Sharp PC-1262

[Dan C]

(02-16-2022 08:08 PM)robve Wrote:  It really helps to read the 300 page manual...

- Rob

Thanks for all info on the Sharp "filesystem!"

And i know, i just have to learn GERMAN then

[Dave Britten]

(02-17-2022 07:00 PM)Dan C Wrote:  

(02-16-2022 07:51 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  That is mostly correct, but there's a little bit more to the story. When entering a program from the keyboard, you effectively only have a single program slot. You can, however, use labels to store multiple programs in memory as long as their line numbers don't conflict. A label is simply a string literal at the beginning of a line, e.g.:

10 "FACTOR":INPUT X
...

Thanks for a very nice explanation of the PC-1262 memory/program handling!
You seem to know the Sharp PC's very well!

Well, an expert on these specific features at least. I can't claim to have mastered the entire platform.

Initially I kind of ignored the Sharps in favor of Casio, but then I learned more about labels, definable keys, MERGE, and the conditional behavior of INPUT, and very quickly became more enamored. And Sharp has a leg up over the Casios which don't have any replay feature - if you make a mistake in an ad-hoc calculation, you have to re-enter the whole expression. As much as I like the Casios, that always irritated me. The Casios still tend to have more built-in scientific functions though.

[robve]

(02-17-2022 07:04 PM)Dan C Wrote:  

(02-16-2022 08:08 PM)robve Wrote:  It really helps to read the 300 page manual...

- Rob

Thanks for all info on the Sharp "filesystem!"

And i know, i just have to learn GERMAN then

The English PC-1260/PC-1261 PDF scan is almost done. I've created a jig to speed this up a bit, but it is still time consuming (and to make time for this.)

The PC-1262 has no filesystem or filesystem commands. Some PC have "hidden" (undocumented) filesystem commands (PC-1403/EL-5500III for example) that work with the external disk drive CE-140F.

Some unsolicited advice when coming from Casio BASIC. It might be easy to overlook the Sharp BASIC features that are particularly handy, such as:

- commands and functions may be abbreviated, e.g. P. is PRINT, I. is INPUT, A. is AREAD etc.

- the AREAD command is useful to read the "argument" to a DEF key:
10 "A" AREAD X: PRINT X^2: END
Type e.g. 2/3 DEF-A will show the result of (2/3)^2, then press any operator key or DEF key to continue calculations with the value displayed.

- GOTO, GOSUB, RUN, RESTORE all take expressions aka GOTOs are "computed gotos" and also take strings to refer to labelled lines. (That is why IF...THEN must use IF...THEN LET to assign a variable, because the interpreter sees IF THEN A=1 as a jump, like IF...GOTO A=1. Use the shorter IF...LET A=1 instead to conditionally assign variables.)

- DATA statements are expressions, not just literals. A toy example:
10 "C" AREAD C$:INPUT X:RESTORE C$:READ Y:PRINT Y:END
20 "F" DATA X^2
30 "G" DATA SQR X

- INPUT does not change the variable queried when pressing ENTER. But note that this continues execution at the next line, not the statements after INPUT. This can be handy in certain cases to accept default values and jump immediately to a program part.

- When INPUT is executed, a DEF key can be pressed to jump to another part in the program. For example, when entering a list of data, DEF-C can be programmed to go back and correct values.

- Use WAIT to pause each PRINT, until ENTER is pressed to continue execution. Or you can press a DEF key to jump to another part in the program. WAIT n waits n/59 seconds then continues execution. WAIT without n is the default. The PAUSE command is similar to PRINT with WAIT 50.

- The A() array is sort of an "automatic" array that can be dynamically extended, unless arrays are DIMed. This A() array also maps to variables A-Z, similar to Casio BASIC. A(27) is the first variable after Z.

- A form of meta-programming is possible with computed gotos/gosubs. Figure out what this program does:
10 RESTORE:A=26:WAIT 0
20 READ C$:GOSUB C$:GOTO 20
30 "FORTH" DATA "#",9,"DUP","*",".","GOTO","FORTH"
40 "#" A=A+1:READ A(A):RETURN
50 "DUP" A=A+1:A(A)=A(A-1):RETURN
60 "*" A=A-1:A(A)=A(A)*A(A+1):RETURN
70 "." PRINT A(A):A=A-1:RETURN
80 "GOTO" READ C$:RESTORE C$:RETURN

The above example is not published anywhere as far as I know. It's just something you can do with the flexibility of Sharp's S-BASIC.

- Rob

PS. (edit) to make the last example a bit more interesting, let's extend the syntax to store "STO","X" and recall "RCL","X" variables A to Z, where A() serves two purposes to function as a stack and to map to variables A~Z:

90 "STO" READ C$:A(ASC C$-64)=A(A):A=A-1:RETURN
95 "RCL" READ C$:A=A+1:A(A)=A(ASC C$-64):RETURN

Just a bit of fun with programming basics (pun intended).

[robve]

(02-17-2022 07:24 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  Initially I kind of ignored the Sharps in favor of Casio, but then I learned more about labels, definable keys, MERGE, and the conditional behavior of INPUT, and very quickly became more enamored. And Sharp has a leg up over the Casios which don't have any replay feature - if you make a mistake in an ad-hoc calculation, you have to re-enter the whole expression. As much as I like the Casios, that always irritated me.

I can second that. I gravitated heavily toward Sharps over the years (many years ago actually) after using both Casio and Sharps.

(02-17-2022 07:24 PM)Dave Britten Wrote:  The Casios still tend to have more built-in scientific functions though.

Do you think that is true for all of the vintage Sharp pocket computers? Sure, the early 80s Sharp PCs (PC-12xx/PC-1500) had very limited scientific functions. The PC-1350/PC-1360/PC-2500 are BASIC-oriented machines focused heavily on graphics and printing/plotting, thus taking ROM space away from math functions. But the PC-14xx line of machines (still in the 80s) is quite impressive, no? These have hyperbolic functions, polar conversions, combinations/permutations, factorial, statistics, matrix operations, and some more.

In my opinion, the Sharp PC-1475 comes close to being perfect for math-oriented programming by combining the best Sharp features into one machine. It has a file system to store programs and data, has single and double precision (20 digit) variables and operations, has ON ERROR GOTO to catch errors, has up to 64KB RAM with two 32KB RAM cards, has matrix operations and equation solver, has one and two variable statistics with storage, has a serial port and it has a 2x24 character LCD display.



On the other hand, I prefer the 4x40 character LCD graphics display with graphics of the PC-E500, which has a powerful BASIC interpreter, but lacks a DEF key and AREAD and has no computed GOTOs and no DATA expressions (only literals, like most BASICs). A C compiler that some Casios and Sharps have and a built-in system monitor like the PC-G850 are great to have too. Built-in math applications like the PC-E500 has or ROM packs like the HP-71B are great.

I got my PC-1475 from France a few years ago. It has become one of my favorite machines. I don't believe the PC-1475 was ever introduced in the US?

- Rob

[Dave Britten]

The PC-1475 is definitely on my to-buy list. The pile of RAM cards I have will work with that model and can act as RAM disks. Not sure how abundant it is though. It's too bad the PC-1360 didn't have any RAM disk functionality.

[rprosperi]

(02-19-2022 09:20 PM)robve Wrote:  In my opinion, the Sharp PC-1475 comes close to being perfect for math-oriented programming by combining the best Sharp features into one machine. It has a file system to store programs and data, has single and double precision (20 digit) variables and operations, has ON ERROR GOTO to catch errors, has up to 64KB RAM with two 32KB RAM cards, has matrix operations and equation solver, has one and two variable statistics with storage, has a serial port and it has a 2x24 character LCD display.

[snip]

I got my PC-1475 from France a few years ago. It has become one of my favorite machines. I don't believe the PC-1475 was ever introduced in the US?

I am 99% sure the 1475 was never sold in US, and I've never been able to get my hands on one (and now it appears I'll be competing with Dave for one... ). When I was speaking with one of the Engineers that worked on the s/w for Sharp's Pocket Computers (and PDA's, etc.) and told him which models and features I liked best, he told me this is the best model to get (though he recommended the PC-E500 too), but even he could not get his hands on one for me to buy. We went looking for one in Akihabara and then again in the electronics area in Osaka, but none found, though this was in the 90's and it was long discontinued by then.

[Valentin Albillo]

(02-19-2022 11:27 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  I am 99% sure the 1475 was never sold in US, and I've never been able to get my hands on one

A wondeful machine, indeed. I own two in perfect working and cosmetic order despite being 35 yo as of 2022; this is one of them, showing the double precision (20 digits) in action:



However, I think the SHARP PC-1600, which I also own New-In-Box, is the superior pocket computer in many aspects, most notably the large 4-line graphics-capable display and the speed, to name a few.

V.

[Dave Britten]

The PC-1600 is hard to beat in terms of power, but I'd like to get one that allows for using RAM cards as "disks" to carry around a whole mess of programs, while also having the DEFinable keyboard and AREAD, which the PC-E500 lacks for some reason. (And which the PC-1360 has, but no RAM disk capability!)

[robve]

Absolutely. The PC-1600 is an impressive beast . It is the most complex and versatile "pocket" computer ever produced by Sharp with lots of options and peripherals. It is also the heaviest and thickest PC. It weighs close to a pound (.86lbs) and is an inch thick.



While the PC-1600 is faster and has a larger screen, for math/calc-oriented programming and daily use, I think the PC-1475 is the better choice. The PC-1475 is smaller and lightweight, easy to carry around and has the most math/calc features in its larger firmware ROM.

PC-1262 size, weight and firmware:
135 x 70 x 10 mm
115 g. with 2 CR-2032 batteries
40KB ROM

PC-1475 size and weight:
182 x 72 x 16 mm
190 g. with 2 CR-2032 batteries and one RAM card
136KB ROM

PC-1600 size and weight:
195 x 86 x 25 mm
390 g. with 4 AA batteries
96KB ROM

The PC-1600 has two 8 bit CPUs. The Z-80-based CPU uses 64KB firmware ROM (four 16KB ROM banks, excluding the 16KB printer-specific ROM). The LH-5803 firmware takes up the remaining 16KB ROM for compatibility with the PC-1500. PC-1600 Technical Reference Manual.

- Rob

[robve]

(02-20-2022 04:48 AM)Valentin Albillo Wrote:  A wondeful machine, indeed. I own two in perfect working and cosmetic order despite being 35 yo as of 2022; this is one of them, showing the double precision (20 digits) in action:

V.

Since you show yours, I will show mine also in perfect condition



With others looking for one of these unobtainium specimens, I now feel bad touching it

- Rob

[Dan C]

Wow! That PC-1475 looks real nice! Where can i get one!?
Reminds me a bit of my CASIO FX-850P in size and design.