In which I photograph an odd couple and muse on the trade-offs needed to get from Psion Series 5 to Nokia E90.... it's been quite a journey, and of course the E90 can do an awful lot more, but that old, old keyboard still impresses...
Read on in the full article.
I still have a 3a and a 5mx 'in a drawer' also, though I never got comfortable with the latter's size. I think my E61 is great in hardware terms but the software, S60, still disappoints. The E90 is perhaps even more stunning in hardware terms but hamstrung with the same software. Let us all hope that an 'E90i' improves on this aspect as it didn't with the E61i.
I don't own an E90 yet -- I have to satisfy myself with your great articles until the phone is released -- so I have no idea how good or bad its keyboard is. But I never liked the keyboard on the old Psion Series 5. I have had two. They LOOKED great, but the keys were very frustrating and hard. They missed a lot of my keystrokes. The size was wonderful, but the keys themselves were very mean little devils.
The last part is - QWERTY review - is the best new... I wait. Because E61i seems more near of a perfect unit than E90, if it have the tweaks it deserves... Maybe E63, or something. VGA screen, the first one, and 3,5G, and GPS unit inside. Seems near in time, a device like that.
Actually I must admit that I like the keyboard of the E90 a lot. If I hold the device open in both hands, the size and feel of the keys are perfectly suited for my thumbs.
this is the lamest piece of garbage 'phone' ever. the e90 cant hold a candle to the iphone.
With downsizing of devices, comes compromise in terms of the keyboard size. The discussion brought good memories for me as I had a Psion 5Mx as well 'still in my drawer'. As for the current nokia devices I have two issues that can & one can help with small keyboard size.
1) Have some sort of predictive text (auto complete) like to SE UIQ3 phones. this helps a little with speed when typing.
2) The demise of Series 80 would be a sad one for me as it was very a stable one. It just needed better speed though I can see where nokia is going with this integration of S60 across their smartphone range in terms of getting products out to market much faster, software development esp 3rd party etc.
My two cents worth of comments 😊
W Fletcher
I'm a fast 5 finger typer. The 5mx has exactly the right size and feel for my fingers. This coupled with instant-ON so you can capture an idea before you lose it; as well as touchscreen so that the cursor can be shifted easily and you can make some simple drawings, sometimes just using a finger nail rather than the stylo, makes the 5mx perfect for writing documents (reports, letters, stories, lyrics) on the go. I still make far less typos and type just as fast with a 5mx as on any PC or notebook keyboard.
The E90, notwithstanding its other marvellous features, will only substitute part of that. That's why I've ordered one. .. 😊
Someone mentioned iPhone. iPhone cannot compare with E90. I think the iPhone will turn out to be a pack of overhyped junk. It's easily eclipsed by the Sony Ericsson P1 (and I'd say already eclipsed by the W950). It will still sell, not because of any inherent strength, but because there is this army of fanboys for whom Jobs is opium.
Macboy,
get a life, or better still, get an iPhone and stop pestering others with your pathetic anti-Symbian, anti-Nokia drivel. I think we have all got the message by now, that you think the iPhone is the greatest thing ever, it's 5 years ahead of its time etc.
As as has already been said before, the iPhone will no doubt look very nice, be an excellent music player-cum-phone, but it will NOT be a smartphone, for a variety of reasons:
a. it has no 3G
b. it is apparently unable to run 3rd party apps
c. it has a rubbish camera
d. I would love to see anyone type anything on whatever type of on-screen keyboard it comes with
e. it's only available from one operator at a very high cost
So contrary to Mr. Jobs' arguments, the iPhone will neither be a true smartphone nor 5 years ahead of the competition; other than the fancy touch screen, it's more like 2-3 years behind the competition... Let's face it, they didn't even invent the name first, that's how far ahead of everyone else they are.
And presumably, if they launch it in the same way they did the iPod (which I have had several of, so I am no apple-hater btw), they will expect you to throw the iPhone away and buy another one when the battery dies!
The Psion5 was a superlative text INPUT device (i.e. when you don't care about colour, pictures etc.) But most people are information RECEIVERs and don't care too much about the things it did. I now use a E61i and am continually frustrated by the office suite and agenda. However I get to listen to podcasts, watch movies and take pictures whist retaining some office capabilities. But even quickoffice 4 doesn't have the text formatting capabilties or spreadsheet functionality of the old 3mx.
I still have a 5, although it hasn't been used in anger for several years now. When I was using it, I could regularly dispense with taking my laptop to many of my clients but ultimately they started demanding fancy fonts etc and time passed it by.
I would kill for an E90 with the keyboard of a 5 - and as a 5 finger typist I could cope really well with the 5's keyboard.
I guess I must be the only target customer for the foleo, which as a complete mug, I will almost certainly get😊
Most people posting their views, and most companies, seem to ignore the obvious fact that people are neither all equal in their needs and tastes, nor that "every person is a universe in her/himself".
There is a good blog by Michael Mace at mobileopportunity.blogspot.com, titled "shape-of-smartphone-and-mobile", which I would recommend AAS readers to have a good look at.
We do fall into surprisingly few groups, if one define these groups correctly, with very little in common between them most of the time.
I could have argued along the same lines myself, but Michael did it already and in very convincing and documented (his strength) terms.
Comparison with the Psion Revo would have been interesting. IMHO hardware development seems to have progressed but software development for these portable devices seems to lag behind. Even third-party apps do not address the gap between the Psions and the modern day Symbian devices. Where have all the Psion software engineers gone?
I too am looking forward to the comparison between the E90 and E61. I've always assumed Nokia et al. have researched how fast people can input text into their devices by comparing varios sized qwerty keyboards, numerical T9 entry, and handwriting recognition. I've had all sorts of devices in the universal quest for portable data. From Motorola timeports, star tacs, Psions, palms, and those sony palm things. I've been rocking the 6600 for a few years now and find I can enter data with one hand, almost without looking, faster than on any of the other devices. The idea of the E90's keyboard looks great, but is it any easier to get text in there than on the N95? I think I'm in the T9 numerical entry camp for good. SMS while driving and creating calendar entries! Whooo hooo! Watch out!
Good luck entering names, locations, etc, with T9. That's a nasty task....
Doe, great point. That's the only caveat with T9. It would be nice if you could add to the T9 dictionary, or have it look in your calendar/address book for matches to entries. Somewhere, maybe on a motorola, I remember being able to add words to the dictionary, but not on my trusty 6600.
Hey Steve,
In your list of things the E90 can do that the Psion would need other hardware to carry out, you missed the obvious - it's a phone!
Hi,
I have been following most of reviews on Psion/Symbian phones here, being a seasoned user (fan!!) of keyboarded palmtop computers. But this is only my first post here, to defend my beloved Psion 5mx 😉.
I still hide a 3c and a 5mx in a drawer, in perfect working conditions. and although I currently use Nokia 9300 and E70 together (and will buy E90), I find 5mx FAR SUPERIOR to all its successors. Admittedly, it's not a phone, but you were able to search the web using an external modem and tweaked serial cable! How much did that browsing cost 😉?? I used to take it to the parts of the world where dial-up internet was the only communication medium, with a big grin on my face :->
Now in Nokia's hands, although hardly a technological wonder, there is simply no such option. You may argue that it has WiFi, Bluetooth etc, but it assumes that it will connect to an access point on another device. May I remind you (I mean, Nokia) that there are still many parts of the world where WiFi is unheard of. Of course, cellular operators would never allow a RS232 port on such a device 😞.
Add to that applications such as Jotter and Data, superior Office suite, Sound recorder with editing capabilities (now, who on earth would use these?? Well, I did 😉 )... So I still carefully wipe dust off my 5mx and read my Dairies and invaluable notes (that I never converted - was just too hard) on it.
Long live Psion!!
timothyd4y
Yes, Motorola's iTAP (which I prefer over T9) lets you add words, but that only alleviates the problem slightly, it doesn't solve it. That's why I could never buy a non-qwerty phone.
I'm looking forward to your review of a fuller range of QWERTY kb smartphones. I swayed back and forth for months before deciding against a full keyboard phone and now have an N95, which I absolutely love for on-the-go web browsing.
As a blogger, however, it doesn't cut the mustard for writing on the fly, which means I either have to continue carrying my laptop around, or I might get a bluetooth keyboard as suggested in a past AAS article.
The ultimate question for those QWERTY kbs: How proficient can one get at typing on them in comparison to a real keyboard? I'd love for you to do a typing speed test (Mavis Beacon anyone?) showing what speeds you can reach on the latest smartphones!
I did one a while ago:
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/features/item/The_fastest_gun_in_the_west.php
I've updated it in print, for issue 64 of PDA Essentials magazine. I guess I should update this version too - maybe once the print version has been on the streets for a bit....
Steve
Nice one Steve, thanks for the insight 😊
I think it'll be a while before I rely entirely on a mobile device for blogging. I think the good ol MacBook Pro will continue to travel with me!
What we need is some good quality voice recognition software. Combine that with an "ok" keboard to deal with when it gets it wrong. I remember playing with things like Dragon Dictate etc. some time back. Should be possible with these new High Power phones.
Zuber
Psion 5mx ... which idiot discontinued it?
I reckon the 5mx could have been like the Porsche 911 of the gadget world.
Imagine what we'd have now if they'd kept a very similar design and kept improving it over the years? I'd be buying it all along the way.
We'd have all the goodies of todays market, GB's of memory, Wifi, touch screen colour screen widescreen aspect, voice capability with blue tooth headset, 3g,
It could easily have been -the- portable data centre/streamer/phone ... etc.
I liked the Sony P800 .... but everything Symbian have done since doesn't hold a flame to the 5mx.
All it is about these days is features, without excellence.
**sigh**
An old timer, still waiting.
Has anyone explicitly noted that the two features of the Psion 5MX mostly missed on today's product, its keyboard and its OS, are the two weakest point of the otherwise amazing and glittering Nokia E90?
Mmmmh, mala tempora currunt in orbi smartphoniorum!
The 5mx is the greatest computer of all time. One of the factors in its demise was all the ignorant users who constantly complained about the keyboard and the large size of the device. Subsequently the Series 3 was considered a better size because of all the noise these idiots made. For the power user, nothing can replace the Series 5mx and the whining of all the reviewers and igorami spelled its doom. If the 5mx were still around today, it could squeeze in all the features of the E90 running under GNU/Linux with a D-TV tuner and a 100GB 1.8" hard drive. Instant-on, 1-year battery life, easy text size enlargement, it worked perfectly. May God bless the Psion Series 5mx, and thanks for the comparison photos!
Hi Guy, E90 is great to have. Before I had 9300 nad 9500. Now I try E90 and order from USA. I use red one. The deive size is just ok if compare to 9300. It likes a small PC and easy to typing instead. In order to protect it, I try to find the protective case in worldwide. I found a good leather case for E90 in CarryMobile.com. 21.6.2007. Finally, I found the CarryMobile leather case for Nokia E90.