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Restructure to product-page layout; cite newly hosted 3c user guide; correct ROM to 2 MB, serial to 57,600 baud and adaptor to 10 V 250 mA (user guide); replace vague sticky-case ref with the 2007 comp.sys.psion.misc thread
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| name        = Psion Series 3c
| name        = Psion Series 3c
| image        = [[File:Psion Series 3c.jpg|250px]]
| image        = [[File:Psion Series 3c.jpg|250px]]
| caption      = A Psion Series 3c, open
| caption      = Psion Series 3c, open
| developer    = Psion PLC
| developer    = Psion PLC
| manufacturer = Psion PLC
| manufacturer = Psion PLC
| type        = Clamshell palmtop / PDA
| type        = Clamshell palmtop computer
| release_date = 1996
| release_date = 1996
| discontinued = 1998
| cpu          = NEC V30H (80C86 compatible) at 7.68 MHz
| cpu          = NEC V30H @ 7.68 MHz, in Psion's ASIC9
| memory      = 2 MB ROM; 1 MB or 2 MB RAM
| memory      = 1 MB ROM; 1 MB or 2 MB RAM
| storage      = Two internal Solid State Disk (SSD) slots
| storage      = Two internal Solid State Disk (SSD) slots
| display      = 480 × 160 monochrome LCD; backlit on later models
| display      = 480 × 160 monochrome LCD; backlit on some models
| sound        = Membrane speaker, built-in microphone, 12-bit sound recording
| sound        = Loudspeaker and microphone; digital recording and playback
| dimensions  = 165 mm × 85 mm × 22 mm
| dimensions  = 165 mm × 85 mm × 22 mm
| weight      = 275 g including batteries
| weight      = 275 g including batteries
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| predecessor  = [[Psion Series 3a]]
| predecessor  = [[Psion Series 3a]]
| successor    = [[Psion Series 3mx]]
| successor    = [[Psion Series 3mx]]
| model        = There was never a Series 3b
}}
}}
The '''Psion Series 3c''' of 1996 is a refined [[Psion Series 3a|Series 3a]]: same processor, same screen resolution, but with an '''infrared port''', a '''changed serial port''', '''revised built-in software''' and, on later machines, a '''backlight'''. Psion never released a Series 3b.<ref name="wp3">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Series_3 "Psion Series 3"], Wikipedia. Source for the model history, the absence of a 3b, the infrared port, the changed serial port, the case redesign, the backlight, the RAM options, the Easter egg and the documented clamshell problems.</ref>
The '''Psion Series 3c''' is a clamshell palmtop computer made by Psion PLC and released in 1996 as the successor to the [[Psion Series 3a]]. Psion did not release a Series 3b.<ref name="wp3">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Series_3 "Psion Series 3"], Wikipedia. Model history, the absence of a 3b, the infrared port, the changed serial port, the case redesign, backlit models, the Easter egg, the CR1620 backup cell and the documented clamshell problems.</ref> It keeps the 3a's processor, clock speed and 480 × 160 screen, and adds an infrared port, a changed serial port and a ninth application button.<ref name="ug3c">Psion PLC, ''Series 3c User Guide'', Version 1.0, August 1996, part no. 6103-0107-01. Hosted on this wiki as [[:File:Psion Series 3c User Guide (August 1996).pdf]]. Fitting the batteries (pp. 4–5), care (p. 22), changing the batteries (pp. 25–27), communications settings (p. 258 and p. 309) and specification (pp. 373–374).</ref><ref name="wp3" />


== What changed from the 3a ==
== History ==


{| class="wikitable styled-table" style="width:70%; text-align:left;"
The Series 3c was released in 1996; Psion's user guide is dated August 1996.<ref name="wp3" /><ref name="ug3c" /> It was replaced by the [[Psion Series 3mx]], announced in July 1998, which uses a similar case with a silver finish and a faster processor.<ref name="wp3" /> The 3c and the 3mx contain an Easter egg with a hidden melody and a credits screen.<ref name="wp3" />
|+'''Series 3a → Series 3c'''<ref name="wp3" /><ref name="spec">[https://www.psion.netogram.com/psionspecifications.html "Psion specifications"], netogram.com. Source for the comparative specifications including serial speed, ROM and RAM sizes, keyboard button counts and backlight availability.</ref>
 
! Change !! Detail
== Architecture and processor ==
|-
 
| '''Infrared port''' || Added, and visible on the case
The 3c uses a 16-bit NEC V30H (80C86 compatible) at 7.68 MHz, as the Series 3a does.<ref name="ug3c" /> For the SIBO architecture, the power states and the supply rails, see [[Psion Series 3a]].
|-
 
| '''Serial port''' || '''Changed''' — the 3c uses the same arrangement as the [[Psion Siena|Siena]], and a serial cable for direct connection to a Windows PC was supplied. '''Travel Modem connections differ between 3/3a and 3c/3mx.'''
== Memory and storage ==
|-
 
| '''Serial speed''' || Raised to 56,400 bit/s
The ROM is 2 MB and holds the operating system, the Microsoft MS-DOS Flash Filing System and the built-in applications. RAM is 1 MB or 2 MB.<ref name="ug3c" /> The two SSD drives take Psion Solid State Disks measuring 63 × 43 × 6 mm, in MS-DOS format. Flash SSDs need no battery backup; RAM SSDs have their own lithium cell.<ref name="ug3c" />
|-
 
| '''Case''' || Redesigned: badge moved centrally on the lid, fewer undulations, '''matte dark grey painted finish'''
The 3c senses whether its SSD doors are open with a set of tracks and a small metal contact on the door hinge. The [[Psion Series 3mx]] uses a pair of angled microswitches instead.<ref name="rc3mx">R. Zealley, [https://www.retrocoding.uk/psion-3mx-ssd-microswitch-repair/ "Psion Series 3mx SSD door microswitch repair"], Retro Coding, 25 May 2020. Comparison of the 3c and 3mx door sensing.</ref>
|-
| '''Backlight''' || Fitted to later models — mainly, though not only, the US 2 MB machines
|-
| '''RAM''' || 1 MB or 2 MB only
|-
| '''Application buttons''' || '''9''' reprogrammable buttons, against the 3a's 8
|-
| '''Expansion''' || Two internal SSDs plus an external PC-Card option
|-
| '''Software''' || Several modifications to the built-in applications
|}


Everything else — the '''V30H at 7.68 MHz inside ASIC9''', the 480 × 160 screen with its grey plane, the microphone and 12-bit sound recording, the 58-key keyboard, 2 × AA cells and the '''CR1620''' backup cell — is as the 3a.<ref name="spec" /><ref name="wp3" />
== Display ==


For the architecture itself — ASIC9, the bank-switched memory, the hardware 32-bit RTC, the power states and the supply rails — see [[Psion Series 3a]].
The screen is a 480 × 160 pixel high-contrast retardation-film LCD, showing up to 80 characters by 25 lines.<ref name="ug3c" /> Some 3c machines, mainly those for the US market, have a backlit screen.<ref name="wp3" /><ref name="spec">[https://www.psion.netogram.com/psionspecifications.html "Psion specifications"], netogram.com. Series 3c backlight ("USA 2 Mb models") and application buttons.</ref>


== The SSD door sensing ==
== Sound ==


This is the one internal difference that matters for repair.
A loudspeaker handles DTMF dialling and digital sound playback, and a microphone records sound.<ref name="ug3c" />


The 3c senses the state of its SSD slot doors using '''a set of PCB tracks and a small metal connector on the slot door hinge'''. The later [[Psion Series 3mx|3mx]] replaced that with '''a pair of angled microswitches''' — which is why the 3mx has a characteristic broken-switch fault that the 3c does not.<ref name="rc3mx">Richard Zealley, [https://www.retrocoding.uk/psion-3mx-ssd-microswitch-repair/ "Psion Series 3mx SSD door microswitch repair"], Retro Coding, 25 May 2020. Source for the difference between the 3c's door-sensing tracks and the 3mx's microswitches.</ref>
== Input, output and expansion ==


On a 3c that will not see an SSD, '''clean the tracks and the metal door contact''' before suspecting anything else.
The keyboard has 58 keys in a QWERTY layout, with nine touch-sensitive application buttons.<ref name="ug3c" /> The 3c has a built-in IrDA SIR infrared port for transfers to another 3c, a [[Psion Siena]] or an infrared printer.<ref name="ug3c" /> Its serial port differs from the 3a's and matches the Siena's, and a serial cable for direct connection to a Windows PC was supplied. Psion's Travel Modem has different connections for the 3 and 3a and for the 3c and 3mx.<ref name="wp3" /> With the link cable the communications software runs at up to 57,600 baud.<ref name="ug3c" /> An optional Parallel Printer Link was available for parallel printers.<ref name="ug3c" />


== The sticky case ==
== Power ==


The 3c's redesigned case carries a '''rubberised soft-touch coating''', and with age that coating '''degrades into something resembling glue'''. It is one of the first things a collector notices about a 3c that has been in a drawer since the 1990s.<ref name="sticky">Community discussion of the Psion 3c sticky-case problem on comp.sys.psion.misc, together with established soft-touch coating restoration practice. Source for the degradation of the 3c's rubberised finish and the isopropyl alcohol stripping method and its cautions.</ref>
<templatestyles src="Template:StyledTable/styles.css" />
{| class="wikitable styled-table" style="width:80%; text-align:left;"
|+'''Series 3c power'''<ref name="ug3c" />
! Item !! Specification
|-
| Main cells || 2 × AA alkaline, about 80 hours of use (2–4 months of typical use)
|-
| Backup cell || CR1620 lithium, under SSD door B
|-
| Mains adaptor || 10 V ±10 % (9–11 V), 250 mA. Psion approved models 1602-0001-02 (UK), 1602-0002-02 (Europe), 1602-0014-01 (US)
|-
| Operating temperature || 0–50 °C on batteries; 0–40 °C on the mains adaptor
|}


It is fixable — see [[Psion Series 3c General Maintenance]].
Psion's user guide says to use only approved adaptors, for continued protection against fire.<ref name="ug3c" /> The 3c can use NiCd rechargeable AA cells, but they are not charged in the machine.<ref name="ug3c" />


== Easter egg ==
== Case ==


The 3c and the later [[Psion Series 3mx|3mx]] contain an Easter egg: a hidden melody and credits screen.<ref name="wp3" />
The redesigned case has the badge in the centre of the lid, fewer undulations and a matte dark grey finish.<ref name="wp3" /> Owners on comp.sys.psion.misc reported in 2007 that this rubbery coating had turned into something resembling glue; see [[Psion Series 3c General Maintenance]].<ref name="sticky">[https://comp.sys.psion.misc.narkive.com/61t2Y2O6/sticky-case-problem-with-3c "Sticky case problem with 3c"], comp.sys.psion.misc, 24 September – 3 October 2007 (archived by Narkive). Posts by John X Ample, Steve Hodgson and Frank Peelo.</ref>


== Known problems ==
== Documentation ==


As with the rest of the family: '''hinge breakage''', '''button bar failure''', '''screen cable deterioration''' producing vertical lines,<ref name="wp3" /> and the '''battery lead'''. Add to those the '''sticky case coating''', which is specific to the 3c.
* [[:File:Psion Series 3c User Guide (August 1996).pdf]] – Psion's user guide, including battery fitting, care, communications and the specification.<ref name="ug3c" />
* [[:File:Psion Series 3a Service Manual (June 1996).pdf]] – the service manual for the preceding Series 3a, which shares the case construction.<ref name="sm3a">Psion PLC, ''Series 3a Service Manual'', Version 1.0, June 1996, part no. 6103-0114-01. Hosted on this wiki as [[:File:Psion Series 3a Service Manual (June 1996).pdf]].</ref>


== General maintenance ==
== Known faults ==
{{Main|Psion Series 3c General Maintenance}}


== Troubleshooting ==
The documented weak points of the Series 3 family are broken hinges, a button bar that stops working, and deterioration of the cable to the screen, which shows as vertical lines.<ref name="wp3" /> The 3c adds the ageing case coating. See:
{{Main|Psion Series 3c Troubleshooting Guide}}


== Hinge repair ==
* [[Psion Series 3c Troubleshooting Guide]]
{{Main|Psion Series 3c Hinge Repair}}
* [[Psion Series 3c General Maintenance]]
* [[Psion Series 3c Hinge Repair]]


== See also ==
== Related pages ==


* [[Psion Series 3]] · [[Psion Series 3a]] · [[Psion Series 3mx]] · [[Psion Siena]]
* [[Psion Series 3c General Maintenance]]
* [[Psion Series 3c Troubleshooting Guide]]
* [[Psion Series 3c Hinge Repair]]
* [[Psion Series 3a]]
* [[Psion Series 3mx]]
* [[Psion Siena]]
* [[Battery Refurbishment]]
* [[Battery Refurbishment]]


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<references />
<references />


{{Navbox-Psion}}
{{Navbox-Psion|state=collapsed}}


[[Category:Psion]]
[[Category:Psion]]

Revision as of 11:33, 30 September 2026

Psion Series 3c
Psion Series 3c, open
Specifications
DeveloperPsion PLC
ManufacturerPsion PLC
TypeClamshell palmtop computer
Released1996
CPUNEC V30H (80C86 compatible) at 7.68 MHz
Memory2 MB ROM; 1 MB or 2 MB RAM
StorageTwo internal Solid State Disk (SSD) slots
Display480 × 160 monochrome LCD; backlit on some models
SoundLoudspeaker and microphone; digital recording and playback
Dimensions165 mm × 85 mm × 22 mm
Weight275 g including batteries
OS / FirmwareEPOC16 (SIBO), with OPL
PredecessorPsion Series 3a
SuccessorPsion Series 3mx

The Psion Series 3c is a clamshell palmtop computer made by Psion PLC and released in 1996 as the successor to the Psion Series 3a. Psion did not release a Series 3b.[1] It keeps the 3a's processor, clock speed and 480 × 160 screen, and adds an infrared port, a changed serial port and a ninth application button.[2][1]

History

The Series 3c was released in 1996; Psion's user guide is dated August 1996.[1][2] It was replaced by the Psion Series 3mx, announced in July 1998, which uses a similar case with a silver finish and a faster processor.[1] The 3c and the 3mx contain an Easter egg with a hidden melody and a credits screen.[1]

Architecture and processor

The 3c uses a 16-bit NEC V30H (80C86 compatible) at 7.68 MHz, as the Series 3a does.[2] For the SIBO architecture, the power states and the supply rails, see Psion Series 3a.

Memory and storage

The ROM is 2 MB and holds the operating system, the Microsoft MS-DOS Flash Filing System and the built-in applications. RAM is 1 MB or 2 MB.[2] The two SSD drives take Psion Solid State Disks measuring 63 × 43 × 6 mm, in MS-DOS format. Flash SSDs need no battery backup; RAM SSDs have their own lithium cell.[2]

The 3c senses whether its SSD doors are open with a set of tracks and a small metal contact on the door hinge. The Psion Series 3mx uses a pair of angled microswitches instead.[3]

Display

The screen is a 480 × 160 pixel high-contrast retardation-film LCD, showing up to 80 characters by 25 lines.[2] Some 3c machines, mainly those for the US market, have a backlit screen.[1][4]

Sound

A loudspeaker handles DTMF dialling and digital sound playback, and a microphone records sound.[2]

Input, output and expansion

The keyboard has 58 keys in a QWERTY layout, with nine touch-sensitive application buttons.[2] The 3c has a built-in IrDA SIR infrared port for transfers to another 3c, a Psion Siena or an infrared printer.[2] Its serial port differs from the 3a's and matches the Siena's, and a serial cable for direct connection to a Windows PC was supplied. Psion's Travel Modem has different connections for the 3 and 3a and for the 3c and 3mx.[1] With the link cable the communications software runs at up to 57,600 baud.[2] An optional Parallel Printer Link was available for parallel printers.[2]

Power

Series 3c power[2]
Item Specification
Main cells 2 × AA alkaline, about 80 hours of use (2–4 months of typical use)
Backup cell CR1620 lithium, under SSD door B
Mains adaptor 10 V ±10 % (9–11 V), 250 mA. Psion approved models 1602-0001-02 (UK), 1602-0002-02 (Europe), 1602-0014-01 (US)
Operating temperature 0–50 °C on batteries; 0–40 °C on the mains adaptor

Psion's user guide says to use only approved adaptors, for continued protection against fire.[2] The 3c can use NiCd rechargeable AA cells, but they are not charged in the machine.[2]

Case

The redesigned case has the badge in the centre of the lid, fewer undulations and a matte dark grey finish.[1] Owners on comp.sys.psion.misc reported in 2007 that this rubbery coating had turned into something resembling glue; see Psion Series 3c General Maintenance.[5]

Documentation

Known faults

The documented weak points of the Series 3 family are broken hinges, a button bar that stops working, and deterioration of the cable to the screen, which shows as vertical lines.[1] The 3c adds the ageing case coating. See:

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "Psion Series 3", Wikipedia. Model history, the absence of a 3b, the infrared port, the changed serial port, the case redesign, backlit models, the Easter egg, the CR1620 backup cell and the documented clamshell problems.
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 Psion PLC, Series 3c User Guide, Version 1.0, August 1996, part no. 6103-0107-01. Hosted on this wiki as File:Psion Series 3c User Guide (August 1996).pdf. Fitting the batteries (pp. 4–5), care (p. 22), changing the batteries (pp. 25–27), communications settings (p. 258 and p. 309) and specification (pp. 373–374).
  3. ↑ R. Zealley, "Psion Series 3mx SSD door microswitch repair", Retro Coding, 25 May 2020. Comparison of the 3c and 3mx door sensing.
  4. ↑ "Psion specifications", netogram.com. Series 3c backlight ("USA 2 Mb models") and application buttons.
  5. ↑ "Sticky case problem with 3c", comp.sys.psion.misc, 24 September – 3 October 2007 (archived by Narkive). Posts by John X Ample, Steve Hodgson and Frank Peelo.
  6. ↑ Psion PLC, Series 3a Service Manual, Version 1.0, June 1996, part no. 6103-0114-01. Hosted on this wiki as File:Psion Series 3a Service Manual (June 1996).pdf.


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