When Clove Technology started in 1992, the high point of pocketable technology was the Psion Series 3.  With up to 256 kilobytes of RAM, a 3.84 MHz processor and and a black and white screen of 240×80 pixels, its specification wouldn’t impress today.  But it was the darling of the British computer industry, and its successors would hold a dominant position in the market till the end of the decade.

No Psion was designed as a games machine.  But like all computers, it couldn’t stick to “all work and no play” for long.  In fact, Psion themselves were responsible: they soon released their own Chess program for the platform.  Other commercial releases included Scrabble, the very addictive Pipemania, and a number of compilations on the proprietary SSD memory card format used by Psion’s computers at the time.

But the Psion wasn’t all about commercial software.  It came with a built-in programming language, OPL, a descendant of the BASIC programming languages built into most home computers of the 1980s.  OPL was just as easy to program as BASIC, but far more powerful, so that any user with the inclination to write their own programs could eventually produce software that looked as professional as commercial releases.  It was inevitable, then, that some users with time to spare would turn their hand to writing games.

The story was the same with successive models.  From 1993 the Series 3a, 3c and 3mx had many commercial releases, and in 1997 the Series 5 brought an extra dimension of computing power to the pocket.  So much so that well-known games like SimCity were being ported to the platform, probably one of the best and most ambitious games available for any Psion.  And with the Internet becoming universal, non-commercial releases dominated; over 500 games were published for the various Psion machines.

Then in 2001 Psion pulled the plug on its consumer PDA development, and stopped production a year later.  Where does that leave us in 2012?  Over the past decade, most people who used the Psion as a day-to-day device have drifted away to more modern technology.  But the Psion machines are still waiting for their day as a retro platform: while machines like the 1982 Sinclair Spectrum have dozens of game releases every year (including a handful of commercial games), the 1997 Psion doesn’t quite manage one release a year.

But it needn’t be all doom and gloom.  Psions still fetch a reasonable price on the secondhand market, so they are sought after.  They are still probably the most programmable portable machines around, with the OPL language built into nearly all models (and those that lack it can have it installed).  So, like many other machines that went out of date, declined, and returned, the humble little Psion might still have its revival – as long as someone keeps the flag flying!

Content compliments of Damian Walker – http://psigamer.cyningstan.org.uk/

Update 30/11. Auction closed with a winning bid of £100 from Land of Technology, which will itself be giving away the Psion Series 5 in a competition soon. Thanks Guys!

Update 30/11 We have had a late top bid of £80. We will be extending the auction closing time until 3PM to enable all previous bidders a chance to update their offer.

Update 28/11 – Current top bid for the Psion Series 5 is £65 

Update: 23/11/ – It is a Psion Series 5 that we have up for auction and on display in the unboxing video, not a 5MX as has been previously stated.

So strong was the Psion brand and so popular were its devices that we still get requests today for Psion sales and repairs. Unfortunately we are no longer able to range the devices or offer repair services, but we do have a special one-off opportunity today for any enthusiasts out there to get their hands on a Psion 5MX Special Edition.

Over the next week, we will be holding an auction for the Psion 5MX Special Edition. If you’re interested in making it yours, email wardy@clove.co.uk with your best offer and address details. We’ll periodically update this post and put out social media messages with the current top bid. The auction will close at 12PM (GMT) on Friday 30th November.

The money raised from the winning auction bid will be donated to Queen Elizabeth Foundation for disabled people.

You can see the Psion 5MX Special Edition in action in our classic unboxing video below.

How Psion changed over the years.

As part of the 20th birthday celebrations, we have a rare blog post from our MD Chris Love, who delves back to the early days of Clove and provides us with a brief history of the Psion devices that set the path for Clove and many other devices today.

Psion Siena

The Psion Siena was launched in 1996 and was sold alongside the Series 3c /3mx. It was designed to attract a larger audience of users to the Psion range, with its smaller slimmer size and numeric keypad. The OS was still EPOC but many programs had to be re-written due to its small memory size. The Siena included an infra red port for printing and connection to PC’s.

Not a great success in terms of volume sales, but it probably led to the design of the Revo.

Psion Revo

Launched in 1997 it superseded the Psion 3 and became a light version of the 5mx. It lacked additional memory slots but did dun all the software for the Series 5. It led to more females using the Psions and was probably the route that Psion would have built design in future models if they had continued. The keyboard was excellent to use even though it was quite compact.

Psion 5

The Psion 5 was launched in 1997 and won many accolades from both the technical and national press. An advanced operating system in EPOC, a clear backlit screen with icon based applications and a touch screen, made it a hugely popular product and well ahead of the rivals at that stage, although major manufacturers were now looking at entering this market sector.

It has a unique sliding clamshell design which allows the keyboard to slide forward and counterbalance the display. The Keyboard was a joy to use and allowed easy entering of data, with many books being written on it at the time.

Memory could be added and the operating system allowed easy development of programs and the list of programs available for the 5 and 5mx was impressive, including a route planner from Palmtop BV, who went on to form the company that now dominates the Car GPS market with its TOM TOM devices.

Already you could browse the web, email and handle internet banking (notably with Lloyds Bank at the time) using their travel modem.

Psion Series 7

The Psion Series 7 was launched in 2000, a design well ahead of its time and would be the base for the netbook designs from companies such as ASUS years later.

Larger than a palmtop, but lighter and more portable than a laptop, with a full colour touch screen, it allowed users to be truly portable and yet productive. Its design even today outshines many of the netbooks that eventually replaced it. We were pleased to supply 250 of these to the UK gas safety organisation, named CORGI at that time with the Psion Series 7 for their field inspectors

Psion also launched a NETBOOK in 1999 which was designed to be used by the mobile enterprise market, its major difference it that its OS ran from the RAM, which made it faster and easier to load customised versions of the software to suit individual applications.

Did you use a Psion (we expect many did)?  What did you like or dislike about it? Could you imagine going back to it?