Psion Series 7 - Colour Mobile Computer 7.7 VGA 16Mb

I am a Psion diehard. More than a decade after these machines became obsolete, I am still happily running RMRBank (by Al Richey of RMRSoft) on my Series 7 -still unbeatable personal accounting software with which I have tracked my income and expenditure for the last 20 years. I still print out the summary sheets as the headers in my Income and Expenditure files for my annual self-employed tax return with this. No fancy gimmicks, no unwanted logging in to my credit card or bank accounts. It just does the job. And the Series 7 handles it perfectly.Once upon a time I used a Psion Series 5MX Pro as my PDA, but as time as gone on and as I have aged, I have moved onto a smartphone (Blackberry Bold) as my PDA and my eyesight now makes squinting at the relatively dim B&W 5MX screen just too much like hard work to be comfortable. But for my accounts I have stuck with Psion and it still serves me well. THe Series 7 is fast and easy to use, connects with my laptop running Windows Vista, and is very reliable. I have only bought a second one because I have begun to feel insecure having only one machine. It is still a cheaper option than going to Quickbooks, and involves no learning curve -a big advantage for me as I have neither the will nor the ready time to start learning how to use a new bookkeeping/accounts programme.The Series 7 was a remarkable machine in its day, and, though primitive by todays standards, still excels at what it does.Such a pity Psion left the market -I ruefully wonder what might have been, given the incredible advances in memory and processor power since those heady days when they were, once, the market leaders in their field.AA

It is a very interesting product for people who travel for work. Main feature is the ability to connect to the internet for browsing and e-mails. I like it because it offers the main word processing capabilities You need when attending meetings and taking notes. It is important wwhen you travel not bring heavy HW like a notebook. Also the size is important.

This unit has had to replace my dead or dying 5MX and 5MX Pro machines. It's in colour (which I didn't need) and weighs significantly more than the Series 5 units, but the backlit screen is significantly easier to see and the visible area is somewhat larger to read than on the Series 5 (e.g. spreadsheets).In a world dominated by iPhone & iPad, many of us are still waiting for the hardware to be as 'instant on' as Psion and for the Apps (applications) to catch up with the flexibility / simplicity / sophistication / ease of use that characterised the EPOC operating system and such in-built apps as 'Word' 'Agenda' 'Sheet' and 'Data'. Try finding an electronic 'diary' to replace 'Agenda' - it's not easy.Despite being a massive Apple fan (with the relevant toys) I've still been using Psions every day since 1993...for both work and personal life.

This is a great little computer which could teach present-day machines a lot. How many of the current machines will still be in perfect working order after twenty odd years of use. The supplier was prompt and efficient.

Great thank you - all lovely and ok

I like the product but it’s just too pricey £999 come on

This is the ultimate PDA and I use mine to write books, conference notes and presentations, all whilst on trains and planes. They come complete with email, web browsing, word processing, spreadsheet ... infact just about all the software you need. They interface directly with your IR port on a laptop or mobile phone and the docking station means that once at home you can download all your notes directly to your home or office PC if you need to. The expansion slots include on the right of the keyboard, a PC Card slot (type I/II), which means they can take a PCMCIA card, so the Psion Gold modem card (not card bus) you have should work with the PSTN (telephone) in hotels (see the list at the end of those that do and don't work) and on the left of the keyboard, a CF type II card slot, which means they can take a Flash memory card. I use mine to email digital photo's (I use a Canon Digital Camera that takes flash memory) from trips worldwide back home immediately. The slot also accomodates the IBM Microdrive, a CF-sized 350 MB hard disk. This is more than enough for most Psion users, as EPOC applications seldom exceed 200 kB in size. This will reduce the time the battery will last though, by about 50% and it is slower than CF by about 40% and there will be a high pitched 'whine' when it is operating. However 350MB is an awful lot of storage on a Psion 7 ! The power of the battery gives you 8.5 hours of continuous use, the display is bright and easily readable in all lighting conditions. The spec says it is a Full VGA 640*480 pixels at 7.7" STN colour back lit LCD touch screen display. This means for average PC user the screen looks the same. There isn't the constant noise of fans or the heat, you would have from the base of any laptop and the universal worldwide power adapter is essential, this recharges the battery in about 2.5 hours. I carry a spare battery in my carry on luggage which is even smaller and lighter because of the Psion 7. I used to run laptops (I started at a Toshiba Tecra 8000, eventually moved down in size to a Sony Vaio 505 and a Toshiba Portege) with air power adapters (lots of extra cabling, spare batteries and WEIGHT!) but after using a Psion 7 on regular long haul flights between Europe, USA and Asia I for one just wouldn't go back.I and some of my collgues and old college buddies have flown in excess of 200,000 miles in the air this year alone and a Psion 7 has always the first thing packed.If you need to write programs or play 3D games then stick with the laptop. If you need to run agenda, schedules, write some documents, review some spreadsheets then the Psion 7 is a real workhorse alternative. The software from Psion performs automatic translation of the work from a Microsoft Office document directly to a Psion Word or Sheet document, and visa versa. It's best to stick to RTF format.There isn't an alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint included but there is a Psion add-on software package called Presentation Maker. If you run presentations order this at the same time you buy the Psion 7.The Psion software already will synchronize your Outlook and other PIM's there are additional software titles that will allow you to synchronize with Lotus notes etc...The unit is 235 x 182 x 37 mm and weights about 1kg. So it's not feather weight or a hand held but it is a huge 30% lighter than most laptops. The note books from Sony, Toshiba and Compaq are similar sizes but cannot compare for the price or the run times.My only complaints are that there is no direct alternative to Microsoft Access, which might be useful to include in later software releases and I can see that in time the screen surface might get a little scratchy if you are not careful. The PSion 5 'pen'/stylus is different to the Psion 7.I'd recommend this highly !PC Cards: Compatible Compaq Microcom 420 V90 Option 56k & GSM PC Card PhonicPro V90 Psion Dacom Gold Card 28K (P) Psion Dacom Gold Card Global V34/Fax (P) Psion Dacom Gold Card Global 56K/Fax (P) TDK 28K (P) TDK Global Class 3310 V34 (P) Rockwell RS Rockwell 56K (P) Zoom PC Card 56K model 2980 Incompatible Dynalink 56k PC-Card Ericsson Mobile Office DC23 (P) Nokia Cellular card phone 604 (P) Psion Dacom NetGlobal 56K/Fax/10Mb Ethernet (P) Psion Dacom Gold Card 56K/10/100 cardbus (P) TDKModem DF2814 V34 US Robotics XJack V90 US robotics Sportster V34