What is the best BASIC Pocket Computer

[rprosperi]

(04-06-2014 07:07 AM)Katie Wasserman Wrote:  I almost completely forgot about the Sharp OZ-7000 with the OZ-707 Scientific Computer Card inserted. This is a very capable BASIC ...

It's nice to hear folks still remember (and liked!) the OZ-707 Basic card. I worked at Sharp in Product Planning in the 90's and MANY weeks of my (and many other folks in Japan) time went into making sure this product was solid quality, useful and competitive. The 707 was the "Retail" version of the card, with scientific calculator labels under the clear programmable touchpad panels, but there were also 32K, 64K and 128K versions of the card for VARs and OEMs to create custom apps with labels under the touchpad (to leverage the Sharp Pocket Computer VARs using the "traditional Pocket Computer" machines like the 1280, etc.) There were some very large companies (Insurance, Pharma, Finance, others) with large fleets of these cards deployed on Wizards, many of which lasted well past the emeregence of the Zaurus, Palm machines, etc.

Joe Horn, whom I knew from PPC days in SoCal, was the most active and productive beta-tester (I know, it's a shock...) did extensive perfomance testing and I believe showed that at the time that it was the fastest BASIC machine available in a "Pocket Computer" -ish size and form factor.

If I recall correctly, it was also Joe that developed an interesting serial comm program that provided means to exchange data files with another Wizard via the RS-232 port. While not fully Kermit or XModem, it worked and was used extensively by companies to upload data collected in the field.

He also broke "Private" (a means to hide PIM data in the Wizard) I beleive within hours of receiving the beta unit. While obviously not publicized, it was very handy internally...

I still have an OZ-707 manual somewhere... But unlikely to scan it and post online as I'm not sure how many users are still playing with this thing. Any of you out there?

Have not thougt about the OZ-707 in a long time Katie. Thanks for the short but fond trip down memory lane!