--- title: PSION Series 3 categories: - Computers types: - Pocket origins: - United Kingdom years: - '1991' cpus: - NEC V30H params: name: Series 3 image: /media/museum/photos/psion_series3_system_s2.jpg company: /companies/psion company_name: PSION specs: - label: NAME value: Series 3 - label: MANUFACTURER value: PSION - label: TYPE value: Pocket - label: ORIGIN value: United Kingdom - label: YEAR value: '1991' - label: END OF PRODUCTION value: '1999' - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE value: OPL - label: KEYBOARD value: 58-key QWERTY - label: CPU value: NEC V30H - label: SPEED value: 'S3: 3.84MHz, S3a: 7.68MHz' - label: RAM value: 'S3: 128-256K, S3a: 256K-2MB' - label: ROM value: 'S3: 384K, S3a: 1MB' - label: TEXT MODES value: 'S3: 8 lines x 40 chars, S3a: 16 lines x 80 chars' - label: GRAPHIC MODES value: 'S3: 240x80, S3a: 480x160' - label: COLORS value: 'S3: B/W LCD, S3a: Black, Grey & White (3 "colours")' - label: SOUND value: 'S3: Buzzer, S3a: Loudspeaker, 2 channels or samples' - label: SIZE / WEIGHT value: 165 (W) x 85 (H) x 22 (D) mm - label: I/O PORTS value: Proprietary - RS232 & Centronics adapters available - label: OS value: EPOC16 - label: POWER SUPPLY value: 2 AA batteries or mains - label: PERIPHERALS value: Proprietary memory expansions - label: PRICE value: 'S3: £179.00 to £249.00, S3a: £269.00 to £399.00' tabs: - photos - software photos: - title: LARGE VIEW subtitle: '' text: Thanks to **Jonathan Barnes** image: /media/museum/photos/psion_series3_system_s1.jpg screenshots: - title: CARD GAME subtitle: screenshot text: Thanks to Damian Walker for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/psion_series3_ss_acespace.png - title: GAME subtitle: screenshot text: Thanks to Damian Walker for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/psion_series3_ss_crissx.png - title: GAME subtitle: screenshot text: Thanks to Damian Walker for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/psion_series3_ss_epo.png - title: GAME subtitle: screenshot text: Thanks to Damian Walker for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/psion_series3_ss_jumpy.png - title: GAME subtitle: screenshot text: Thanks to Damian Walker for this screenshot image: /media/museum/software/psion_series3_ss_slider.png comments: - author: Steven Monrad (US) date: Wednesday 23rd December 2020 text: I had a Psion 3 until I got a Psion 5mx in 1999. I still have it and it still works/looks new. At the time I had a new Thinkpad 700X and used the laptop as the backup to the Psion 5mx which I used as a principal computer to see if it could be done, very mobile. A dial-up modem too. The best machine around, QWERTY keyboard and came with a (still) beautiful leather wallet/case. Left it on an MTA NYC bus one night coming from California, full of credit cards and cash, all ID etc. Got it back next day from MTA dispatch, all present except for missing MTA card. Incredible design w AC cord, or (2) AA, and watch battery memory power. Built-in stylus, expansion memory card slot, modem/accessory connector. - author: Aidan (Oregon, USA) date: Tuesday 27th February 2018 text: I have one of these I picked up from Goodwill for $5. Great little addition to my growing retro collection! - author: Dr Arthur Percival (UK) date: Tuesday 29th May 2012 text: |- For storing addresses etc off-PC I stilll use a brance of Series 3''s, one at home and one in the office where I work as a volunteer. They''re very handy.\ One I used to use also when summarising the contents of old title deeds - awkward things to handle, often very large and on parchment - so a tiny computer was much better to use than even a laptop or (more recently) netbook.\ It worked very well, though I missed any means of saving standard phrases which could be incorporated in my transcripts.\ The automatic save to memory was a great advantage.\ It''s a pity there was never a Windows version, and also that the device wasn''t developed any further. However I suppose nowadays Blackberrys and the like have taken its place - but I haven''t even got a mobile phone, let alone a smartphone! - author: Ivelisse Colon-Nevarez (San Juan, Puerto Rico) date: Saturday 1st January 2011 text: My first husband owned one of these. It was very useful and easy to use. It even included games! oc_id: 1207 source: url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230608221205/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1207 date: '2023-06-08' --- In 1991, Psion launched their first clamshell format organiser, the Series 3. It featured a NEC V30H 8086-compatible processor running at 3.84MHz. The machine featured 128K or 256K of RAM, and into its 384K ROM Psion fit their EPOC operating system (as used in the MC 200 & 400 models, upgraded with new features), several good office/PDA applications and the OPL programming language. In 1993 the Series 3a was launched. Despite the insignificant change in version number, this was a major upgrade: 256K or 512K RAM, double the processor speed, a much bigger LCD screen and upgraded sound capable of playing back digital samples at 8-bit or 13-bit quality. The 1MB ROM included new applications: a spreadsheet and a much upgraded Agenda package comparable to agenda/diary applications on desktop machines. 1MB and 2MB models were added later, and included a Patience game. The Series 3 range of computers continued to be developed until 1998, when the model 3mx was released. This model was discontinued in 1999. Much of their software was ported to the Series 5 range, which was produced between 1997 and 2001, and some of the software, especially the built-in programming language OPL, is still being used and developed in Symbian mobile phones (Series 60, etc.), which are the descendants of the Psion PDA software architecture. Thanks to **Damian Walker** for the information, **Jonathan Barnes** for the picture.