{"id":902,"date":"2023-08-15T08:48:10","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T08:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vintage.bohemiancave.org.uk\/?p=902"},"modified":"2025-12-24T00:46:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T00:46:23","slug":"psion-siena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vintage.bohemiancave.org.uk\/index.php\/psion-siena\/","title":{"rendered":"Psion Siena"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"Siena\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Psion’s Series 3<\/a> (and the Organiser and Organiser II<\/a> before it) were considered premium machines, and priced accordingly. In order to get into lower price brackets, in 1996 Psion released the Siena (and did the low price thing again later to the Series 5<\/a> with the Revo<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They didn’t skimp on the software quality, though.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Hardware<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"Siena\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Siena was made by Psion to be a budget machine within it’s Series 3 line-up, and as such it has a smaller display, no SSD slots and reduced RAM. Two versions were released: one with 512KB of memory and the other with 1MB. I have the former.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The clamshell of the Siena contains a much simpler hinge mechanism than the Series 3. Unlike the Series 3, it employs a clip to hold it closed. When fully opened, the case in gently held in the open position by a spring clip (hidden inside the mechanism).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When unclipped, the infrared IrDA port and the serial RS-232 port are revealed beneath an accent part of the case. The RS-232 cable is, handily, the same as the one for the Series 3c (which is the same as that for the Series 5).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also revealed is a pushbutton which releases the flap entirely. Beneath the flap are the batteries. Also unlike the Series 3, power for the Siena comes in the form of two AAA batteries and a CR1620 backup battery (to keep the memory alive when changing the AAA’s). There is no power jack. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Siena\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Siena\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Siena\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Siena\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The keyboard on the Siena has three distinct areas to it. Firstly is the qwerty area with Series 3 calculator-style keys. This has a cut-out where the number keys would normally live, in which are the membrane application keys. These are also similar to those on the Series 3 but fixed in place. To the right of the screen is a numeric keypad. These keys are more like the rubber keys you would find on a remote control.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The screen on the Siena is smaller than the one you would find on the Series 3a or 3c. It’s actually the same width (in pixels) as the original Series 3 but taller (again, in pixels). This makes it more of a 4:3 aspect ratio than the widescreen Series 3. The software had to be modified from the 3c to work with this shape and size.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Siena\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Siena\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Siena\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Remember how I said that there was no SSD drive on the Siena. That should have more accurately been no internal<\/em> or included<\/em> SSD drive. A drive is available which plugs into the RS-232 connector. On the back it contains a pass-through serial port. It needs external 9V power, though, so it’s not really portable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to The Last Psion<\/a> blog, it uses extra pins on the connector, not RS-232, and they’re not passed through.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

One oddity I found in my research is that the internet (even Wikipedia) insists that the Siena has a microphone, but there is no sign of one and no onboard sound editing software. Psion did introduce the feature on the Series 3c<\/a> though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary<\/h3>\n\n\n\n