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To users of the lowly Psion Series 5 (and even those with a 5mx) the Series 7 screams bigger, better, faster, more. But despite its many obvious advantages, the first thing to note is that it is no way as portable as the Series 5, which can just about fit into the pocket of your jeans.
The Series 7 started life as a Psion Enterprise project codenamed Jedi: a mobile computer aimed solely at the corporate user. During its development, wild rumours about the device abounded within the Psion community, but when Psion enthusiasts asked when they could buy the machine, they were flatly told they couldn't.
Since Jedi, later renamed the NetBook, was designed for the corporate market, interested parties were expected to buy in bulk, and no matter how good the device seemed, no-one wanted a couple of hundred of them. Campaigns then emerged from the likes of online EPOC sites 5Alive (now incorporated into www.pdanews.tucows.com) and Foxpop (www.foxpop.ndirect.co.uk).
These must have had some effect, since in the late summer of 1999, Psion unveiled a consumer version of the NetBook called the Series 7. This, however, is not the same as the superior (albeit more expensive) NetBook. The main differences are a slower processor - a StrongARM SA1100 running at 133Mhz versus a 190Mhz StrongARM chip in the NetBook - and 16Mb of RAM as opposed to either 32Mb or 64Mb.
Although the Series 7's 16Mb of RAM initially sounds paltry in comparison to a fully loaded 64Mb NetBook, there is a fundamental difference in their architecture. The NetBook stores the OS in RAM, whereas the Series 7 has it hard-coded into ROM.
Psion has a good reputation for design, and the Series 7 is no exception to this. The unit has a clam-shell design where, when you open the machine, the base of the screen slides forwards to ensure that the machine remains stable and doesn't topple over backwards when you tap on the display with the stylus.
Once open, the first thing that strikes you about the Series 7 is EPOC in glorious colour thanks to the 7.7in STN 640 x 480 resolution LCD display. The addition of colour to EPOC seems to have been a bit of a rush job, though, with some menu bars and other items still noticeably harking back to the old grey days, but on the whole, colour has been used effectively.
Also benefiting from the unit's increase in size is a keyboard which is a joy to use. One downside for those moving up from a Series 5, or planning to use both, is that the position of the Menu and Fn keys have been switched. This is slightly annoying, but Psion seems to make a habit of switching around key placement. The Ctrl and Fn keys on the Series 5 took the place of the Psion and Menu keys on the Series 3.
The top and rear parts of the machine are encased in leather which does give it a fairly stately feel, but may not suit everyone - like those who feel cows shouldn't suffer just to make a PDA look cool, for example.
On the left-hand side of the unit you'll find a standard Psion RS232 connector and a CF-II tray. Good news for those with large storage demands is that the tray will happily accept IBM's spectacular Microdrive - seeing 340Mb of free space on an EPOC machine was quite a shock, but we soon began to feel comfortable with it! Unfortunately, since the mechanism is a tray and not a slot, you can't take advantage of the CF-II modems and network adaptors that are increasingly appearing on the market, but getting drivers for EPOC would be problematic anyway, to say the least.
The right-hand side of the machine plays host to a Type II PC Card slot, but you'll only find drivers currently available for Psion Dacom's range of modem cards, which is a shame. Towards the rear you'll also find a power socket for the supplied mains adaptor. A lithium-ion battery pack provides power when you're on the move and, according to Psion, provides 8.5 hours' typical usage between recharges. Also on the rear of the machine is a fast IrDA port supporting connections of up to 4Mbits/sec.
On the whole, the Psion Series 7 is a stylish machine that would make a worthy notebook replacement for those who only need to do a little bit of word processing, use a spreadsheet on the move and organise their life with the built-in Agenda software. The lack of a modem is disappointing, but if you've got a suitably equipped IR port on your mobile phone you could always use that.
Contact Psion 0990 143050 www.psion.com
See also:
All Palm PDAs
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