Psion Handhelds and PDAs

Alas, Psion has announced that they have left the PDA market. Summer 2001.

The most recent Psion computers are in a league of thier own as members of what is perhaps the longest lived line of commercially popular handheld computers. Psion is a U.K. company founded in 1980-- a long way back in the PDA timeline! Psions runs EPOC, a 32 bit multitasking OS, using a Strong ARM processor (the same family of processors used by the Newton, though the units bear no other similarities), and are compatible with both Windows and Mac OS (though you must purchase MacConnect software separately with newer Psions). EPOC is produced by Symbian, formerly the software division of Psion PLC. Symbian is owned by Psion, Motorola, Ericsson, Panasonic and Nokia: a powerful group of players. You can guess why the OS is making its way to cell phones and other communications devices.
The Psion's weak point is Internet connectivity in countries where GSM wireless service isn't available (i.e. the US): they have no PCMCIA slots for modem cards, instead you must use an external modem connected to the unit's serial port (the same kind as used with your PC or Mac), buy an external PCMCIA adapter from Psion, buy Psion's nifty 56K travel modem (also compatible with Palm OS and WinCE/Pocket PC PDAs), or use an cellular phone adapter (for countries such as the UK where GSM service is common). Not very turn-key, for those of us in the US who are still tied to landline connections, but if you're a U.S. resident who's not into using your handheld to frequently connect to the Net or check e-mail, this won't matter to you.

Psion have a nice graphical user interface, powerful word processing and spreadsheet programs, and a very strong, loyal following. Though the OS and applications are Psion's and Symbian's own creation, the Psion has plenty of converters which allow you to easily transfer spreadsheet and word processing documents to your desktop running MS Word and Excel. For those looking for a keyboard-based, full-featured PDA with Office-type apps and utilities, but wishing to use something other than MicroSloth's ubiquitous OS, the Psion is a wonderful alternative. If you need Mac connectivity, which WinCE doesn't offer, then the Psion is also an attractive alternative.

Reviews:

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Series 7

Series 5mx