Bugger the jetpack, where's my 21st-century Psion?

I'd really like a keyboard case for my Lumia 1520 to create a modern clamshell to be honest. I think WP8.1 will support keyboards so here is hoping. Bought it as an alternative to a home mini tablet and a business device, love it for business use so a clam-shell case would be ideal. Same thing on an Android Phablet for the Android user. Either way could be best of both worlds and a more jacket friendly option than the proliferation of Ipad Minis with keyboards attached.

"Meanwhile, Linux wasn't ready yet ..."

... maybe for you, but I found my 2004 Zaurus SL1550 quite sufficiently linux based and useful.

Now, if I could only get Opie to run on my Moto G I'd bin Android in a second ... :-)

No mention of the Toshiba Libretto range? A full Windows PC that you could fit into a pocket*.

* For sufficiently large values of 'pocket'.

I went the Psion root, 3, 3a and a 5.

Netbooks

I miss Psion, I loved my Series 5 and I always wanted one of those Netbooks they made, they still kind of look cool now ... maybe I'm just a little sad ;)

Only in Japan

In fact there are plenty of handheld computers being made and marketed today. All you need do to get hold of one is visit a consumer electronics shop... in Japan.

Here they're called "denshi jisho", or electronic dictionaries. Like the case of "computer", the name hasn't accurately represented what the devices can do for a long time now. Some still sport monochrome screens, but there are many that have color displays and enough processing power to play videos. Extras include integrated digital TV receptor, touchscreen and Wi-Fi. Most double as personal organizers, and all have some sort of mechanical keyboard, the notebook-alike clamshell being the most popular form-factor.

Could these ever be successful outside of Japan? I dunno. Smartphones have already assimilated all their functions plus making phone calls, playing games and taking pictures; in fact I'd reckon it's only the conservatism of Japanese consumers that continues to make them viable here (accordingly, most models come from traditional Japanese companies, such as Sharp and Casio). I guess that much as we may lament it, unless someone comes up with a truly fresh take on the form-factor, the age of the handheld PC is pretty much over. All hail the handheld fondleslab (aka the smartphone).

dell

I have a dell venue pro 8 - from your description of what you want, it fits the bill neatly, even down to fitting (snugly) in a jacket pocket. Best buy it in USA though, I got mine for 238 usd, they seem to be about 250 gbp here.

I love it, does everything I need when out and about. You can put.a sim in it too, though you look a bit dom joly when using it.

Did Paul Allen's Vulcan PC Flipstart ever make it to market? I had an OQO at the time but that looked impressive.

Sharp did the clamshell form factor with some of it's Zaurus range, and obviously the Sony Clie UX 500 is the ultimate form factor for this, it's a shame it's effectively dead because how cool would that be with linux running on it today?

Agenda Microwriter

Am I the only person to have owned one of these?

The basics of chord based microwriting could be learned in half an hour.

It could also be used as an extra keyboard for your PC.

http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~len/boog/gifs/ag500.jpg

Ah the mightly psion

Started with 3s - which taught me what a spread sheet was - and loved tinkering in OLP. Then finished with a 5MX and the IR modem the size of a mouse. How cool was I on a flight back from the US tapping away for the whole flight while the windows machines died and had to be closed down to replace the battery? Palmtop Mag was a delight. I was a fan-girl. Two AA batteries and you were off.

BUT it all fell apart IMHO when they refused to go into colour (impossible to power with AAs I assume). They knew best, not the customer. And they just assumed we'd agree with them. And that was the end of Psion as a handheld.

Palm of course was the competitor but having to learn gestures when Psion asked you to just type on a fabulous keyboard was a no brainer.

What it taught me is that companies who tell you what you do or do not want and are overly controlling (yes, I'm looking at you, Apple) will never have hold of my heart again. I use what I like and want but won't step into the fan-girl world again.

But that keyboard was amazing - if they made one that felt as good for my Nexus 7 I'd be a very happy bunny. The ones I've tried just are not as good. Or is it my memory is lying to me again.

Psion Revo...

I have the Psion Revo, loved it - and it still works today, despite years of being abused through college etc! :) Small and light enough to fit in the inside pocket of a blazer / suit jacket!

Why does the Revo always get airbrushed from these "histories"?

My next plan is to try some serial to bluetooth jiggery pokery with the old docking station I have to see if I can get some mobile internet access on it, although I have lost the stylus now :( ...

I'd love something similar today - (overnight site visits for e.g.) which I can rattle out mails & docs on but without the humpf of a company laptop.

Best keyboard award goes to...

I still think Psion had the best designed keyboard on any small portable device. It never failed to amaze me as it emerged from when you opened it.

Also let us not forget the Epson HX-20

Psion 5mx

If ever there was an old case that just needed updated innards...sigh.

What stopped mass market adoption was lack of Internet. Many people didn't get a computer until the Internet took off.

Lack of wireless syncing and shit sync software probably didn't help either.

The age of saving a document and it automagically appearing on another device has been around for a few years now, that's the sort of thing people would have loved back then. Instead of hooking up a device with a fiddly connector to a serial cable and pressing a button.

Nokia N9100 N9200 Communicators

Pocket PC with a phone on the outside?

Handy for sending faxes!

If the desire for sexual congress with a jetpack ever overwhelms you then help is at hand:

http://www.martinjetpack.com/

Not technically a jetpack, it's a double cowled fan personal helicopter running off a 2-stroke petrol engine, for reliability. It has a number of advantages over an actual jetpack, asbestos trousers not required, integral parachute, much longer flight times and much more actual control. Not sure how amenable it is to coitus but you could buy one and see.

Pandora

To back up what the second poster said, I've used a pandora for the last couple of years - it's got great battery life (easily over 10 hours of actual use) & has a similar size to a Nintendo DS XL, so fits pretty easily in a pocket. It's designed primarily as a retro gaming platform, but given it runs Linux, it's got all the usual Office tools.

ATTN: Android app writers

There's a tenner here for anyone who can clone the Series 3mx Agenda program on Android.

I will not be the only one willing to pay that much.

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-Sent from my phone.