7. Price And Conclusions

#8: Price

With smartphones competitively priced and UMPC's at around $1,000 - $1,500, the Psion should have a price that takes its unique advantages into account, but isn't irrationally high. The Psion redesign uses some of the most energy efficient components available today. The downside of that is the price you'll have to pay. Naturally, we tried to keep prices lower, by opting for a small sized flash drive, for example. The Psion's characteristics should make it unique though. And combined with its unbeatable functionality and size, the price will be only one of the many factors in the buying equation. The price suggestions were many: bestofcomputer suggested a modest $600, while Leslie Perecz would go up to $1,800. Most readers though suggested $1,000 to $1,500. The real price could eventually be somewhere in between those extremes.

Conclusions

Computer generated graphics by Jason Zushman

The original Psion concept is all but dead. The original 5mx is still in service for many people who like its unique design, form factor, difficult to find functionality and usable keyboard. The Psion has aged though and more and more users are coming to miss a color screen, some multimedia features and connectivity. The aim of this article was to design an updated Psion while retaining the features that made it so popular. Your contributions were invaluable in helping me determine what you would most like to have in a new Psion-like mini laptop. Your input also made it clear that for most of you there is no modern equivalent of the Psion 5mx. We hope to have managed, at least in theory, to bring back the Psion to its glory.

If one last thing remains to be said, it has to be Roger Peggram's remarks on marketing. According to him, Psion did a poor job marketing the 5mx in the US; it could have outsold its' competitors if Psion had tried harder. As with any product, but especially with such a good one that shouldn't go amiss, an effective marketing campaign is essential to success. The Psion is a much missed little companion. I suspect that a modern version could seduce millions, if it was promoted in the right way.

I and most of the readers who responded to the first article on the 5mx would love to see someone with vision and resources pick up the responsibility and rewards of building a modern Psion 5mx. Can it happen in this cynical copycat age? Maybe not, but we all hold out hope.

Join our discussion on this topic