I am now in possession of my fourth Psion II organiser, in an attempt to complete my collection of these devices. This one is the LZ64 model from 1989. All my examples are of a good quality with only some slight markings on the device. They all work as they should do with no issues. This particular example comes with a British Telecom branded holder, as a number of different companies branded their own units like this back in the late 80s early 90’s. It has 64KB Ram and a 64KB Rom that is expandable.
BT branded pouch LZ64
My units marked with an asterisk
The LZ range
Here is some information from Psion regarding this model.
The Psion Organiser II Models LZ and LZ64 come with a powerful set of utilities including:
A database which allows you to store items of information and retrieve them again instantly.
A diary to keep track of personal appointments.
Alarms to remind you of your diary entries, or to use as an alarm clock.
A sophisticated calculator, for simple or complex calculations involving mathematical functions.
A clock, with a stopwatch and timer.
Notepads with calculation, for information such as things- to-do or expenses lists.
International time and dialling codes.
A month-at-a-view calendar.
Password protection.
A multi-file database.
A choice of European languages.
The Organiser also has its own built-in programming language called OPL. The language is designed to exploit all the machine’s facilities to the full and to let you tailor the Organiser to your own specific needs.
The Organiser has an internal memory and two external devices which are the equivalent of disc drives on a desk-top computer. Each one can hold a Datapak for you to store information on, or a program pack containing a program such as the Pocket Spreadsheet.
The internal memory of the Model LZ64 holds around 64,000 characters. In addition, one or more Datapaks can boost the storage capacity considerably – by up to 128,000 characters per DatapaK.
Courtesy of Psion PLC1989
As I’ve stated before I will be using these units to learn the OPL programming language and to try and get these units connected to other retro units that I have if this age group. I am also looking at getting these units to connect via usb to a computer. It can be done and that is a project for me at a later date.
When my parents were at my current age it would have been 1986. They were probably doing their best to just get by, and they both had multiple jobs. I remember a few details from this period as there were some significant goings on around this time.
My mother would have been a shop worker in a local store as well as a cleaner at the company i worked for. I would have been in the photographic industry about four years at this time, i would have had a darkroom in the spare bedroom and would have probably been on my third computer at this point. I’d have ditched the Sinclair ZX81 and the Commodore Vic 20 and I’d probably be trying to master the Amstrad CPC464. I loved the start of the computer era, as did a lot of my friends at the time.
I had my first SLR camera around this time and that would have probably been a Praktika. I was saving as much as i could, to try and purchase my all time favourite camera at the time, and in fact it is still my favourite of all time to this very day. A jet black Canon A1.
I know that i was heavily into photography at This time, as i took one of the most iconic photos i have ever taken in my family history, of my father. I have it to this day. He was leaning on a coal bunker in the garden, it was a beautiful sunny day and i took it, and processed the film and enlarged the photos in my little darkroom in the spare bedroom, on a Gnome enlarger. It was a black and white photo and it represented a turning point in all of our lives.
He had just had a heart attack, and he suffered a deep immersive depression that he never really came out of. Please don’t misunderstand me he lived for another 21 years with no other medical issues, however he had changed and became highly abusive to my mum, my little sister and me. He was heavily into alcohol at this stage, and we were paying the price. I had to grow up quick as i became the protector of my Mother and sister, it was hard and i was not prepared. We were the only ones at home at the time as my two elder brothers and elder sister had all left at that point, and boy how we suffered big time. Our lives were changed the very day his heart attack occurred.
He was a very good electrician, he had been an aircraft electrician but was now working for a local building company, he was also a part time baker.
In the next few years my mother would lose all her brothers and sisters as time took its toll. Father would lose his mother and sister and the family began to dwindle in size.
But thats enough of the bad as its all in the past and though i never forget what happened, i have to move on with my own life for purposes of maintaining sanity.
I loved the 80”s as the world was opening up and starting to develop technologically, however i do believe the older generations did struggle. It’s strange really as it is a mirror image for us older generations today, with some of the things that are going on around us currently. Perhaps all generations have their own Groundhog Day periods.
Here are some points of interest that also occurred back in 1986
Plans were announced between the UK and France to build the channel tunnel
The space shuttle Challenger exploded just after its launch
Halley’s Comet makes a show
The Soviet Mir space station is launched
Microsoft goes on the stock market
The Chernobyl nuclear plant explodes
Argentina wins the World Cup
The M25 motorway – The UK’s biggest car park opens officially
A lot happened that year and these are just a small selection of them. However the dynamics of my family changed that year and what occurred from that point on will never be forgotten . WordPress really couldn’t have chosen a worse time line to talk about for me than this one I’m afraid, but then, it’s good to get it out there.
However, time moves on, wounds heal and we all learn. This is why it is important that we don’t erase our past, otherwise how will we ever learn to be better people and treat others with the mutual respect and belonging they all so rightly deserve.
I’m so impressed with these Psion organisers from the 80s that I’ve now decided to go ahead and try to obtain some good examples of all the MkII models. I’ve recently posted about my CM version here: Psion organiser II CM but today I have obtained the next model from 1986 the XP version. You can find out more about the Psions I own on the main menu in the margin of this site.
With plastic caddy Out of caddy A couple of programs thrown inGood condition
80’s tech in 2021
Above is a good video, using the XP in 2021
I’ve paid less than £20Gbp all in for this item and I think it’s a bargain personally. I’ve also obtained two programs that I’ll either keep or move on. There are some slight marks on the bezel but nothing too bad. I may be able to replace these parts with donations from some damaged sets I’m looking at. That’s a medium term plan, so there really is no urgency here. Let’s just make sure it’s running as well as it should do first.
I will be using these units to further learn the OPL programming language that they use.
As with the earlier CM model this unit also had the Y2K issue so I will have to run the TIMEINST program to ensure it updates the calendar accordingly.
The differences between these two units are very slight and it is basically around the available memory. Comparisons below.
The Cm – year 1986- Ram 8Kb- Rom 32Kb- Max datapack 64Kb
The XP – year 1986- Ram 16Kb- Rom 32Kb- Max datapack 2048Kb
CPU speed, clock speed and display are both exactly the same. It really is just an improvement in memory availability. Hence Spreadsheet programs could run with less of an issue on the XP units but not so on the CM units.
The Psion Organiser II XP model has a 6303 microprocessor with two-line LCD, two slots for memory cartridges and a connector for expansion. The keyboard is calculator-like with the keys arranged alphabetically, not in the Qwerty keyboard style. There is no off key the so the machine was switched off by a menu command. The case is also styled like a calculator, but it has a handy slide-on cover to keep the keyboard safe when the machine is not in use.
I am now in possession of my third Psion organiser II. You can view any of my posts on them by viewing the menus listings of this site. This one is the LZ version and is a great clean example. This one cost me a little more than the other two £30Gbp all in. However we have progressed in technology and it is now 1989, this unit has grown up considerably since its siblings were produced three years earlier.
4 line Screen2x 32Kb DatapaksNow has a 4 line display compared to the earlier 2 line ones.
These units have a four line display compared to the earlier two line displays of the older versions. The screen size is larger on the LZ, it is 4 lines of 20 characters compared to the earlier two line screens that were 2 lines of 16 characters. 
My current organisers marked with an asterisk to the left this one has a “Massive” 32Kb of ram and 64Kb of rom. Oh how times have progressed
Here is a great review of the capabilities of this unit.
Psion LZ review
Unlike the previous versions I have, this particular unit does not suffer with the Y2K issue.
Below I have included a section from the operating manual for this unit.
The Psion Organiser II Models LZ and LZ64 come with a powerful set of utilities including:
A database which allows you to store items of information and retrieve them again instantly.
A diary to keep track of personal appointments.
Alarms to remind you of your diary entries, or to use as an alarm clock.
A sophisticated calculator, for simple or complex calculations involving mathematical functions.
A clock, with a stopwatch and timer.
Notepads with calculation, for information such as things- to-do or expenses lists.
International time and dialling codes.
A month-at-a-view calendar.
Password protection.
A multi-file database.
A choice of European languages.
The Organiser also has its own built-in programming language called OPL. The language is designed to exploit all the machine’s facilities to the full and to let you tailor the Organiser to your own specific needs.
The Organiser has an internal memory and two external devices which are the equivalent of disc drives on a desk-top computer. Each one can hold a Datapak for you to store information on, or a program pack containing a program such as the Pocket Spreadsheet.
The internal memory of the Model LZ holds around 32000 characters and that of the LZ64 around 64000 characters. In addition, one or more Datapaks can boost the storage capacity considerably – by up to 128000 characters per Datapak.
Courtesy of Psion PLC1989
I’m going to use all the organisers I currently own to look into learning the OPL operating language that all these units use. I have already programmed in a couple of basic routines that just perform actions such as a clock routine that shows up when you turn the unit on – see picture below.
Simple clock routine.
This simple routine consists of no more than about six lines of code, it really is simple but allows you to adapt it to just how you want it, there are a number of options you can use to incorporate it into other routines or have it just running on its own as I have here.The routine above stops whenever you press any button. Simple.
That was the appeal of PDA units such as these in the 80’s in that you could develop and write programs that you wanted that suited you and your requirements. I like this as it takes me back to the days when I purchased my first computer the ZX81 back in the early 80’s when you had to learn BASIC programming just to get it working.
I know I’m probably 40 years behind everyone else and the whole programming scene has moved on in leaps and bounds to a point where it is super technical and advanced, however I love the slow pace and infancy of it all. And I’m not doing anyone any harm, so I’ll just plod on at my pace. It keeps me occupied, and I’m constantly learning. And at my time of life that is no bad thing.
I have a Psion organiser II Cm from around 1986, a lovely blast from the past piece of technology that for a period of time, put the UK ahead of the world in electronic storage and retrieval technology. For an item that is thirty nine years old it was way ahead of its nearest rivals in both looks and capabilities. Let’s be honest the biggest selling data retrieval system prior to this coming along would have been the good old fashioned Filofax. It really was a game changer.
My personal Psion organiser II CM
My personal organiser is in good condition. I’ve had it for about a year now. It has no known faults so I’ve not done this post to show a repair, I have created this post to highlight, just like us all, that the older we get the more care we have to take of ourselves, the same goes for this machine. There is a whole online community still committed to this equipment and the amount of knowledge available to anyone looking at getting one of these items is absolutely immense. Just look here: Psion Organiser II forum
My organiser is a CM version. It has a memory of 8 KB. Data packs can be added, mine has a 16 and a 32k pack so I have a whopping 48k of available additional memory. Extra storage is available between 16-128k again dependant on the limits of your unit.
This version, the CM was a victim of the Y2K bug that you will be more than aware of, if you are of a certain age and possessed a computer on the run up to the year 2000. Panic reigned supreme around this time, the world was about to end. It was a crazy time. For some it was just that, plain crazy and nothing noteworthy occurred, for others they will say it was a whole different story. However it wasn’t all that bad as we are all still here today. That said some units were rendered useless as their date ranges didn’t exceed beyond the year 1999, and that is where this particular model of the Psion organiser slots in to place.
It has that very issue as does the XP version, later editions such as the LZ did not have the issue.
I’ve created a very small video here that replicates exactly what occurred when midnight on the 31st December 1999 finally arrived.
My Psion, replicating the Y2K bug
In a nutshell it resorted back to the year 1900. Some computers freaked out, others that had been attended to had fixes deployed that added extra years to the internal data streams. And we can also do that with this unit today.
All we have to do is visit the site of Jaap Scherphuis who has provided the download to enable users to now extend the date range by another 84 years to 2083. My time on this planet will be done by then so I’m not that worried about what happens beyond this time period. I have quoted exactly what this little fix achieves, below.
When it is installed the main menu item TIME is redirected to the memory resident routine. This routine is identical to the normal one in ROM, except that it adds 84 to the year, making the range of the available years 1984 to 2083 instead of 1900 to 1999. This new range is chosen because these years have the same weekdays.
Jaap Scherphuis
To achieve this fix there are three ways that it can be achieved, either as a direct entry set of commands via a serial cable link to the top of the unit via a computer, direct entry via the unit programming mode, or by using a programmed data pack. I do not have the link, and I possess “Sausage fingers“ so I don’t trust myself to type the detail in correctly, so I will be using the latter option, i am cheating with one of these.
Info and Y2K fix pack
A vendor used to sell these on eBay. They are data packs that contain the very Y2K patch I need, as well as a few other little nuggets of interest all on a preloaded pack. There is an aside to this particular fix. As it is stored in the local memory, should the battery die, or be taken out to be replaced you will lose this fix and it will need to be reinstalled. With Psion, any hard data you wish to keep, has to be saved to one of the data packs, if you don’t you will simply lose your data, no auto save ability here.
So if the battery does die or get removed, with this pack it can be quickly restored to normal use in a couple of minutes with no need to involve other computers or peripherals.
Before fix installed Y2K issue remains
No Y2K issue now
I have now installed the new TIMEINST routine that adds the extra years into the the units memory and it is now usable for the next 78 years (For someone, not me though, as I won’t be around!)
So this is my Psion up and running. I don’t claim to know much about the technical side but I’m learning. If I can assist anyone in any way, whether that is by directing you to someone who knows, or by taking you through what I have done here, then please make contact. I will assist you however I can.
Foxes Den 
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