Old Hardware Emulated : PockEmul - Other Sharp Pocket Computers
The Emulation of Handheld Computers From The 80's.
Through the 80's, Sharp continued to make various versions of there pocket computers.
Sharp PC-1250/1251 and PC-1245
The Sharp PC-1250 Pocket Computer
The Sharp PC-1251
was introduced in 1982. It was sold by Tandy in Radio Shack stores as
the PC-3. The Sharp PC-1251 was the third in the series of pocket
computers following the PC-1210 and PC-1500. The PC-1251 was
specifically designed to fit in the pocket, like a simple calculator.
This made the PC-1251 the smallest computer on the market at the time.
This though could be a challenge to those that have big fingers. Still,
this is what computing capabilities on the go would have looked like in
the early 80's.
The PC-1251 incorporated a 8-bit SC618660 processor which operated at 576 kHz. The handheld computer shipped with 4KB of RAM. The pocket computer had a 1 line, 24 character LCD display. Power was provided by 2 CR-2032 lithium batteries.Like the previous models, there was a built-in BASIC interpreter as well.
Expansion and support for peripheral devices was provided by a 11-pin expansion bus. Available peripheral devices included a thermal printer and a tape interface that allowed cassette tapes to be used as data storage, which was typical during this time. In fact, a micro-cassette recorder could be used as well.
They were various models in the PC-125x series which ranged in features. The PC-1250 was intended to be a lower-cost version of the 1250 that had only 2KB of RAM.
The PC-1245, introduced a year later in 1983, was intended on being another low-cost alternative to the PC-1251. The hardware was mostly the same as with the 1251, with the exception that there was less RAM. Like the 1250, the 1245 shipped with only 2KB of RAM. One can't ignore the fact that the naming conventions of Sharp's pocket computer products could get very confusing. The 1245 had only a 16 character display instead of the 24 character display that both the 1251 and 1250 used. The peripheral devices that were compatible with the 1251 worked with the 1245 as well.
I've tried out the emulation of these pocket computers in PockEmul. As mentioned in the previous articles, those accustomed to modern smartphones would find these devices very awkward to use. Most would be tempted to use these pocket computers as simple 4-function calculators, even though they were much more capable than that. One could make the safe assumption that many who used these devices back in the day also used them as simple or scientific calculators. However, one could also come to the conclusion that many were able to write powerful mathematical or scientific programs that would serve there users well in the field. The inclusion of a BASIC interpreter allowed for applications that were much more capable than allowed on calculators. These devices would help shape the evolution of handheld computers that would lead up to the modern smartphones and tablets that we so much know and love today.
Sharp PC-1250/PC-1251 : http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1091
Sharp PC-1251 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp_PC-1251
The Sharp PC-1250 computer : http://pocket.free.fr/html/sharp/pc-1250_e.html
Sharp PC-1245 : http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1135
The PC-1251 incorporated a 8-bit SC618660 processor which operated at 576 kHz. The handheld computer shipped with 4KB of RAM. The pocket computer had a 1 line, 24 character LCD display. Power was provided by 2 CR-2032 lithium batteries.Like the previous models, there was a built-in BASIC interpreter as well.
Expansion and support for peripheral devices was provided by a 11-pin expansion bus. Available peripheral devices included a thermal printer and a tape interface that allowed cassette tapes to be used as data storage, which was typical during this time. In fact, a micro-cassette recorder could be used as well.
They were various models in the PC-125x series which ranged in features. The PC-1250 was intended to be a lower-cost version of the 1250 that had only 2KB of RAM.
The PC-1245, introduced a year later in 1983, was intended on being another low-cost alternative to the PC-1251. The hardware was mostly the same as with the 1251, with the exception that there was less RAM. Like the 1250, the 1245 shipped with only 2KB of RAM. One can't ignore the fact that the naming conventions of Sharp's pocket computer products could get very confusing. The 1245 had only a 16 character display instead of the 24 character display that both the 1251 and 1250 used. The peripheral devices that were compatible with the 1251 worked with the 1245 as well.
I've tried out the emulation of these pocket computers in PockEmul. As mentioned in the previous articles, those accustomed to modern smartphones would find these devices very awkward to use. Most would be tempted to use these pocket computers as simple 4-function calculators, even though they were much more capable than that. One could make the safe assumption that many who used these devices back in the day also used them as simple or scientific calculators. However, one could also come to the conclusion that many were able to write powerful mathematical or scientific programs that would serve there users well in the field. The inclusion of a BASIC interpreter allowed for applications that were much more capable than allowed on calculators. These devices would help shape the evolution of handheld computers that would lead up to the modern smartphones and tablets that we so much know and love today.
Sharp PC-1250/PC-1251 : http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1091
Sharp PC-1251 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp_PC-1251
The Sharp PC-1250 computer : http://pocket.free.fr/html/sharp/pc-1250_e.html
Sharp PC-1245 : http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1135
The Sharp PC-1245 Pocket Computer
Sharp PC-1350
The PC-1350 was
introduced in 1984. As noted in the Wikipedia article, the pocket
computer was favored by programmers for its programming and graphical
capabilities. This was at a time before graphing calculators became a
thing and a device like this provided capabilities much more advance
than what scientific calculators provided.
Thee device had a 24 by 4 character display which provided a resolution of 150 by 32 pixels. The PC-1600 was powered by the 8-bit SC61860 processor which operated at 768KHz. The handheld shipped with 4KB of RAM, which was expandable to 20KB via the RAM expansion port. The device had a built-in BASIC interpreter as well, like most of Sharp's other offerings of pocket computers during this time. The PC-1600 was powered by 2 CR-2032 lithium batteries.
One could imagine that the multi-line display would appeal to those that were intensive programmers. The programmers that were use to writing programs in BASIC on desktop computers like the Apple II or GW-BASIC on the IBM PC. The ones that might have viewed the display capabilities of the PC-1350 and later 1600 as appealing to those that thought that the one line display of the PC-1250/51/45 series too limiting. These programmers would have viewed the multi-line display as the portable equivalent of what was provided by the major desktop platforms of there day.
They were various peripheral devices that were made by Sharp for this pocket computer. They included memory modules, along with printers as well. There were tape interface released as well which allowed users to store programs using a cassette-tape deck. There was also a tape interface which used the micro-cassettes as well. There was a RS-232 interface which allowed the PC-1600 communicate with the outside world via serial modem.
I've tried out the basic emulation of the pocket computer. Nothing noteworthy though. Commercial software for this pocket computer, as with most handheld computers during this time, was basically non-existent. However, this doesn't detract from the importance that these devices help play in the evolution of handheld computing. As one can tell, as the 80's progressed, so did the technology used, and these pocket computers were becoming more sophisticated. Hardware evolution which would help shape the modern platforms of today.
Sharp PC-1350 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp_PC-1350
The Sharp PC-1350 computer : http://pocket.free.fr/html/sharp/pc-1350_e.html
Thee device had a 24 by 4 character display which provided a resolution of 150 by 32 pixels. The PC-1600 was powered by the 8-bit SC61860 processor which operated at 768KHz. The handheld shipped with 4KB of RAM, which was expandable to 20KB via the RAM expansion port. The device had a built-in BASIC interpreter as well, like most of Sharp's other offerings of pocket computers during this time. The PC-1600 was powered by 2 CR-2032 lithium batteries.
One could imagine that the multi-line display would appeal to those that were intensive programmers. The programmers that were use to writing programs in BASIC on desktop computers like the Apple II or GW-BASIC on the IBM PC. The ones that might have viewed the display capabilities of the PC-1350 and later 1600 as appealing to those that thought that the one line display of the PC-1250/51/45 series too limiting. These programmers would have viewed the multi-line display as the portable equivalent of what was provided by the major desktop platforms of there day.
They were various peripheral devices that were made by Sharp for this pocket computer. They included memory modules, along with printers as well. There were tape interface released as well which allowed users to store programs using a cassette-tape deck. There was also a tape interface which used the micro-cassettes as well. There was a RS-232 interface which allowed the PC-1600 communicate with the outside world via serial modem.
I've tried out the basic emulation of the pocket computer. Nothing noteworthy though. Commercial software for this pocket computer, as with most handheld computers during this time, was basically non-existent. However, this doesn't detract from the importance that these devices help play in the evolution of handheld computing. As one can tell, as the 80's progressed, so did the technology used, and these pocket computers were becoming more sophisticated. Hardware evolution which would help shape the modern platforms of today.
Sharp PC-1350 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp_PC-1350
The Sharp PC-1350 computer : http://pocket.free.fr/html/sharp/pc-1350_e.html
The Sharp PC-1350 Pocket Computer
Sharp PC-1600
The Sharp PC-1600 Pocket Computer with the BASIC Interpreter running.
Introduced in 1986 as the successor to the PC-1500, which was covered in detail in the previous article.
The PC-1600 was powered by a SC7852 CMOS CPU running at 3.58MHz. The SC7852 CMOS CPU was a portable version equivalent of the Z80 CPU, which was widely used in many 8-bit machines at the time, like the TRS-80 Home Computer.
As noted in the Wikipedia article, the pocket computer provided backward compatibility with the PC-1500 via a slave CPU that could run programs written in assembly language. The LH-5803 processor which provided compatibility operated at 1.3MHz.
There was a additional "sub-CPU" as well. The LU57813P processor ran at 307.2 kHz.
The handheld device shipped with 16K of RAM, which was expandable to 80K via memory modules. The PC-1600 had a 4-line LCD display which had provided a resolution of 156 by 32 pixels and a 5 by 7 character display. The pocket computer could communicate with the outside world via the RS-232C serial interface.
As noted in the Wikipedia article, peripheral devices that were supported on the PC-1500 were compatible with the PC-1600 as well.
Sharp PC-1600 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp_PC-1600
The PC-1600 was powered by a SC7852 CMOS CPU running at 3.58MHz. The SC7852 CMOS CPU was a portable version equivalent of the Z80 CPU, which was widely used in many 8-bit machines at the time, like the TRS-80 Home Computer.
As noted in the Wikipedia article, the pocket computer provided backward compatibility with the PC-1500 via a slave CPU that could run programs written in assembly language. The LH-5803 processor which provided compatibility operated at 1.3MHz.
There was a additional "sub-CPU" as well. The LU57813P processor ran at 307.2 kHz.
The handheld device shipped with 16K of RAM, which was expandable to 80K via memory modules. The PC-1600 had a 4-line LCD display which had provided a resolution of 156 by 32 pixels and a 5 by 7 character display. The pocket computer could communicate with the outside world via the RS-232C serial interface.
As noted in the Wikipedia article, peripheral devices that were supported on the PC-1500 were compatible with the PC-1600 as well.
Sharp PC-1600 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp_PC-1600
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