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I have been testing on the Emulator Zip manager for the Nokia 9210 from Epocware. Zip manager is also available for ER5, and the ER6 version has been considerably improved and is the best Zip software I have seen on any PDA and arguable many desktop version. This program does everything a ZIP program does and does it very well. Feature rich and intuitive - what more can you ask for?

The ZIP format is an industry standard for compressing and archiving together files. The majority of software you download from the internet will have a .zip ending. This means it is a zip file and is a file containing compressed versions of other files. With Zip Manager these files can be opened and the files extracted. The program also has the ability to make the archives and has several special functions unique to the device.

Zip Manager is shareware, and for those of you who don't know this means you can try before you buy, I would encourage anyone who regularly uses this program to register it so that you can provide support to the author and encourage the release of new programs. One of the most powerful things about EPOC is its extensibility through 3rd party programs, something which makes the platform better each time a new program is produced. Zip Manager is a likely to be on many Nokia 9210 and I suspect it will become and indespensible tool. The basic features are:

• Opening and extracting of files from an existing archive.
• Creation of a new archive and adding files to it.
• 6 'wizards' that simplify certain task such as extracting files, archiving files, e-mailing a collection of files, and others.
• Full support for the ZIP format with both password protection, preservation of folder structure and commenting.

Zip Manager install via the usual SIS file method making installation a breeze.

The program can then be found on the Extra listing and can be opened by simply choosing it and selecting Open from the Command Button Area. ZIP archives are also automatically opened in the program from the file manager, and all zip files showing the Zip Manager icon.

The program when first opened has an optional display of tips enabling you to get the most out of the program. These are well worth reading as they give a good idea of the functions available. There is also a comprehensive help entry accessible via the help key or the menu.

This is the opening screen and each of the icons allow quick access to the 6 wizards included in the program. The command button area contains commands to open an archive or start a new one. The difference between these is that the program helps you in the wizards where as if you choose the command button options you get access to a more normal zip file editor with a listing of the files (see below), for the advanced user this is obviously more powerful and quicker. This is a similar method to that employed by WinZip with its Classic and Wizard options. The major commands are also available from the file menu as shown below:

The Tools menu also allows you access to the general program functions such as help, the log file (which you can turn on to record the actions of the program) and the preferences dialog.

The preferences dialog allows you to specify a default folder, whether a log is recorded, the tips at startup to be on or off or tow show the system tree (when browsing for files).

The Wizard menu allows access to the wizard functions that are also represented by the icons. These functions are:

• Extract files wizard - extracts file from an archive to a specified directory.
• Archive files wizard - allows for a new archive to be added and files added to it.
• Zip and mail archive - allows for files to be placed in a zip archive and then sent as an attachment by e-mail. This is useful in reducing the size of attachment you send.
• Easy install wizard - allows for SIS files to be automatically installed by extracting them from the Zip file. This means you can download new software directly to your device rather than having to go through the desktop for unzipping services.
• Zip and backup wizard - allows for specified files to be backed up and placed in a single archive (with folder structure preserved) and placed on a removable memory card,
• Applications wizards - allows Programs installed don the device to be archived thus compressing them and saving space. This is perhaps the most useful and intuitive feature in the program, and is especially useful of a device when space is always an issue. I suspect some people will buy the program for this feature alone.

The above screenshots shows the archive files wizard. This allows files to be quickly added to an archive and is especially useful for beginners.

The above screenshots shows the extract files wizard. This allows files to be quickly extracted from an archive and is especially useful for beginners.

This shot shows the backup wizard which allows for backup to be carried out easily and to take up less space.

The above series of screenshots show the Application Wizard which allows for the compressing of applications on the device. While compressed the applications can not be used (they do not appear on the extras menu), but they take up less space. This means you can have more applications in less space and is a very useful function which allows you to maximise the space on the device. With the Nokia 9210 coming with a 16Mb MMC card and many great applications already available (and several games of about 1MB) this space will be quickly used and this is where Zip Manager comes in. As you can see from the above it has managed to compress Monnaie to 30% of its original size saving 70kb! Given that the program is a few hundred kb in size it hardly takes any time for the program to earn it space.

I believe that this is a brilliant function and makes the program worth buying on its own. That you can also use it as a general ZIP tool, and a backup utility represents excellent value for money.

In the second part of the review I focus on the more advanced use, which is once again excellent.

View part 2 of this review.