Jaap's Psion II Page

Psion Organiser Series 1 Image Gallery


Contents

The Organiser Datapaks and Program Packs Devices Psion Datapak Formatter Manuals, adverts, etc.


The Organiser

The first Psion Organiser was released in 1984. This Series 1 had a 1-line display, and only 2K RAM.
Also shown here are two rare rebranded versions. One is for the American market, distributed there by Superior Systems Inc. and retitled the OTG-PC, the On-The-Go Pocket Computer. The Psion logo on the keyboard cover is replaced by OTG-PC, and it has a slightly different lettering on the keyboard, and uses the dollar sign $ instead of the pound sign £. The other is the NUME Ececutive Lifestyle Pocket Computer. It still have the Psion logo on the keyboard cover, and uses blue styling instead of red, and has a keyboard that includes the dollar sign as well as some accented characters. NUME was a Norwegian nutritional products company which made a deal with Psion worth £100,000 for branded organisers that would have software to help plan and track your diet. The only reference to this machine I have found is a small article in the issue of Popular Computing Weekly magazine from 6th February 1986.

Psion Organiser 1
Psion Processors Ltd.
Psion Organiser 1
Back
Power Board
Back
Power Board
Front
Main Board
Back
Main Board
Front
Board connection
OTG-PC
Superior Systems Inc.
Executive Lifestyle Pocket Computer
NUME
Article about NUME deal
Popular Computing Weekly 1986-02-06

Datapaks and Program Packs

The Organiser's 4K ROM did not provide a lot of functionality, so most of that had to come from software packs. It was supplied with the Utility Pak as standard. Datapaks only came in sizes 8K and 16K. Most software packs had special circuit boards marked "PROGRAM PAC", in which the programming voltage (Vpp) line is not connected, so the pack could not be written to even though it contains an EPROM. The Link-Up Pack and the Software Pack used ordinary datapaks so that you can store your link settings and programs on the same pack.

Packs
8K Datapak
16K Datapak
Issue 1
16K Datapak
Issue 2
8K Datapak
Box
8K Datapak
Box
Program Pack
Software Packs
By Psion
Science Pack
Box, front
Science Pack
Box, rear
Science Pack
Box contents
Pack Labels
Construction Pack
By Wessex
Restaurant Guide
16K Datapak

Devices

The Organiser did not have a top slot for connecting devices. A comms link was produced, the Link-Up Pack, which consisted of one software pack and one pack with a ribbon lead connected to it with a DB-25 plug at the other end. By putting both packs into the organiser slots, the Organiser could communicate using the standard RS232 protocol with any other serial device such as a PC. Note that once the software was loaded and the correct settings selected, the software pack could be replaced by a datapak containing the data you wanted to send.

Also shown here is a magnetic card reader which has a pack connector, allowing it to be used with the series 1. A further pack connector is shown that used to have a bar code reader pen attached, but that pen was removed after it fell apart.

Link-Up Pack
Link-Up Pack
Link-Up Pack
Link-Up Pack
Modem Adaptor
BBC/Acorn Adaptor
Magnetic Card Reader
with pack connector
Magnetic Card Reader
Connector, Inside
Magnetic Card Reader
Connector, Back
Magnetic Card Reader
Connector, Front
Barcode Pen
Pack Connector
Pen missing
Barcode Pen
Pack Connector
Circuit board, Front
Barcode Pen
Pack Connector
Circuit board, Back

Psion Datapak Formatter

When the Organiser deletes data from a datapak, it is merely marked as deleted so that the data is skipped, but it still takes up room on the pack. The EPROM chips in datapaks cannot be wiped clean electronically. Instead, the formatter was used to empty the packs, which it does by shining UV light onto the window in the EPROM chip for half an hour.

This version of the Datapak Formatter has the style and logo matching the Series 1 Organiser. It was however also used for the series II for some time before getting replaced by a more compact formatter with the new logo and styling.

Psion Datapak Formatter
Psion Datapak Formatter
Front
Psion Datapak Formatter
Open tray
Psion Datapak Formatter
Filled tray
Psion Datapak Formatter
Rear
Psion Datapak Formatter
Inside
Psion Datapak Formatter
Inside

Manuals, adverts, etc.

Organiser Manual
Utility Pack Manual
Science Pack Manual
Link-Up Pack Manual
Link-Up Software 2 Manual
Brochure
Magazine advert