Powerbook rescues Psion

[Dronecatcher]

Having got a Psion Revo PDA recently, I’d anticipated working around it’s RS232 sync cable with a serial to USB adaptor plugged into my Thinkpad X40 running XP - but no, it failed to make a connection.

Next up was a Virtual Box on my i5 iMac running first Micro XP and then full XP….nope.

Finally I tried MicroXP under Virtual PC 7 on my 12” Powerbook - success!

I’ve no idea why this worked and the others didn’t but I’m glad VPC7 is still there as an option.

 

[Amethyst1]

Having got a Psion Revo PDA recently […]

Awesome. I’ve always wanted a Revo or Series 5 — but the battery and/or display cable problems…

 

[Dronecatcher]

Awesome. I’ve always wanted a Revo or Series 5 — but the battery and/or display cable problems…

This was another lucky find - the seller had just replaced the rechargeables but made a hash of fitting the case together so I got it for £10. A single strip of colour coded duct tape has fixed it - looks a sight but I don't care, better than spending £30 for one with dead batteries

 

[maître]

In my experience, serial to USB adaptors are so picky they never work. If you need a serial connection you've got to have a real thing :>
I've always wanted to get me one of those weird PDAs but never saw any value, what are you doing with yours?

 

[Dronecatcher]

In my experience, serial to USB adaptors are so picky they never work. If you need a serial connection you've got to have a real thing :>
I've always wanted to get me one of those weird PDAs but never saw any value, what are you doing with yours?

I've had success with mine several times but they're certainly not PNP.
I make notes on mine away from the computer - instant on/instant off.

 

[za9ra22]

In my experience, serial to USB adaptors are so picky they never work. If you need a serial connection you've got to have a real thing :>
I've always wanted to get me one of those weird PDAs but never saw any value, what are you doing with yours?

I mostly used serial-USB connectors for moving data between old and new systems (Cambridge Z88, TRS-80 Model 100 etc) rather than palm-top devices but they can be quite fussy. I have two cables which are branded the same and look identical, but each works with some combinations that the other doesn't. Both cables worked reliably with a Palm IIIxe however, and my Windows 10 computer, along with 12-inch PowerBook G4.

Before retirement last year, I used the Palm for managing a to-go todo list - it was ideal in being instant-on and highly portable, plus the Palm desktop software was just about perfect (and simple) for my use and needs.

 

[Amethyst1]

Before retirement last year, I used the Palm for managing a to-go todo list - it was ideal in being instant-on and highly portable, plus the Palm desktop software was just about perfect (and simple) for my use and needs.

I got my first Palm in 1999 and loved the monochrome simplicity and speed of the OS.

 

[za9ra22]

I got my first Palm in 1999 and loved the monochrome simplicity and speed of the OS.

The great irony to me is that to achieve the same total and ready focus using more modern devices needs additional software tools such as 'do not disturb' and 'focus', which remove all the clutter that a more dated device doesn't even have.

Versatility seems like a no-brainer to build in, until you realize as a user that it can get in your way with mission-critical tasks really badly.

 

[Amethyst1]

The great irony to me is that to achieve the same total and ready focus using more modern devices needs additional software tools such as 'do not disturb' and 'focus', which remove all the clutter that a more dated device doesn't even have.

Back in the day, the irony to me also was that when the first Windows CE-based monochrome PDAs were released, they were slower than Palms despite having more powerful hardware and harder to navigate because the UI was optimised for a colour screen… and the third iteration which finally got the UI design right was more similar to the PalmOS UI.