Psion 7 - was it the original netbook?

While micro-laptops like the Asus Eee and the Acer Aspire One are all the rage, it's worth remembering that the concept of the 'netbook' isn't a new idea. In fact, I think I still have one of the best laptop alternatives ever designed tucked away in a drawer - the Psion 7.

Less a laptop, the Psion 7 was basically a giant PDA. But this was key to its overall appeal. Launched in 1999 in the UK, it ran the same EPOC operating system as its popular little brother the Psion 5. You can see the evolution of EPOC today in the Symbian OS, which now powers mobile phones from Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.

The Psion 7 as a netbook

For me, the appeal of the Psion 7 was three-fold. First, it was smaller and lighter than a laptop. It tipped the scales at just over a kilogram. Crucially, it featured a large 7.7-inch VGA screen, which was touch-sensitive (like a PDA).

This allowed the Psion 7 to dispense with the need for a separate mouse, trackpad or IBM-style keyboard nipple. As for the keyboard, it ranks as another Psion 7 highlight - a full-sized, high quality QWERTY affair that slid beautifully out on a hinge when you opened the leather-bound lid.

Second, the Psion 7 was instant-on. I've already talked about the benefits of instant-on gadgets - see: Why the iPod touch rocks the digital home. Owning a Psion 7, you could open up the lid and start typing into the word processor, spreadsheet or email application at a moment's notice. There was no boot-up sequence; no sluggish program launching. The Psion 7 even used flash-based storage (CompactFlash cards) before SSD became a trendy option.

An instant-on laptop

Dell is launching an instant-on feature with its new Optiplex laptops next week. But while this is certainly an improvement, reports suggest that only core applications (not the entire OS) will be accessible in this mode. Boot-up sequences are a necessary evil for the time being. We might have to wait until Windows 7 appears, which is rumoured to enable "near instant" access to must-have programs.

Thirdly, the Psion 7 boasted a seven-hour battery life. SEVEN HOURS! Psion claimed eight hours plus, but I never managed to make it stretch that far.

True, the Psion 7 didn't have Wi-Fi and only have had 16MB of RAM (32MB on the souped-up 'netBook' model). It couldn't play back music or video, and its Opera web browser often crashed. But the staying power of the Psion 7 puts the current crop of so-called netbooks to shame.

A netbook before its time

Of course, the Psion 7 wasn't without its niggles. Documents created using the EPOC applications weren't effortlessly compatible with Windows. And, as I've pointed out, getting a Psion 7 on the web was tricky - you could either buy a 56k modem that plugged into the PCMCIA slot, or connect via an infra red-enabled mobile phone, hijacking its GPRS connectivity. By the time PCMCIA and CF-based wireless cards were available, the Psion 7 had all but failed - although you can still buy them online for around £250.

Ultimately, the market wasn't ready for the Psion 7. While the original Asus Eee made waves with a sub-£200 price-point, the Psion 7 cost around £800. So it was precisely four times too expensive to make an impact beyond rag-tag bands of early adopters and flag-waving Psion fans. Psion did produce a WinCE-powered version. This 'Netbook Pro' did feature Wi-Fi (802.11b) and was pressed into service as a CRM tool by the surviving Psion Teklogix company.

Relaunching the Psion 7

Timing is everything. Had HD DVD been cheaper to produce, perhaps Microsoft would have included it in the Xbox 360 and the HD format might have ended differently. Similarly, if TiVo had launched in the UK a couple of years later (and at half its initial £400 price), maybe Michael Parkinson would be trumpeting its virtues on TV instead of loving Sky+.

It makes we wonder: how much success would an upgraded, Linux-powered 2008 version of the Psion 7 have today?