Pocket computer

Sharp PC-E500S pocket computer

A pocket computer was a calculator-sized handheld user programmable computer.

This specific category of computers existed primarily in the 1980s and mid 1990s. Manufacturers included Casio, Hewlett-Packard, Sharp, Tandy/Radio Shack (selling Casio and Sharp models under their own TRS line) and many more.

The programming language was usually BASIC, but some devices offered alternatives. For example the Casio PB-2000 could be programmed in Assembly, BASIC, C, CASL and Lisp.[1] Fortran and Prolog cards were also developed for it. The latest Sharp pocket computer, the PC-G850V (2001) is programmable in C, BASIC, and Assembler. An important feature of pocket computers was that all programming languages were available for the device itself, not downloaded from a cross-compiler on a larger computer.

Though not identical, in principle personal digital assistants, handheld PCs, and programmable calculators serve many of the same functions as the pocket computer, generally with significantly more computing power in a package the same size or smaller. The main distinction is that more modern designs (with the exception of programmable calculators) usually do not have included user programming ability and are usually set up to act as clients of a larger system rather than as self-contained environments of their own. Some models of pocket computers had data storage and input/output facilities such as printers and tape drives, floppy disk drives, bar code readers, video interfaces which could be connected to a television set or monitor, and RS-232 interfaces which allowed to connect to a desktop computer or other peripherals.

List of devices

Manufacturer Model
Brother
Cambridge Computer Z88
Canon X-07
Casio AI-1000, FX-602P, FX-700P, FX-702P, FX-710P, FX-720P, FX-730P, FX-750P, FX-780P, FX-785P, FX-790P, FX-795P, FX-802P, FX-820P, FX-840P, FX-850P, FX-880P, FX-890P, PB-80, PB-100, PB-500F, PB-770, PB-1000, PB-2000, PB-5200P, Z1-GR
Electrolux
Elektronika / Angstrem MK 85, MK-85M, MK-90, MK-95, MK-98
Epson HX-20, HX-40, PX-4, PX-8
Fujitsu General General LBC-1100
Grid Compass
Hewlett-Packard HP-41C, HP-41CV, HP-41CX, HP-71B, HP-75C, HP-75D[2]
Hiradas Technika PTA-4000, PTA-4000+16
Kikuichi PC-A10, PC-A2
Matsushita National JR-800
Mitsubishi MLF-48
Nanfeng PC-1500A
National see Matsushita
National Cash Register (NCR)
NEC PC-2001
Nixdorf Computer LK 3000
Olivetti M-10
Olympia OL-H004
Panasonic RL-H1400 HHC (also sold as Quasar HK-2600TE), RL-H1800 HHC
Psion Psion Organiser
Qi hardware Ben NanoNote
Quasar HK-2600TE
RCA Comsac
Roland
Royal
Sanco
Sanyo
Seiko MC-2200, DF-2200
Sharp PC-1100, PC-1140, PC-1150, PC-1200, PC-1201, PC-1210, PC-1211, PC-1212, PC-1245, PC-1246, PC-1246DB, PC-1246S, PC-1247, PC-1248, PC-1248DB, PC-1250, PC-1250A, PC-1251, PC-1251H, PC-1252, PC-1252H, PC-1253, PC-1253H, PC-1255, PC-1260, PC-1261, PC-1262, PC-1270, PC-1280, PC-1285, PC-1300, PC-1300S, PC-1350, PC-1360, PC-1360K, PC-1365, PC-1365K, PC-1401, PC-1402, PC-1403, PC-1403H, PC-1404G, PC-1405G, PC-1415G, PC-1416G, PC-1417G, PC-1417GS, PC-1421, PC-1425, PC-1430, PC-1431, PC-1440, PC-1445, PC-1450, PC-1460, PC-1470U, PC-1475, PC-1480U, PC-1490U, PC-1490UII, PC-1500, PC-1500A, PC-1500D, PC-1501, PC-1600, PC-1600K, PC-1605, PC-1605K, PC-2500, PC-2500S, PC-5000, PC-E200, PC-E220, PC-E500, PC-E500PJ, PC-E500S, PC-E550, PC-E650, PC-G380, PC-G801, PC-G802, PC-G803, PC-G805, PC-G811, PC-G813, PC-G815, PC-G820, PC-G830, PC-G850, PC-G850S, PC-G850V, PC-G850VS, PC-U6000, PC-V510, PC-V550, PC-V930, EL-5400, EL-5500, EL-5500II, EL-5500III, EL-5510, EL-5520, EL-6300[3][4][5]
Sinclair
Smith Corona PTA-632
Sony
Tandy Corporation TRS-80 Model 100, Tandy/TRS-80 Pocket Computer PC-1, PC-2, PC-3, PC-4, PC-5, PC-6, PC-7, PC-8
Texas Instruments TI-57, TI-58, TI-58C, TI-59, TI-74, TI-74S, TI-95, CC-40
Toshiba IHC-8000 system
VTech
Xerox

See also

References

  1. ↑ Description of the PB-2000 in Caz Pocket Computers
  2. ↑ www.hpmuseum.org The Museum of HP Calculators
  3. ↑ http://sharppocketcomputers.com/
  4. ↑ http://pocket.free.fr/html/sharp/sharp_e.html
  5. ↑ http://www.rskey.org/CMS/index.php/exhibit-hall/index.php/exhibit-hall/17?Sharp=ON
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