4 Dec
2002
4 Dec
'02
11:13 a.m.
On Thu, 5 Dec 2002, Andreas Freiherr wrote:
you're talking in the past? - I am still using my
Psion 3mx every day,
For me I am ;) I don't doubt that you still find your Psion 3 useful. If
I didn't have my Series 5 I would still be using my 3a.
What OPL can do becomes obvious with some
applications, your "Red Box
Emulator" is another example. V-Tel is also written in OPL. If I only
had the time to complete the setup program for configuration of my
private phone system...
Huh? What is V-Tel? Sounds *very* interesting. The "3a Box" program was
cool. It also did the Blue Box and Green Box tones (though niether work
anymore...it was more for novelty). You chose which tones you wanted
from a menu, and then it went to a subroutine for that
box. Red and
Green box tones were chosen from a menu. Blue Box tones were dialed
in
and then you hit "Dial" to send them out. I could walk through airports
chiming out MF tones. It made heads turn (I wouldn't do that today* ;)
Sadly, I believe the source is now lost for good. The harddrive that had
the backup files for that Psion has long since crashed and the batteries
(main and backup) on my 3a went dead and took the program with it :(
* Actually, in the movie Executive Decision with Steven Seagal (the only
one he's in where his character dies) and Kurt Russell, the terrorist on
the plane is using a Psion 3a as the remote bomb control :)
Too bad that the infrared interface (3c, 3mx) was
built too early to
conform to all relevant IRDC standards, but if I can locate some
information from the Psion SDK, there might be a solution...
Is it compatible with the Series 5 at least? Probably not as I imagine
the Series 5 conforms to standard.
As for the RS232 interface, the "soap on
rope" cable used with the 3/3a
was changed into something that looks like a simple cable for the later
models (3c/3mx), I think it might be the same type as for the Series 5,
with a small flat connector at the PDA end instead of the 3-by-2
Berg-style plug.
But I thought the dongle had the actual serial hardware in it, whereas on
the Series 5 it is built-in?
And the display: yes, I know the pen is designed not
to harm the
display, but I cannot help feeling like it might scratch, though -
It doesn't.
absolutely personal opinion, of course. I tried a
Series 5, but compared
to the Series 3, it didn't do enough to justify the switch: not even the
Opera browser could do what I was looking for, so I gave up and kept the
3mx.
I didn't realize that was Opera! Cool.
One of these days I'm going to get Linux installed on my spare (if I can
fix it) just to do it.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
* Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *