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In mid 2000 I bought a Psion 5. It was already obsolete at the time, but I had been considering buying a new low-spec laptop. Then whilst away on a trip to Bristol one weekend I saw this one remaining specimen at a very reduced price, and then marked down som more, and bought it on spec. It turned out to be an ex-demo item, missing its stylus, and a little grubby. But I bought it for significantly less than half list price with a bunch of goodies thrown in, and had a new toy. I set about using it straight away, and within a week it had already become indespnsible, although problems with PsiWin continued to dog me for ages, and I developed a very cautious strategy of backing up, then securing the PC-side files before each and every attempt to synchronise with my work agenda.
9 months later, and I'd outgrown the P5 (even with 64 then 128Mb of compact flash). Using various software (in particular StreetPlanner and RoutePlanner) was proving very slow, and the infrared link to my newly acquired Nokia 6210 was flaky. When I saw a second-hand mint condition 5Mx up for grabs at just 200 quid I leapt at the chance. (And it really WAS mint - the chap had used it for a week then boxed it up again and not touched it. It was fully packed with not a mark on it.) I've now been using this for longer than the original series 5 ("Box" - after Nathan Spring's gizmo and companion in the long-lamented "Starcops"), which is currently waiting for me to get Linux running on it. Unfortunately I just don't have the time to really get down to business.
August 3, 2002
After purchasing my P5 in 2000, I conducted a survey of the best batteries to use from those that are readily available here in the UK. Unfortunately I was a bit hampered by the damned thing's fondness for suddenly resetting the battery usage figures without warning. Nonetheless, it's fair to say that I was somewhat startled by the results from the reliable figures:
I haven't conducted a similar survey for the 5mx. Since performing this survey in 2000, I have switched to using Nickel Metal Halide (NiMH) rechargeable cells, with great success. I use 3 pairs in rotation, surprising variability in the lifetime between charges.
August 3, 2002
As long as there has been a Psion 5 series, Psion have supplied Windows-based software, unimaginatively entitled "PsiWin" which allows the Psion user to interface to the PDA. With it one can transfer data directly between the two platforms (optionally converting between appropriate application data formats in some instances), install software on the Psion from the PC (although direct installation is usually preferable), and to synchronise data files, contacts files, and agendas with the common office productivity software, such as Outlook.
Unfortunately, it has never been particularly reliable, and even in its much-improved most recent release (version 2.3.3) it still has a tendency not to play nicely with other memory-hungry applications or anything that interferes with network layers. Often it will give the impression that a successful connection has been established with the Psion, but any attempt to use the link (from opening the Psion file-system for browsing in an Explorer window to backing up or synchronisation) will stall with no indication why. Worse, in some instances (most notably with synchronisation) the process will give the appearance of starting but nothing ever transfers. If this happens during a synchronisation it can completely corrupt its own records of synchronisation state and result in, for example, multiple replications of Agenda appointments. To overcome this, I always make sure I back up the Psion, and then store copies of the Psion data files affected and the synchronisation data (".es~" files in the Psion base directory under windows) before starting. In the event of a failure, I restore the affected files immediately and transfer the appropriate ones back to the Psion. It's the only reliable recovery procedure, as I have learned through bitter experience.
November 3, 2002
Two of the most useful pieces of software available for EPOC (Psion 5, 5Mx, 7, and similar) are Palmtop (or Tom Tom as they now prefer) Streetplanner (now Citymaps) and Routeplanner. I was not too pleased with Routeplanner, but I was so impressed with version 2 ("Millennium" release) of Streetplanner that as soon as it was available, I upgraded both to version 3. Both are better, in their different ways, than their predecessors. Citymaps is better (to my mind at least) because whereas there were two separate versions for mainland europe and the United Kindom, now the two are amalgamated and I don't have to consider buying a second packages just to gain access to Spanish maps. Routeplanner version 3 is just better, full stop. Better maps, better presentation, better general "feel" altogether. And of course, being newer releases, the data is more current than the predecessors which are now 3 years out of date.
Unfortunately, whereas the version 2 releases installed individual maps from .SIS files which could be installed either directly on the Psion using the local SIS installer, or over the serial link using PsiWin as preferred, version 3 of both has the map files packaged differently. No doubt for reasons of protecting the data, it is now necessary to use the installer supplied, which relies on certain versions of Windows 95 or better and PsiWin. Presented here is the means to extract the SIS files embedded within the proprietary packages supplied. This is particularly useful if, like me, you have the means to copy straight from PC to a Compact Flash solid-state disk, to install on the Psion directly, since the copy time, in comparison with a serial install over a PsiWin link, is drastically reduced for the larger files.
The procedure is simple. Run the supplied setup.exe. (As an aside, it may complain about being unable to register a .DLL file. If it does, get onto Tom Tom support. It took them over a week, but they eventually sent me a version that supposedly works. I don't know for sure, because by then I had already found a newer version of the .DLL in question and installed it.) Assuming that you have setup.exe working, select the map you want to install, and confirm all steps in the procedure until the PsiWin installer pops up. At this point the Tom Tom setup has unpacked a temporary copy of a .SIS file in your temporary directory. Open up a File Explorer window, and copy this wherever you like to preserve it, then return to the PsiWin install procedure and cancel it. Robert is your evuncular relation. Because the package format for both Citymaps and Routeplanner is the same, and they use the same setup.exe, the procedure for defeating both is the same.
It may also be worth noting that I found that Streetplanner V3, as soon as it was installed, recognised the maps from the previous version. This implies, either a degree of backward compatibility, or that whilst the newer release contains more up-to-date map data, the actual format has not changed. I have yet to discover whether this is useful or not, and only include the observation as just that - an observation. The newer release also uses an extra decimal digit of precision when recording locations in overlays. bringing the resolution of overlay markers down to +/- two metres. Given the maximum zoom even in Citymaps, I'm not sure that this is necessarily useful. In addition, this further precision is lost again if using the DOS MAKEOVER to extract then reimport data after editing.
One deficiency that I have found with the street map product (European edition) is that there are no maps for the cities and towns of Ireland. Palmtop's support desk's response to queries on this oversight is that the data is not available from their data suppliers. Seems a little strange to me, but what do I know. So, if you're an Irish Psion user, or someone who travels there you might like to make it known to Palmtop Support, in order that they may "note your comments and take it into consideration in future negotiations" with their data suppliers.
November 3, 2002
Useful data in formats used by Psion and other EPOC applications.
Only things downladable here for the moment are some sounds converted for Psion and other EPOC platforms.
This page and all subordinate pages and the information and information content authored by, and Copyright © 2000 of Gulraj Rijhwani and Courtfields Limited unless otherwise specified.
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