MC-200, -400, -600           80C86-based notebook computers
Psion Touts Staying Power of New Mobile Systems
 
Microbytes Daily News Service
Copyright (c) 1989, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Handheld-computer-maker Psion has a new family of "mobile"
computers that it says offer longer battery life, better data
storage, and an easier user interface than other "notebook"
computers. All will be available in February.
 
The three clamshell-style models each weigh 4.5 pounds and are
about the size of a ream of paper. All three use a 7.68-MHz 80C86
CPU, 8 AA batteries, and new Intel solid-state flash EPROM memory
cards for data storage. Psion says that the matchbook-sized EPROM
cards are more reliable and use less power than disk media and
don't need battery back-up like RAM cards.
 
Two of the models, the MC-200 and MC-400, employ a proprietary
multitasking "graphic" operating system that uses icons and
menus. The MC-200 runs 75 hours on a set of batteries, Psion
says, and includes a 640 x 200 blue/white supertwist LCD display,
128K of RAM, and a touchpad above the keyboard. It comes with a
set of software programs, including a word processor, diary,
calculator, terminal emulator, and "personal database."
 
The MC-400 comes with more RAM (256K) and a better display, a 640
x 400 black-and-white retardation film LCD that Psion claims
offers superior contrast. It will run 60 hours on a set of
batteries, Psion says. Both the MC-200 and 400 include full
QWERTY keyboards and a voice processing capability for digitizing
and playing back speech through a built-in microphone and
speaker.
 
The MC-600 is a DOS-based machine with 768K of RAM, a 1-megabyte
RAMdisk, an Award BIOS, flash card slots, and the same display
as the MC-400, operating in 640 x 200 CGA-compatible mode.
Instead of the touchpad it has a row of function keys at the top
of the keyboard, and it does not include the software programs
shipped with the other two systems. Psion says battery life is 30
hours. Options include a 3.5-inch 1.44-megabyte external floppy-
disk drive.
 
Price: MC-200, $799; MC-400, $1499; $2499.
 
Contact: Psion Inc., 118 Echo Lake Rd, Watertown, CT 06795; (203)
274-7521.
 
                              --- Andy Reinhardt
 
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