Simply fantastic (Psion Revo)

Member Name: MartyT

Product:	Psion Revo
Date:	15/01/01 (309 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ease of use, so easy to customise apps

Disadvantages: Not that cheap - but worth it

I've had my Revo since Christmas, but I thought I'd wait a few months before writing my first review on it...........

.....only I can't wait that long! The machine is simply brilliant!

I must confess to having a longing for some fairly useless gadgets in my time, but I think I've actually got something that combines my love of all things flash with an actual purpose.

A couple of years ago I had a used Psion 3a and I loved it to bits, but after dropping it one too many times the poor thing gave up and the screen broke. At the time I was working for a company that used Outlook all the time, and as a result I managed to blag a Casio windows CE machine for a couple of years.

That job has now gone and with it I have left the Casio (or brick) behind. Anyway enough background - now the facts !

1. Size - The Revo is a really, really compact device and I am still amazed at the hinge mechanism. The whole unit can be slipped into a suit jacket pocket easily and you hardly know it's there

2. Contacts - It seems like such a simple piece of software, but it is soooo powerful. My girlfriend has a Palm M100 and a colleague has a Pocket PC (nee Windows CE) machine, and neither of them can touch the flexibility of the psion database. Don't like the layout of the input fields ? Change em. Want to store 4 home phone numbers - go ahead. Want to embed a word document with contact details, past conversations etc - no problem. Even better is the ability to rename field?s altogether - although what this does to the sync. process I'm not sure. Compared to the "set in stone" nature of Windows CE this is a revelation

3. Agenda - To be honest, having used a Psion before, I knew this would be really, really good - but I am still stunned. Forget what most gadget freaks tell you, until I bought my Revo I have never used an electronic diary that offered "significant" benefits over a manu
al one. I have now been proved wrong. I now get a warning 7 days before each birthday / anniversary and this gives me enough time to get a card and pressie and then look suitably smug! CE only allowed you to plan 2 days in advance - and the Royal Mail isn't that fast!

You can embed word or sheet docs in each appointment (how about a word doc listing likes and dislikes, what you got them last year etc. etc.) There is a busy view to see your week at a glance. However the best bit is so simple that I don't know how anyone else hasn?t thought of it. It's the ability to look at a week of your diary as a page. Users of Lotus Organiser will recognise it right down the "ringbinder catches" that could have come straight off a paper filofax. (See http://www.psion.com/revoplus/organisation.asp to see what I am talking about).

There are hundreds and hundreds of other pluses to this program - but it all boils down to one thing - flexibility. It is designed to be used, and as such almost everything is customisable. A comparison with my CE machine would be useful for you dear readers, but to be honest the comparison would be so unfair that I'll save Bill G's blushes and let you draw your own conclusion from the statement. Outlook 2000 can't do half the things Psion Agenda can what chance do you reckon Pocket Outlook has ??

4. Other software - I'm getting carried away now - so here?s a brief (!) description of the other software that it comes bundled with

Word - Good wee word processor - only 4 fonts though

Sheet - Again, good effort

Time - Set your home city and it gives you dialling codes, time difference, sun up / down times and how many pubs there are within 5 mins of the airport (ok that?s a lie)

Phone - Got an infrared phone - you can copy and paste numbers between contacts and your Sim card - inspired !

Calc - Scientific and normal

Jotter - Database driven
, so it?s easy to jot (sic) things down and then find them

Data - the same database engine as contacts - only the fields are blank. Use it for train times, crissie pressie lists, user names and passwords etc. etc.

Email - Should be able to send using a compatible mobile or via your PC mail when you sync. -can't vouch for it yet

5. Rechargeable batteries - They last for over a week of extended use and you can charge them up via the docking station

6. Synchronisation - I've heard all manner of scary stories about synchronising with outlook 2000 - but I haven't had any problem at all - although I only really use Outlook as a backup (BTW You can set the psion to back itself up every time it docks)

7. Looks - Ok, ok I'm vain, but I work for a web design co. we are surrounded by gadgets and everyone, but everyone is fascinated by the Revo and it has been known to bring meetings to a standstill (although so has a box of biscuits!)

8. Freeware / Shareware - At the moment I have Pacman, Chess, Reversi, a map of London, Asteroids and a tank game on my psion and I still have 40% memory left??.and they were all free !

So there you have it??.if you've made it this far ? hats off to you! A revo costs about £220 for an 8MB like mine or £300 ish for a 16MB with a WAP browser and the Opera web browser (although you can download both for nowt). I could go on at length (!) about the email and wap / web browsers, but to be honest it's the other applications that make the machine - the web stuff is just the icing on the cake - simply brilliant.
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update
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Check out http://www.geek.com/hwswrev/pda/revo/fullrevo2.htm for a balanced US review between Revo and a Palm

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