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Psion Series 3

5owners with an opinion
80%of verdicts positive
0/1positive/negative since 2024
0happy after 3+ years

Praised for comfort and performance; criticized for display and portability.

Models

What people wrote

Doesn’t like it
> I doubt any of these is worth any $'s ... as always with a legacy $anything the price is for those who really want it. I have Psion 3 (with a damaged screen cablr, but with a whopping 1MB SSD), it costs nothing, but people selling the working ones for more than $100
Likes it
It's a superb portable writing tool, as was the Psion 5 in its day. The keyboard is better than anything available on any tablet or pocketable device in the world in any market. It's that good. No Surface or iPad addon comes even close; it is an order of magnitude better than any mainstream vendor's offering. I found it almost useless as a phone or tablet, though. But I have several of those so I don't care.
Doesn’t like it
> an Acorn Pocket Book A rebadged Psion Series 3. https://chrisacorns.computinghistory.org.uk/Computers/Pocket... 256 kB RAM. Psion 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Series_3#Psion_Series_3 Important note: the pic at the top of the Wikipedia article shows the later, improved 3A with a much bigger screen. > the additional memory of the Psion 2 I do not understand this. The APB was a Psion (Series) 3. The Psion 2 (Organizer II) was an older, smaller device. The S3 and APB take memory cards: 2 slots onboard, for Psion SSDs ( NOT the modern usage of the term "SSD". See: https://pulster.de/Psion-Solid-State-Disk-SSD-memory-cards The Psion 3A had more memory. The 3C more still, and the 3MX more still. When you say "Psion 2" do you mean Acorn Pocket Book 2? http://superdecade.blogspot.com/2017/12/acorn-pocket-book-ii... That was a rebadged 3A, so with from 256kB to 1MB RAM as stock. Psion did a 2MB model, but Acorn didn't. As an owner of a 3 and 3A, the 3A was the usable version. The 3's screen was too small, and its storage meagre (but expandable, and I did.) The 3A was 2x the speed, a much bigger screen with better contrast (but no backlight) and versions with up to 2MB were available, which for this class of machine was a vast amount of storage you'd never fill. Thing 2TB for comparison now, plus 2 drive bays for more if you need it. A laptop with 6TB? That is plenty for almost anyone.
Likes it
I always thought the Psion 3's keyboard was much better to type on than the Psion 5. Even though the 5's looked cooler, the keys had less feel and were heavier to press, and often would get stuck when pushing them not in the center. I could type much faster on the 3's keyboard. The software was just way better on the 5 and the touchscreen was very useful. The 3 had a much much better screen contrast though. I missed the backlight on my 3c but I think the 3mx did have this. I still have a 5MX, modded it somehere around 2009 with bluetooth.
Likes it
I had a 3a and found it more convenient to use than the heavy/bulky laptops of the day. My use cases were diary management, expenses, task tracking/todo, and short emails (via the add-on modem/mobile phone cable). The message app also allowed you to send SMS. The batteries seemed to last forever and being a standard size were available everywhere. I dont know if a "new psion" would sell in sufficient numbers. It's a device I find myself wondering about (along with a chocolate-bar sized version of the iphone (Nokia 6300 size)). I'd buy one of those for sure, for when I'm not working and need a phone, but dont want the full "slab" to carry around with me.