. You should consider the 9500 more as an Agenda/Contacts book instead of a real computer. That means: it is fine for small SMS, mail, appointments and contacts, but you cannot work on it for more than 30 minutes. If you keep that in mind the small screen and big fonts won't be irritating.

> Is the PC connection software reliable, does it work
> properly with Outlook 2003 and generally with Win XP?

It works flawlessly with Outlook 2003 and Win XP and it works through Bluetooth, which makes it very handy. Just lay your phone next to your PC, switch on BT... et hop... the rest works automatically.

> What is the 9500 like to type on if no table is
> available, on the psions I remember you needed some kind
> of platform?

You should (and can very well) use the 9500 in your hands while thumb typing. I am a touch typist, but I can use this device reliably with my 2 thumbs. As I said: good for 500 words e-mails, not for long books.

> Does the screen make a buzzing noise and how readable in
> low light and direct sunlight is it?

Nope, this one has modern technology. :-)
It is readable in every circumstance and it does not buzz.

> Sorry for all the questions but I am contemplating on
> jumping ship as I recently saw a friend's 9300 and in
> direct sunlight it seemed very usable and made me think
> about the Symbian platform once again.

The 9500 is fine to carry with you. WiFi is also great and so is the inbuilt phone. You look someone up in your Contacts and can instantly call, fax or SMS him/her. It is also fine for databases (with Powerdata) or PDF's or dictionaries (SlovoEd), which makes it very useful to take your portable data with you.
For long texts, keep the Psion. Jumping ship is not necessary. Keep them both.

BTW, you may want to consider the 9300i. It is a portable databook, so a smaller keyboard is not a problem. The 9300i has a nicer size.
I am contemplating buying it, but the 9500 would then be a fast write-off.

One extra warning: the 9500 is a mobile phone, so expect mobile phone problems. Mine suddenly broke in 2 after 9 months of service and of course the seller (Teleworld Amsterdam) refused to repair it.
This is normal for mobile phones.
Their build quality is worse than that of the Psions and the service is worse.



Met vriendelijke groet, Salutations distinguées, Yours truly

--
Thomas F. van der Zijden

Date: 4 Jul 2006 12:57:02 +0000
From: Jon Welford <address truncated>
Subject: Re: About the 9500

Hi Fergus
Subject: About the 9500

Is the zoom feature still available which was on the 5mxs left hand menu, does it work just as well?

]] The zoom is there but fewer levels.

Is the mouse key easy to use as I understand the touch screen is no more?

]] It is much less easy than the touch screen but OK when you get used to it

The text size in the messaging app and calendar cannot be zoomed out enough and so is much less flexible than the 5s, is this a pain. I like small fonts, thankfully my eye sight is still good?

]]  I use full screen but as my eyes not so good need bigger fonts

Is the PC connection software reliable, does it work properly with Outlook 2003 and generally with Win XP?

The connection software works fine for me - File Manager opens as a normal exporer window. There is no print via pc which I think is a grave
ommission. The software install simply transfers the file to the root of C then you install it from the 9500. These sis files need deleting or they remain there.

Bluetooth support seems very basic after my K700i - answering a call remotely is about all you can do, Connection is not automatic (well not
with my headset).



I haven't been able to transfer some files from my psion and lack of printing means I still carry my S7 for work.

)) WiFi is good but if I leave the 9500 connected for hours I have to close and restart the connection but this may be my wifi router as my Netbook has problems with it at times. I haven't yet been able to use an unsecured access point when out but it does find them.

What is the 9500 like to type on if no table is available, on the psions I remember you needed some kind of platform?

]] Not being a typist and having sausage fingers I find I press the wrong key no more than on the psion but it does rock about, it is not
stable.

Does the screen make a buzzing noise and how readable in low light and direct sunlight is it?

)) Screen visibility is very good. and I can't hear a buzz (but then my children tell me I'm deaf)

I hope more 9500 owners will post to the digest as so far all requests for advice have had no replies.

Cheers Jon Welford

Date: 4 Jul 2006 17:53:34 +0000
From: Simon Jeffree <address truncated>
Subject: About the 9500

Answer to: Fergus Flanagan

<<...rock steady OS and very functional PIM apps. Has this been carried on to the 9500 or has the PIM functionality been diminished along the way>>

I've had a 9500 for over a year now & I'm very pleased with it (once I got over the sad fact that it's still not as brilliant as the 5mx).  I find the O.S. vary stable (though not quite as stable as EPOC).  Most of the PIM functionality is the same but there are some annoying little bits lacking, though to be fair, they're not show stoppers for me.

For example, there's no separate "search-all-fields" function in the Contacts app.  You have to choose which fields the normal "search-as-you-type" function searches.  You can select nearly all the fields, but if you do, the search takes a few seconds longer.

<<Is the zoom feature still available which was on the 5mxs left hand menu, does it work just as well?>>

Yes.  It's 'Chr+Up/DownArrow' (or from the main menu) & it cycles in the same way as the shortcuts on the 5mx.

<<Is the mouse key easy to use as I understand the touch screen is no more?>>

Personally, I don't really like the joypad, but I've gotten a lot better at using it.  It's needed mainly for moving the cursor around the screen in the Web browser app. & you have to push it in to follow an HTML link.  Most of the rest of the time, it's interchangeable with the cursor keys EXCEPT for when using it with the 'Chr' key for Start/End of line.  This, I find very un-ergonomic, but hey, that's progress, eh?

Oh, & another extremely unergonomic feature is the 'Chr' is a modifier key EXCEPT when used on it's own.  Then it throws up the 'Insert special character' dialog.

<<The text size in the messaging app and calendar cannot be zoomed out enough and so is much less flexible than the 5s, is this a pain. I like small fonts, thankfully my eye sight is still good?>>

I find the messaging app OK in this respect, but the Calendar app is rather wasteful of space.

<<Is the PC connection software reliable, does it work properly with Outlook 2003 and generally with Win XP?>>

I don't sync with Outlook (I prefer to keep work stuff & personal stuff separate & manually enter reminders for work-related events) but for file transfer, it's reliable but a bit bloated.  Why they couldn't have made it like a USB storage device (just plug in then drag & drop), I don't know.

<<What is the 9500 like to type on if no table is available, on the psions I remember you needed some kind of platform?>>

Typing accurately is a bit difficult, but again, you do eventually get used to it.  Use your thumbs if you're holding it.  It's nowhere near as good as the 5mx but it's still much better than anything else & for me a bluetooth keyboard is a non-starter.  The main problem I find is I can't feel when I miss a key, so I have to keep looking at the keyboard as I type.

<<Does the screen make a buzzing noise and how readable in low light and direct sunlight is it?>>

The screen is its best attribute. While others are shading their mobile phone screens in this hot UK spell, I can just keep using it as normal in direct sunlight.  It's also great in the dark & it makes a good torch too!  It's totally silent.  The only trouble is, the keyboard isn't backlit, like most mobile phones are, so I tip the screen up a bit so it throws some light on the keyboard.

All my comments may seem very negative but have a designer's mind & I like to analyse usability in great detail.  I see a failing more as an opportunity than anything else & my comments are coloured by my being an ex-5mx user (still the most *usable* computer ever! - It's just not up-to-date enough for my needs & the screen is attrocious)

I've never understood why Psion don't sell or license their keyboard design to someone else, instead of sitting on it & doing nothing with it.

The main thing is, if you compare the 9500 to your favourite Psion & think of it as a direct replacement, you'll be initially dissappointed.  But if you persevere & 'move on' with an open mind, it does grow on you & it's a whole lot better than all the other offerings.  You'll probably eventually love it like I do mine.

Regards,
Simon

Date: 4 Jul 2006 19:59:48 +0000
From: Rolf Vonau <address truncated>
Subject: Re: About the 9500

Fergus Flanagan wrote at 30 Jun 2006 (>):
> I will raise about this device and if 9500 owners
> could provide feedback that would be great

Hi Fergus,
I don't want to repeat all the real pros and cons, correctly described by the other subscribers and by Steve Litchfield (http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/tips9500.htm). The main think, why I like the 9500, is the inbuilt WiFi (WLAN) connectivity. So I'm getting my emails when I'm away from home using open hot spots.
The other thing is the BlueTooth connectivity, which gives the possibility to write documents and emails using an external keyboard.
To summarize, I don't want to miss the 9500.

--
Best Regards
Rolf