- The Digest: The future

- Sync calender Psion 5mx > Palm Treo 650

- Future of the Digest

- Future of digest, Palmtop User, Series 7+Recording, sync issues,

- P910, Qtek 9100 and Treo

- AW: Question of the future

- Question

- Re: The Digest more or less

- Re: "smoke and mirrors", future of the Digest

Date: 3 Jan 2007 22:12:01 +0100
From: Blair Robinson <address truncated>
Subject: The Digest: The future

Since I have both a MX5 and an Ericsson MC218, I personally would like to see the Digest continue as it is, but I do realise that I'm a dinoosaur in most respects.  At 65 i' beginning to realise that I lack a 7-year old to set up my new Digital Flat screen TV with a Video/DVD recorder which we bought last weekend.   Although I've got an Ipod Shuffle or whatever it is, I'm still trying to get it to work properly, since it always tells me not to disconnect - for hours at a time.  So I'd have little chance with any of these newfangled gadgets!
Seriously though, lets have a handheld site which would please the majority.  There have been some very useful tips on this site since I joined, not the least of which was the address for ribbon cable replacements which I have found to be of very great benefit.
Best wishes for 2007
Blair

Date: 3 Jan 2007 22:26:28 +0100
From: Anders Hernborg <address truncated>
Subject: Sync calender Psion 5mx > Palm Treo 650

I am too lazy to look through all msgs in the Digest to
find the answer... I have through the yrs used an S3,
5, 5mx and also have 2 netbooks.. I have now bought
a Palm Treo 650, a new one from Expansys I found very
cheap, just around 146 £.
I have used my Psion 90 % just for
calender, contacts and the Money program. I have never
seen a need for regularly synching my Psion with
Microsoft Outlook.
To copy my full calender in my Psion 5mx to my Treo,
is the smoothest way to first sync my Psion with
Outlook (PC) and then Outlook to Treo or is there
any other better way??

Anders Hernborg, Sweden

Date: 3 Jan 2007 23:41:48 +0100
From: Moshe Nahir <address truncated>
Subject: Future of the Digest

I vote yes, for what seem to me obvious and by now well expressed reasons. Keep up the EXCELLENT work! It is greatly appreciated.

Moshe Nahir
Winnipeg, Canada

Date: 4 Jan 2007 00:35:42 +0100
From: Itamar Engelsman <address truncated>
Subject: Future of digest, Palmtop User, Series 7+Recording, sync issues,

Answer to: Rob Haskell

Re.: Future of digest - Thaqnks for your reaction but what would you like us to do ? You can answer in here or to<address truncated>

Answer to: Lord Kimberley

Re.: Palmtop User - I had a subscription but stopped as I found that, even though I owned a Symbian phone (P910i), this publication gave very little to Symbian users and also appeared quite irregularly. Now that I own a WM5 phone I might well reconsider.

Answer to: Daniel

Re.: Series 7+Recording - A good question and I am also interested in the anwer. The question is also whether or not the microphone would pick up all the voices around a table. I have used my netBook extensively to type notes of meetings and people always look in awe at the small size and good keyboard.      You are free to offer Psion goodies or ask if someone has got a certain item for sale. However, further contact about price and conditions should than be handled by private email and not in the digest.  I don't think it is a good idea to start publishing old answers at random, who says anyone would be interested and who would decide what to publish and what not ? Everybody can search the old digests on our website (see header of the digest) and we have just recently updated the index files.

Answer to: Lewis Hartman

Re.: sync issues - I think that not everybody is "handy" enough or capable of solving computer related problems. "Even I" gave up on properly synchronising my P910i with my windowsXP PC, it just would not work properly. On the other hand, my new Qtek 9100 just clicked into synchronising without any problems whatsoever (ok, windows to windows).

Finally, just a small word of thanks to all your thank you words in your messages about the future. I suppose the Digest Team does it because we like to do it and because it is a good feeling to keep a group of people from all over the world together in a digest like this.

Best regards,
Itamar Engelsman
London, UK

Date: 4 Jan 2007 01:29:33 +0100
From: Fergus Flanagan <address truncated>
Subject: P910, Qtek 9100 and Treo

Well Itamar I wasn't exactly drawn to the Treo 650 but chased away from the P910i due to the lack of reliability as to what would actually sync and what would not. Now that i have the Treo I don't see myself changing anytime soon. Apart from synchronisation the 910 was a great phone, but it was more of a phone than a pda and though the qwerty pad was usable it was difficult to use which is why i had started to use the built in hand writing recognition which was very good before finally giving up on the 910. i would probably have stayed with the 910 if it hadn't been for the above problems.

Lewis Hartman said...

I have read that some people has sync issues with both Psion and P9xx devices, stopping them from staying with the devices.  I have found limited issues with synching and with backing up.  All can be overcome with a little patience - however I understand not everyone wishes to need to have patience with a new device.

Lewis i think you have been listening to Take That too much (patience). NO! what i would have needed is a miracle. Not once did i get the sync package to work completely and when it did partially work it took ages and ages to sync a handful of changes. I realise some people have been lucky and not had any problems but 910 is known for these issues and i have got better things to be doing than sorting out the software design issues with this phone's sync package. I sync software of the Treo puts the SE software to shame and in the dark ages.

Yes Mike the Treo is a fine package. It manages to be a pda and a phone without either getting in the way of the other and therefore remaining functional in both cases. I would say that the Treo feels like a generation ahead of the 910 as regards design and implementation. The screen is out there with the best and the powerful cpu will handle demanding apps like viewing movies no problem. It handles like a phone and one can do almost anything without having to use the stylus. As regards the Qtek and my move away from it maybe its because the palm OS is suited to converged devices better than Windows mobile, i found on the Qtek that the pda side definitely got in the way of the phone functionality and this is obvious in the device's ergonomics, personally i don't like soft keypads. As a converged device the Treo was certainly more robust than my Qtek as I often found myself getting frustrated with the number of steps needed to access particular contacts from say my address book and this would invariably turn into a two handed opertion with stylus or/and the slide out keyboard. I still think the Qtek is a very fine device and if you can make it work for you thats great but for me the Treo does the phone and pda bits so well i'll be staying with it for the foreseeable future.

Cheers

Fergus

Date: 4 Jan 2007 06:57:09 +0100
From: Norbert Fernkorn <address truncated>
Subject: AW: Question of the future

Dear Itamar,

For me it is OK to have a "all symbian machine list"
although I have "only" psion machines (and MC218).
To open the Digest for all other systems makes imho no sense,
so you have a tangled mass of massages with a little bit of each but
nothing very appropriate.
There are other Mailing lists for the other systems.
So I find it will be a good decision to have a digest for ANY Symbian
phone or machine.

Best regards
Norbert

> Date: 28 Dec 2006 01:31:45 +0100
> From: Itamar Engelsman <address truncated>
> Subject: Question of the future
>
> Dear All,
>
> With 26 answers received the "score" is 22 in favour of
> making changes and 4 against. Some people answered they would
> like to discuss only Symbian matters. Please note that over a
> year ago it was already decided to widen the scope of the
> digest to include all Symbian machines so if you have any
> questions about ANY Symbian phone or machine, don't hesitate
> to post them on the digest !!
>
> With over 700 subscribers 29 answers is only 4% and we would
> like to receive more answers in order to make a decision
> based on a larger percentage to avoid a situation where a
> silent majority is against a decision but did not cast their
> vote ... and thanks a lot to those who already answered.
>
> Best regards,
> Itamar Engelsman
> London, UK
>
> ------------
>
> Date: 28 Dec 2006 10:09:09 +0100
> From: Studio 70 <address truncated>
> Subject: the big question ?
>
> Itamar  and the Digest Team
>
> I've had a Psion since the 3, (bought it in a Edge shop in
> America while on my honey moon)  then later a S5 even bought
> a S5 for my wife and son and took them back again as my
> original S5 died and my wife could not understand hers  and
> my son opted for a Palm that he could easily link with his
> Apple at work and at home,
>
> Then I had an opportunity to purchase a S7 from some ones son
> on the list it was fine But I did not research it enough and
> I do not have WiFi connecting ability and I find it too heavy
> as a PDA and the battery situation is just not as good as the
> S5 (any corner store in any part of the world sells AAA s (G)
>  Now the S5s are all "resting in an "archive museum bottom
> drawer"  I can't bring my self to throw them out  and the S7
> is a side desk  top PDA calendar and calculator contacts .
> Wasted but it runs OK on the transformer.
> The contacts are duplicated in a Nokia 9500,  (One for my
> wife also so we could coordinate our calendar, but she really
> does not understand it ) She's more the artistic type;-)
>
> So I guess what I'm trying to say here is please keep the
> digest going in some format even if it is just for me to ask
> a dumb  Nokia 9500 question that my local Cell phone service
> provider can't answer (and for sure my wife is no help)  I do
> pick up a lot of tips just lurking and reading and following
> the various threads  or even the occasional adventures of our
> very own Norwegian Sailor  Owen  or Eric's cycling  adventures.
>
> You and your team do a wonderful job particularly for someone
> like me isolated down under in the land of Cricket, "Coldies"
> and  Common palm tops. and no other 9500 user in the vicinity
>  as far as I can see.
>
> Cheers
> Bob H
>    
> Bob & Loris Hancock

Date: 4 Jan 2007 09:47:59 +0100
From: Kevin.Bewley
Subject: Question

I'd for one would prefer to keep the Digest as EPOC-centric as possible. There are plenty of places one can go for Symbian and Palmtop related advice, this is one of the few active places where I can find out stuff such as - how do I get my screen cable fixed (cheers Paul) and the like.

I'm happy with the current format so I have no desire to move to Google groups/Yahoo whatever.

Just my £0.02 opinion.

Have 2x5mx's (one currently out-of-service due to a broken flexi - must get around to that!!)
Also have a 5. Haven't used it since I got my first 5mx.

I use an orange dial-up internet PAYG (used to be wanadoo.. used to be freeserve!) to get email and internet via a Nokia 6020 mobile.

I also have the PalmTop GPS unit.

Works great for me!!

Cheers,
Kevin

Date: 4 Jan 2007 10:34:20 +0100
From: Lord Kimberley <address truncated>
Subject: Re: The Digest more or less

Yes, broaden the scope. Although not a windows lover, and very happy with my 9500, it i the idea of the device and now it is used, far mre than the OS or or deep internals. Yes I want to fiddle at times, but it is far more the need for diary, basic WP, contacts and Internet to hand that matters. The smartphone plus camera, wifi, good keyboard seems to be the ideal if someone will make one.

--

Yours John.

Tel:       +44 1763 289 732  e-mail:  mailto:<address truncated>

Date: 4 Jan 2007 12:53:12 +0100
From: Ian Chapple <address truncated>
Subject: Re: "smoke and mirrors", future of the Digest

John,

"However the paper publication to read is Palmtop User see website www.palmtop.co.uk - many of the old Psion fol (who also conribute to this digest at times) are involved with it. The mindset certainly reflects the search for a good, usable product with the qualities that Psion had, and not just all smoke and mirrors like so many of the other offerings today."

I think you're being a bit harsh with your "smoke and mirrors" comment. The problem, if that is what it is, of many readers of this digest is that they invariably view modern offerings unfavourably when compared with their Psions. However, Psion users are, and always were, very much of a minority, which partly explains the fact that such devices are no longer made.

The fact is, most modern smartphones, even those running the Symbian OS, are *not* Psion replacements, but they also not meant to be; what they do offer is a significant feature-set in a small form-factor. There is certainly no "smoke and mirrors" involved, because, in most cases, you get very much what is promised.

I was a dedicated Psion user, and still use my netbook every day, but there is no way that I could or would go back to a Psion from my 2- year old P910i, which I have found to be a superb device in every way. True, the lack of a "proper" keyboard is annoying at times, but the improvement that such a device brings (portability, built-in comms, colour screen etc.) more than make up for this shortcoming...

As to the future of the Digest, my vote would be to a. keep the current name and b. permit the discussion of any PDA/smartphone
device. In effect, no change...

Happy New Year to all,
Ian Chapple.