Vintage Sharp PC - 1500A Pocket Computer, Box, W/ Additional 16K RAM Mod
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:7139552 |
Description:
In 1980, Radio Shack wanted to expand their TRS-80 series of computers. So, they introduced their smallest computer yet: the TRS-80 Pocket Computer (later referred to as the PC-1.) One of the biggesst draws of this computer (besides the tiny size) was that it had a full alphanumeric keyboard, and could be programmed in the user-friendly BASIC. These attributes separated the Pocket Computer from programmable calculators, such as Hewlett-Packard's calculators. This pocket... computer was a great hit, especially with students, engineers and people who traveled. Unlike Radio Shack's other computers, the PC-1 was actually designed and built by Sharp, and Radio Shack marketed and sold them in the U.S.
By 1981, Radio Shack was feeling the competition creeping up on them, so they approached Sharp again, and they cae up with the PC-2. As with the original, Sharp was allowed to sell their version, and called it the PC-1500. The PC-1500 was a huge improvement over the PC-1: the CPU was upgraded to an 8-bit Z-80-like processor, the BASIC was much improved, the RAM was upgraded to 2K, the display size was increased and it could support an external RAM module. Later, Sharp introduced the PC-1500, which boosted the RAM to a whopping 8K!
This particular computer was a part of a computer museum. I received the computer when the museum folded, and have had it for a few years (I could not let it go when I donated most of the other museum pieces to another museum.) Unfortunately, after five years of un- and under-employment, I need to let go of some of my prizes.
This PC-1500A was originally owned by the U.S. Veteran's Administration (created by President Lincoln to care for military veterans and their families.) It was used by one of their financial aid officers in providing financial assistance to veterans. It came with a 16K RAM cartridge (which was backed up by a coin cell) which contained the custom programming for the financial aid officer. I did not check for the program, but suspect that the coin cell has fully discharged and lost the program. Thus, the 16K cartridge is open for your programs (although, you may want to replace the coin cell.)
There is also a small part of a manual, which was sent to the VA financial aid officer. It describes some of the procedures to take care of the printer, and a bit about the custom software. This is being included in the auction.
Also, there are some extra ink cartridges, including an entire new set, still in the original packaging. (Although, I have no way of knowing how well any of them will work.)
Condition:
As you can see from the pictures, this computer is in pretty decent shape. The computer contained a set of Radio Shack NiCd AA cells (which I include, ) but of course, they had lost their charge. I plugged the computer into the power supply, and the computer came right up. Even though the NiCds were very old, there was no leakage, and the battery compartment is beautifully clean. I replaced the NiCd battery with some Energizer AAs and the computer came right up. I replaced the NiCds and after leaving the NiCd battery in the computer with the power supply plugged in for a couple of hours I unplugged the P/S and the computer immediately shut down - the NiCds are dead (unless they cannot be recharged inside the computer.)
After playing with this computer for a little while, I noticed that three of the alpha keys (U, J & M, ) and three numeric keys (1, 4 & 7) display the character from the key next to those keys (i.e. when you press the U key, it shows the character Y.) I tried blowing it out with canned air, and even opened it up to spray inside. Neither did any good - the keys still show the characters of their neighbors.
The case and the printer/cassette interface look great, but the printer did not advance the paper when I pressed the paper feed button (at least, that is what it looks like.) I never tested the cassette interface, so you will need to test it yourself.
Web information: Wikipedia (which, as you know is the forerunner of Issac Asimov's Encyclopedia Galactica) actually has a pretty good article on the PC-1500, and the 1500A. The article actually includes a sample program, which you can type in. At the bottom of the article, there are several external links to other sites with more information (including a .ORG, and .COM, pc-1500 sites.)
Due to the age of this computer this is being sold as-is. While it looks beautiful, and (mostly) works, it has not been tested beyond what I described and what you can see in the pictures.
In 1980, Radio Shack wanted to expand their TRS-80 series of computers. So, they introduced their smallest computer yet: the TRS-80 Pocket Computer (later referred to as the PC-1.) One of the biggesst draws of this computer (besides the tiny size) was that it had a full alphanumeric keyboard, and could be programmed in the user-friendly BASIC. These attributes separated the Pocket Computer from programmable calculators, such as Hewlett-Packard's calculators. This pocket... computer was a great hit, especially with students, engineers and people who traveled. Unlike Radio Shack's other computers, the PC-1 was actually designed and built by Sharp, and Radio Shack marketed and sold them in the U.S.
By 1981, Radio Shack was feeling the competition creeping up on them, so they approached Sharp again, and they cae up with the PC-2. As with the original, Sharp was allowed to sell their version, and called it the PC-1500. The PC-1500 was a huge improvement over the PC-1: the CPU was upgraded to an 8-bit Z-80-like processor, the BASIC was much improved, the RAM was upgraded to 2K, the display size was increased and it could support an external RAM module. Later, Sharp introduced the PC-1500, which boosted the RAM to a whopping 8K!
This particular computer was a part of a computer museum. I received the computer when the museum folded, and have had it for a few years (I could not let it go when I donated most of the other museum pieces to another museum.) Unfortunately, after five years of un- and under-employment, I need to let go of some of my prizes.
This PC-1500A was originally owned by the U.S. Veteran's Administration (created by President Lincoln to care for military veterans and their families.) It was used by one of their financial aid officers in providing financial assistance to veterans. It came with a 16K RAM cartridge (which was backed up by a coin cell) which contained the custom programming for the financial aid officer. I did not check for the program, but suspect that the coin cell has fully discharged and lost the program. Thus, the 16K cartridge is open for your programs (although, you may want to replace the coin cell.)
There is also a small part of a manual, which was sent to the VA financial aid officer. It describes some of the procedures to take care of the printer, and a bit about the custom software. This is being included in the auction.
Also, there are some extra ink cartridges, including an entire new set, still in the original packaging. (Although, I have no way of knowing how well any of them will work.)
Condition:
As you can see from the pictures, this computer is in pretty decent shape. The computer contained a set of Radio Shack NiCd AA cells (which I include, ) but of course, they had lost their charge. I plugged the computer into the power supply, and the computer came right up. Even though the NiCds were very old, there was no leakage, and the battery compartment is beautifully clean. I replaced the NiCd battery with some Energizer AAs and the computer came right up. I replaced the NiCds and after leaving the NiCd battery in the computer with the power supply plugged in for a couple of hours I unplugged the P/S and the computer immediately shut down - the NiCds are dead (unless they cannot be recharged inside the computer.)
After playing with this computer for a little while, I noticed that three of the alpha keys (U, J & M, ) and three numeric keys (1, 4 & 7) display the character from the key next to those keys (i.e. when you press the U key, it shows the character Y.) I tried blowing it out with canned air, and even opened it up to spray inside. Neither did any good - the keys still show the characters of their neighbors.
The case and the printer/cassette interface look great, but the printer did not advance the paper when I pressed the paper feed button (at least, that is what it looks like.) I never tested the cassette interface, so you will need to test it yourself.
Web information: Wikipedia (which, as you know is the forerunner of Issac Asimov's Encyclopedia Galactica) actually has a pretty good article on the PC-1500, and the 1500A. The article actually includes a sample program, which you can type in. At the bottom of the article, there are several external links to other sites with more information (including a .ORG, and .COM, pc-1500 sites.)
Due to the age of this computer this is being sold as-is. While it looks beautiful, and (mostly) works, it has not been tested beyond what I described and what you can see in the pictures.
