There was a great article on Palm Addicts yesterday about the great Psion series of handheld computers.;

The Psion Series 7 brings back many fond memories for me. Ten years ago I chose to purchase a Psion Sienna instead of a Palm Pilot. The Sienna was a clamshell device with powerful software (PIM, Spreadsheet, and word processor) and a tiny, difficult to use keyboard. I didn't pick the Palm Pilot because I was reluctant to learn Grafitti and the included software was not as sophisticated as what was offered in the Sienna. Later, after the Sienna broke, I again chose Psion over Palm, this time a Psion Series 5. This little computer was a marvel. Its operating system, EPOC, was the most stable I ever used. I could actually touch type on its keyboard. The included office software was even more sophisticated than what was on my Sienna. I still miss Agenda, Psion's daily planner program. The Series 5 was too big to fit in my pants pocket, so I carried it everywhere in a waist pack. (Yes, this proves I have no sense of style). During this time I would see people pull out their Palms and talk about how wonderful these gadgets were. I couldn't fathom why so many people were enamored over Palms. I thought the software was primitive and the beeping, chirping alarms were tacky. Psion's EPOC operating system was so much more powerful and sophisticated than Palm's. I still felt this way when I broke my Series 5, so I purchased a Series 5mx, an improved version of the Series 5.

Later, when my Series 5mx broke, I finally bought a Palm, mainly because I thought Palm's slate form factor would be more durable than the clamshell design of Psion computers. As hard as I am on organizers, I should probably have acquired a device designed for the battlefield. I have to say I was disappointed with Palm's software. The applications were more primitive than Psion's and the operating system was not as stable. In all the years I used Psions, I don't ever remember having them crash or having to hit the reset button. But it was nice being able to carry my organizer in my pants pocket rather than in a dorky waist pack.

I was fortunate enough to find a classic Psion Series 3a, on eBay a couple of weeks ago. Now with my obvious hoard of technology and especially mobile computer devices, I hardly needed another one...

This was one I c ould not pass up though, as the mint condition 3a cost me all of $20. The thing comes with a whopping 512K of memory, yea thats K, not Megabytes... Hehe, and a serial cable. Despite the fact that it has a built in voice recorder, I dont even have enough memory in the thing to record a 2 second voice memo.

To be honest, I did not buy the Psion to replace my Palm devices, rather as a nice conversation piece to place on my desk and show my Tech Cred!

I actually had several Psion devices during the day when they were the executives choice for handheld agenda's, and I am still amazed at how well the technology holds up. Use any of the built in application, and you will be amazed at their robustness AND ease of use, a full 14 years after the 3a was introduced. The 3a is a bit large compared to the tech I carry today, and I cant imagine carrying one around in my pants pocket, but 15 minutes of using one of these will make you wonder... WHY arent these still being made?

Crossposted to my Business Blog

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