Psion Revo Handheld:

  Winner of the prestigious Byte Award for best hardware, the Psion Revo is a remarkably powerful, feature-rich, and lightweight PDA. An interesting alternative to Palm or Windows CE organizers, the Psion is stylish and slim and has a high-speed processor and built-in long-life batteries.

  To set up up the Revo, we followed the instructions in the Quick Start guide: We connected the AC adapter to the serial cable (the power cord does not plug into the docking station), hooked up the serial cable to our PC, opened the Revo's case, and slid the Revo into the docking station. (The Revo cannot fit into the docking station unless the case is open.)

  A green LED confirms that the Revo is properly docked and a red LED indicates that the battery is fast-charging. The battery charges to 85 percent capacity in just 1.5 hours and fully charges in 4 hours. The charged battery lasts about 12 hours.

  The Revo is based on the popular Psion 5, but with considerable cosmetic and technical improvements. You operate this organizer with the 14 touch-sensitive buttons that border its screen or by using the stylus to tap onscreen buttons and menus. Psion has made every effort to keep the operational controls above the keyboard, thus maximizing the space available for keys. Still, typing on this small keyboard requires much getting used to, and the keys' tactile feedback is not very satisfying.

  In our tests, we typed memos, made appointments, added addresses, and created a sample spreadsheet using the Psion's built-in applications. Agenda and contact information automatically synchronizes with your PC.

  For other files, such as those made using the Psion's surprisingly advanced word processor and spreadsheet applications, the PsiWin software transfers and converts the files to a PC-compatible format, such as Microsoft Word or Excel. The Revo's PsiWin software is also compatible with Lotus SmartSuite, WordPerfect, dBASE, and more.

  Psion licenses its Epoc operating system from Symbian, which explains why the Revo's interface looks only moderately similar to Windows CE. Subsequently, the steps to perform our tasks seemed intuitive--we rarely had to consult the manual, but we often didn't guess right the first time either. We recommend that you browse the extensive Revo Handbook (222 pages with index) for a proper introduction to the comprehensive suite of PIM applications and check out the CD-ROM for additional utilities and tools.

  The Revo's built-in applications are Calc, Time, Word, Data, Sheet, and Cascade. Additional applications include Today View, Agenda, Contacts, Phone, and Jotter. The Revo also supports e-mail, SMS messaging, Web browsing, PC synchronization, and connections to compatible mobile phones through its infrared port and an optional travel modem.

  If you're looking for an alternative to both Windows CE and Palm OS organizers, consider the Psion Revo.

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