Josh: Create documentation page for the newly hosted Psion manuals and datasheets

2026-09-09T15:45:15Z

Create documentation page for the newly hosted Psion manuals and datasheets

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'''Psion's own surviving documentation for the [[Psion netBook]].''' No service manual, spare parts list or exploded diagram for the netBook or [[Psion Series 7|Series 7]] has survived in public hands, but a useful body of manufacturer material has — including two documents that answer hardware questions nothing else does.

== The user guide ==

Psion PLC's own 225-page user guide, version 1.1, December 1999.

<pdf> File:Psion netBook User Guide (December 1999).pdf </pdf>

Download: [[:File:Psion netBook User Guide (December 1999).pdf|Psion netBook User Guide (December 1999).pdf]]

== The FAQ — the PC Card current limits ==

Psion Teklogix's own customer FAQ is the single most useful surviving manufacturer document for diagnosing PC Card problems on these machines, because it gives the numbers rather than the symptoms:

{| class="wikitable styled-table" style="width:100%; text-align:left;"
|+'''PC Card slot current limits, from Psion Teklogix'''
! Machine !! Slot limit !! Notes
|-
| '''[[Psion netBook|netBook]], built from September 2002''' || '''800 mA''' || Supports 3 V and 5 V cards. A '''main logic board design change in September 2002''' raised the available power, which is what allows GPRS cards such as the Option GlobeTrotter to work.
|-
| '''[[Psion netBook|netBook]], built before that change''' || '''300 mA''' || The document is internally inconsistent here, naming the design change as September 2002 in one sentence and "prior to September 2003" in the next. The 2002 date agrees with the independently reported board revision 10, which began in '''week 35 of 2002'''.
|-
| '''[[Psion Series 7|Series 7]]''' || '''200 mA''' || The hard number behind the Series 7's reputation for refusing modems and radio cards that work in a netBook.
|}

Psion's stated reason is thermal: PC Cards are designed either for machines with internal cooling fans or for machines without, and the netBook is in the second group.

The same document confirms that the Series 7 runs at '''133 MHz''', roughly 30 per cent slower than the netBook, with its operating system in ROM and therefore not field-upgradeable.

<pdf> File:Psion netBook FAQ (Psion Teklogix).pdf </pdf>

Download: [[:File:Psion netBook FAQ (Psion Teklogix).pdf|Psion netBook FAQ (Psion Teklogix).pdf]]

== The datasheet ==

Psion Teklogix's two-page A4 product datasheet, document code NBOOK-01/01-5K-A4-UK, February 2001. This is the primary manufacturer source for the netBook's specification, and it corrects several figures that circulate in the community record — the keyboard is '''58 keys''', the adapter is '''15 V 1.5 A''', the drop rating is '''0.7 m onto carpet''', and the '''CR2032 backup cell has a 55-hour lifespan'''.

Download: [[:File:Psion netBook Datasheet (2001).pdf|Psion netBook Datasheet (2001).pdf]]

== The hardware note ==

''netBook Hardware'' version 2.0, a short Psion PLC engineering description of the two netBook-specific hardware items — the docking station, which re-routes serial communications automatically and disables the side port while docked, and the PC Card slot with its release lever and blanking plate.

Download: [[:File:Psion netBook Hardware - Docking Station and PC Cards.pdf|Psion netBook Hardware - Docking Station and PC Cards.pdf]]

== The serial port pinout ==

A one-page mapping of the netBook's RS-232 cable through the line driver to the StrongARM SA-1100's own pins and GPIO assignments. Useful when diagnosing a dead serial port — and the port has been burnt out by serial mice drawing their power from it.

Download: [[:File:Psion netBook Serial Port Pinout.pdf|Psion netBook Serial Port Pinout.pdf]]

== Related pages ==

* [[Psion netBook]] · [[Psion netBook General Maintenance]] · [[Psion netBook Troubleshooting Guide]] · [[Psion netBook Battery Service]]
* [[Psion Series 7 User Guide]] · [[Psion netBook Pro Documentation]]

[[Category:Service Manuals]]
[[Category:Psion]]

Psion netBook Documentation - Revision history

Josh: Create documentation page for the newly hosted Psion manuals and datasheets