I have used a revo for a week and it is a lovely thing to behold and use but it is only an organiser. The lack of a backlight is a serious ommission by psion. I would urge anyone thinking of purchasing one to be absolutely sure that they can manage without a light. I cannot. I suspect anyone who reads Gadgeteer is the sort of person who would be better with a 5mx.

As usual, you give the straight dope. As a Series 5 owner who converted to a Palm V (and now Vx), I was curious about the Revo. But given it's lack of a backlight, upgradeability, etc., I can see that I have made the right choice in moving to Palm. Oh yeah, and the "Get Organized, Get Connected.." tagline - I wrote that for New World Technologies (a PSION online retailer) a couple of years ago when they introduced their Palm store. Back then I was refering to the Palm III. It's nice to see PSION knows at least one good thing when they see it. Now let's see if they listen to you about the Palm-sized form factor.

a fair review of the REVO,
we've had it in the UK for a couple of months now, and Well i love it to bits, and it has been selling impressively well, and for the money £230, it's a toss up between the Palm V or the Revo.

Mind you i'll say one thing, if you have no laptop, get the Revo, if you have a laptop, and take it where you need it get a Palm V.

oh yeah and from what I remember, my Series 5 had a backlight?

I have been a user of PSION portable computers since 1992, and I own and used to use a Philips WindowsCE unit, a PalmPilot, a Zaurus something or other, and, most recently, a Palm V (these gadgets have something to do with my job - that's why I try so many of them).

The PSION Series 3, later the 3mx, was my handheld organiser of choice for years. As you (Julie) would know, to call these units, and the Revo, organisers, is somewhat of a simplification. I say this as their main organiser components, agenda and contacts, are professional tools, with plenty of options for configuring displays (including the ever-present option to increase the display font size, making reading easier).

But the PSION units go well beyond the two basic organising tools of agenda and contacts. They've always come with a version of Word, and with a powerful spreadsheet program with a great number of in built functions. Many readers will know this, I suspect, but there may be some WindowsCE people who've heard that the Revo just won Byte's best hardware award, and will be looking for more details. The word and spreadsheet programs in the PSION units are top of the line, professional programs which fully integrate with Microsoft Office equivalents through the PsiWin interface included with all new PSIONs (including the Revo). Best of all, these programs are fast, and their respective icons are either always at the base of the desktop, or just one level down. As your review says, the programs load very quickly, and, once loaded, switching among them is instantaneous.

Backlight? I seldom used my backlight on the 3mx, so I don't miss it on the Revo. What is brillant on the Revo is, first of all, the screen, then the size. The screen is as good as the Palm V's, which is to say, excellent. The size - well, it is larger than a Palm V, but then you've got the keyboard, and I judge it to be a pretty nice one, too (I am not a touch typist). The Revo is delightfully smaller than the 3mx, and the 5mx, and is, honestly, feather-like in comparison. Terrific.

On the 3mx I ran an Internet utility called PsiMail, which was good. The in-built email support on the Revo is also very good, quite Outlook-like, and the new "Phone" utility works easily with my mobile.

Just an organiser? No. It's possible to program the Revo. OPL is not included, but at least one OPL suite is downloadable via the Internet (one of the other reviews mentions a source).

My Revo is "only" 8M. Coming off a 3mx with 2M has prepared me to view 8 as a god-send of sorts.

Backlight is a big problem with it... yes it has a keyboard, so that is difficult in the dark, but it also has the touch sensitive screen which can be happily use din the dark.

Agenda is excellent, and runs synchs with ny Notes 4.6 really well.

The email is more of a problem and doesn't seem to want to talk to my Notes email client so having to use an additional ISP.

I have had a few problems using the web browser to access https pages don't know if anyone else has had this problem (eg logging in to Hotmail) but I haven't investigated this fully yet.

1. Can you load personal sound files (.WVEs) (say, .WAVs or .AIFFs converted on a desktop PC/Mac) onto a REVO and assign them as alarms?
2. Is there DMTF dialing capability, through the REVO contacts app?
3. Is there built in HWR - or is does an EPOC free/shareware HWR app exist?
4. Is the Contacts app. flexible as is the Data app on the S3a/c, i.e., can one create any sort of database, with custom fields? Also, is there a sorting capability and grouping (limiting the fields viewed) capability?
5. Is the OS in the REVO upgradable (flash ROM)?

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1. Can you load personal sound files (.WVEs) (say, .WAVs or .AIFFs converted on a desktop PC/Mac) onto a REVO and assign them as alarms?
2. Is there DMTF dialing capability, through the REVO contacts app?
3. Is there built in HWR - or is does an EPOC free/shareware HWR app exist?
4. Is the Contacts app. flexible as is the Data app on the S3a/c, i.e., can one create any sort of database, with custom fields? Also, is there a sorting capability and grouping (limiting the fields viewed) capability?
5. Is the OS in the REVO upgradable (flash ROM)?

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Here's the answers I know:

1. I'm not sure on that. It seems like a good idea.

2. Yes, I think you can dial from the Revo contacts app - it's the same, more or less, to the one on the Series 5mx.

3. There isn't built in recognition, but you can get Allegro, and probably Calligrapher, from Symbian's Go32.com (http://www.go32.com/) online store.

4. As far as I can see, you can swap and move around the Contacts fields, but only the ones built in, but since you can add names, telephone numbers, email addresses, companies, titles, URLs, addresses, and a longer Notes field, that's not too much of a problem. However, Contacts is simply a modified version of Data, the standard database app, and you can create any databases you like in there. You can sort by (first name, last name), (last name, first name), (company, last name) and (company, first name), and you can search through the list for certain words.

5. No, the OS (EPOC Release 5) is built in to the ROM.

By the way, a note to Contacts app users: look in the Tools menu. In the WINS Emulator at least, 'Create some Friends' is misspelt as 'Create some Fiends'!

To get work DONE, I'll use the REVO. I'm disappointed in the lack of NEAT accessories, but to get the job done, PSIONs the man!

I am pleased to see that you point out that the batteries are not user replaceable. I detest the thought of having to send my unit to a factory for a simple battery replacement, no matter how long they last! Also, a memory expansion option would be greatly appreciated. I rarely use a backlight, but I suppose when you need it, you really need it. Otherwise, I find Revo full of thoughtful touches and ease of use features, and if perhaps less than a notebook replacement, more than a basic PDA. The java-enabled web browser from Opera (available on the www at opera.com) makes my already existing e-mail accounts available when traveling, and my beau is a chess nut, so we can play on the subway. It is also nice to have more contact information than Palm Pilot's limited fields can accommodate, not to mention a keyboard with a definitive "click" sound when the keys are touched (am I the only one who can touch type on small keyboards?), word processing and spreadsheet. I deleted jotter in favor of a sticky note shareware program I found, and added the marvellous "Sketch" program for adding small illustrations to my capabilities (now I can draw a map if need be).

How will I ever part with the thing when the battery dies?!?

I have used Psion PDAs since the first one in the 1980s, an Organizer I, then Org II, then Org II, then 3c, not (unfortunately) Revo.

I purchased my first Palm appx. 3 years ago and my Visor a year and a half ago. As mentioned, I have sold them both after being disappointed in how SLOW it is to input data into any Palm device that uses handwriting recognition. Yes, I purchased an optional keyboard, however, this is a separate item to carry and set up each time you want to input anything. I found it inconvenient and awkward to use.

The keyboard took a day or two to get used to and I am definitely typing MUCH faster on the Mako than using Graffiti on the Palm.

The backlight is a non-issue as far as I am concerned. I found the backlight on the Visor difficult to see clearly anyway. I would MUCH rather have no backlight and more battery usage than vice versa!

True, there are nowhere near as many downloadable programs for an EPOC device as there are for the Palm OS but I found what IS available satisfies my needs for a handheld.

I believe that the Revo is a GREAT machine and has advantages that the Palm devices do not possess. This feels and acts like a real piece of equipment where the Palm devices feel and act much more like toys to me. I strongly encourage anyone interested in a handheld device to check one of these out. I plan on purchasing another when this one eventually dies or becomes outdated. I may have to order from Europe as this device has not taken off here in the US, especially the Silicon Valley area of California where I live.

Diana from San Jose, California

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Originally posted by Maurice:
I have been using my Revo extensively since February 2000. Battery problems began in September 2000 and was unsuccessfully repaired in December. The supplier swapped the bad machine for a brand new model (also 8mb) in January 2001 which began battery problems in April. In addition the hard reset does not work (it gets stuck on a maniacal two-tone repitition).

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I have a REVO also with similar problems. I purchased mine in April 2000. In October it developed battery problems. I lived with the problems. Now I'm trying to have it fixed - forget it! PSION don't want to know about it - they can't be bothered replying to my emails. I was going to purchase another REVO, but found that the unit I was going to get (6mnths old) had screen problems. Mine has just developed screen problems too today!

All I can say is that whilst the design (look) is good, the build quality is crappy! I've seen 2 units both with problems. You've had 2 units - what more needs to be said.

I WILL NOT RECOMMEND a REVO to ANYBODY. I am really disappointed $700 AU dollars down the toilet as far as I'm concerned.

- frangutz.