Tag Archives: epoc

Psion of the times: using a 90s palmtop in the 21st Century

OK, so it was one of those purchases you can’t help yourself from making. A random, unprompted visit to eBay and suddenly I was £170 down but up one Psion Series 5mx palmtop with all the trimmings. And in very good condition it all is too.

Psion Series 5mx. Image copyright 2025 Tony Smith (@smittytone) All rights reserved

The Series 5 debuted in 1998 as the follow-up to the Series 3 family. I already have a 3a, the same model that I used for time a time back in the day. The 5 was a major upgrade: an ARM processor in place of an x86, more RAM of course, but crucially a backlit, touch-sensitive screen (plus device-dockable stylus) and a deck of larger, less calculator-like keys. In addition, out went the Series 3’s proprietary memory card format and in came a CompactFlash slot (though only one, not two as before). Psion also adopted a new serial comms port that negated the need for the Series 3’s 3Link ‘soap on a rope’ cable, which converted the 3’s proprietary bus to RS232.

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How to get a 1990s palmtop communicating 2024-style: connect a Psion 3a to the Interweb

Recap I have acquired a UK-made Psion Series 3a palmtop. I’ve connected it to my Mac. I’ve connected it to my headless Pi server over serial. My next goal: connect the 3a to the Internet.

I never had any great expectations for getting the 3a online. To summarise the problem: the 3a shipped without integrated Internet support. And while it later received it, via the PsiMail email package, Internet access was predicated on a dial-up connection using a modem and an analogue phone line. It is possible to bridge this ancient approach to the modern world of always on broadband and WiFi, but yes, it’s a bit of PIA. Anyway, this is what you do.

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How to access and control a Raspberry Pi with a Psion Series 3a

Recap I have acquired a UK-made Psion Series 3a palmtop. I’ve connected it to my Mac. My next goal is to connect the 3a to the Internet for email. But first… yes, I got distracted: having connected the 3a to a Mac, what about a Raspberry Pi? Could I do more with it than transfer files?

Darn right, I can. I can use it to control my headless server.

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Palmy like it’s 1999: how to revive a Psion Series 3a handheld

I have a soft spot for the technology of my younger days. In the mid-1990s, for example, I was in my late twenties and one of the machines I used for a time — all my MacWorld Boston 1994 coverage was written on one — was the Psion Series 3a. Pitched as a portable personal organiser, it was a palmtop PC running a 16-bit OS, SIBO aka EPOC 16, on an x86 CPU.

Palm computing: the Psion Series 3a

Running, I might add off a couple of AA batteries (with a coin cell to maintain RAM disk contents when the main pair were replaced) that could last for at least a month. No backlight on the monochrome LCD, though, which makes the device’s use in dim lighting tricky. Strong, over-the-shoulder lighting is essential.

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