Product reviewsPsion Revo PDA

Overall, in Good Condition

I have had Revo's since 1999 and the main problems with buying as 'used' is the batteries fail and the buttons (particularly the control button) are mechanically well used. In this case, although at premium price, I was glad to get one in relatively good condition.Yes everything I have done since 1999 on less than 8MB.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: h2g2researcher

Why buy a Psion Revo?

Seems kinda weird to buy a Psion Revo in 2010 when the device was released in 1999. For those who are on a limited budget and would rather not pay for an expensive smartphone the Revo is great to carry around your agenda and contacts list. It's instant-on facility, long lasting battery and physical keyboard make this a genuinely useful digital product. I wish that Psion had kept developing these units. Color isn't needed for keeping lists of info, nor is a multi-touchscreen.
The Revo will succomb to age though as there are a few manufacturing quirks that manifest themselves however there are people on ebay who fix Psions or provide the necessary spares.
Having said this however, my purchase of the Revo is just to hold me off buying the iPad until release 2 or 3 is out. The device will possibly takeover where the Revo left off. Some people hate Apple for being closed, etc. The iPad is a very fluid device and will probably become mainstream as it offers great potential functionality. Can't wait to buy one but Apple have to fix a few things before it's is totally reliable.Read full review...

i live back to 98...hahahaha....no no is excellent for keeping your secrets

Hi, excellent product condition, no signs, scratches or other problems....only the battery is off but this is reasonable for an old machine like this....if is on power works fine...I bought it cause i had one and droped of my hands....so now in Ipad era this revo machine is likely retro but always reliable on what is offering

thanksRead full review...

Good luck finding one that works

Proprietary battery is hard to find, the Revo cannot turn on without it. Better to get the Psion 5 which uses standard AA batteries.

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: colinmillsuk

Excellent PDA for typists who take a lot of notes

A good PDA from the 1990s, keyboard is just about large enough to touch type on, and is a lot easier than many more modern PDAs and phones with only "thumb" boards. Also it can use the more efficient Dvorak keyboard layout if you prefer that (you can download re-mapping software), you just have to put the Z in a funny place if you use Dvorak but that's no big deal.

The Revo's display has no backlight, but it is very clear even in low light conditions, and large print is possible (the wordprocessor and other software has a zoom control and you might also want to search the Web for large print on Psion).

You can back up the Revo to a PC via the cable if you have Linux (use the plptools program). It's not so good with modern Windows, but what self-respecting techie relies on Windows when good versions of Linux are available? After backing up the files from the Revo, it's very easy to pull ASCII text out of the wordprocessor's file format, and I also use a macro to help organize notes on the Revo itself (again search the Web for large print on Psion and you'll find this macro).

Various hardware problems do happen after a while due to wear and tear on the internal cables, however these Revos are not too expensive nowadays, and it's easy to move all your files to another one via infra-red transfer. If you do have an elderly one, you might want to avoid using the sound (so don't use it for alarms), as this can be too much stress on the battery. Also make sure to close the lid gently, don't snap it shut. The PalmTec cases (also known as ProPorta) offer very good protection for the accident-prone among us, but of course it's better not to have too many accidents.

Don't expect any "mod cons" like Unicode, colour, or wireless Internet (it used to be able to connect to a few models of mobile phone via infra-red, and get onto the Internet that way, but that was a long time ago and I'd be surprised if anyone can do that anymore). But for note-taking (in English and European languages) it's very good.Read full review...

Very useful item

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: northwichdirect

Psion Revo

So far, so good!

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: the.tech.store

wanted one for a long time its great

1st Paul Pinnock was very hlpfull also gave me a case for my psion revo plus cant thank him enough a gent.

Psion Revo PDA

These are excellent PDA's, they do exactly what they are suppose to do and the battery lasts for ages, it still make a great PDA for its age and a portable word processor, here are some of the Pro's and Con's of owning one of these devices.

Pros:
1) Lightweight & Portable
2) Reliable
3) Battery efficient
4) Highly customisable & programmable
5) Great Word-processor capability

Cons:
1) Would be great if it had a backlight.
2) Lacks voice memo/recorder function.
3) No longer in production (parts are hard to get).
4) No memory card feature for backing up.
5) Keyboard keys lack travel (feels flat)

Overall the device is great and handles most of what you can throw at it, as I have found after buying that the quality of these vary and a seller saying good or fair condition is not exactly as fair as you might expect it to be, overall its a nice PDA but lacks 2 things: (1) Backlight (2)Additional memory card slots.Read full review...

Psion Revo PDA - Pros & Cons

I agree with most of the reviews, these are great PDA's even by todays standards - Many useful functions and very portable.

However there are two well documented failure modes which secondhand versions suffer from:

1. The internal battery can fail causing the device to only work when it is connect to a mains charger.

2. The display can fail - the screen just goes blank. This usually caused by a failure of the flexible cable connecting the screen to the main computer board.

Both these problems can be fixed but at a price!Read full review...