Sharp PC-1475

[Dave Britten]

I took a gamble on an "untested" PC-1475 (Japanese version), and it paid off - it looks and works great. Was there ever an English-language manual for this model? I found one that's in German, and I think I can get enough information from that combined with experience with numerous other similar Sharps to figure out most of it, but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything cool.

Also, mine makes some very faint clicks from the speaker when running a program or switching between BASIC and CAL modes. Is this typical? I have a PC-E500 that makes some similar clicks, though slightly louder.

I hadn't even noticed until I started playing around with it that it has DEL, BS, and INS as primary keys - that alone is worth the upgrade!

[robve]

Congrats Dave on your rare vintage find! The Sharp PC-1475 (1987) is easily my favorite "old style metallic" Sharp with great functionality all contained in a nice landscape-style package. It appears to be the last in this long line of "old style metallic" Sharp PC. It has an extended version of BASIC, 20 digit precision, takes 2x32KB RAM cards, has matrix/vector functions, 2var statistics, and a RAM file system. It works forever it seems on two cell batteries.

Later machines like the Sharp PC-E500 and PC-G850 are great too. The E500 is faster and has a bigger screen, but the plastic dark monotone casing is not my thing, but the PC-E500(S) runs Forth!

The PC-1475 is a classic BASIC programmable. It has no symbolic operations (it has strings in BASIC) or anything resembling a CAS, for which the HP-28C/S (1986-1992) and later model HP or TI are better in that respect. But we should remember that the HP-28C came on the market after Sharp's long run of "old style metallic" pocket computers.

I don't believe there is an English manual in existence. I heard that it was not sold in the UK or US. The German manual is my primary source of information. Some technical data is posted here.

- Rob

[Dave Britten]

Oh that family tree is nice, maybe I should print it out and use it as a collection checklist.

I think this one combines the most features I like about Sharps so far:

• DEF key
• AREAD
• RENUM
• Step-by-step debugging
• Last-expression replay
• RSV mode (very handy on this model for defining shortcuts to SAVE"F:, LOAD"F:, FILES"F:, DSKF(3), etc.)
• INPUT command that lets you hit ENTER to skip the rest of the line and keep the original variable value
• Multi-line screen, and the font isn't quite as horizontally compressed as on the PC-1403/EL-5500III
• RAM "floppy" disk via interchangeable memory cards (and I have approximately one gallon of 8 KB cards to use!)
• CE-126P compatibility (doesn't quite fit in the CE-129P unfortunately)
• Double-precision math
  

The PC-1360 and Sharp Wizard BASIC card both offer larger screens, but both are lacking a number of these other important features. The Wizard definitely wins for typing with its keyboard buffer and two-key rollover, but the PC-1475 is on par with any other Sharp pocket.

[robve]

add to the list:

• connects to the CE-140F which is unobtainium, but there are projects like this funded project
• DEFDBL and DEFSNG
• VAR# to use double precision VAR and PI#
• ON ERROR GOTO (very useful when implementing integration, limits of functions, etc)
• ERASE of DIM'ed arrays and variables (e.g. to re-DIM arrays)
  

Alas, no EVAL or VAL of expressions like the PC-E500 has. It is possible to POKE an expression into BASIC to evaluate it, though, like the Tandy math software packs did on the PC-1500, for example.

- Rob

[Dave Britten]

Oh cool, I hadn't noticed the ERASE/re-DIM functionality. That's a big one. I did notice that stat data can contain multiple columns, and it's preserved when exiting and re-entering CAL/STAT mode, unlike the PC-1403. (Is there a way to access the stat data from BASIC here?)

And I would definitely buy a CE-140F emulator!

[rprosperi]

The 1475 was indeed not sold in USA, though an old-timer when I was there said some were brought in for a specific VAR, for selling some custom s/w. As such, there is no English manual, at least I've never found one. I did find the attached short mini-reference which covers several interesting models, don't recall where.

I acquired a 1475 last year from a very nice collector from Spain, and recently added a 1421 (the Business machine of this family); I'm still on the hunt for a 1425 (the Stats version) to complete the family.

I agree the E500 is better in several ways, but these classic models are still rather 'Sharp' to my eye... (sorry).

[Dave Britten]

Yeah, the E500 is certainly the more powerful of the two, but without DEF and AREAD, I still prefer the older models that have them. If I need something as big and powerful as the E500, I'll usually just grab my TI-92 Plus (I know, heresy).

That short manual combined with the BASIC comparison sheet goes a long way toward understanding the features that are somewhat unique to the 1475.

I can't say I've ever run across the 1425, but I did recently get a 1421. It's a great financial calculator, though I can't decide whether I prefer it or the Casio fc-200. Both have their advantages!

[Valentin Albillo]

.
Hi, Bob,

(04-01-2023 12:52 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  I acquired a 1475 last year from a very nice collector from Spain, and recently added a 1421 (the Business machine of this family); I'm still on the hunt for a 1425 (the Stats version) to complete the family.

I recently acquired three magnificent SHARP models from him (my long-life friend Jose Luis Chinchilla, who's selling machines from his magnificent HP & SHARP collection), namely the SHARP PC-1250A, PC-1251 and PC-1260, all absolutely mint, as-new (not the ones in the pics, which I got many years ago in TAS,) and I also own two SHARP PC-1475 (ditto), two PC-1421/EL-5510 (Financial Pocket Computer, not calculator) and one SHARP PC-1425 (Statistics, ditto).

I've got English manuals for most of them, including the financial model, but not for the 1475 (just in German, I don't think an English version exists) nor for the statistics model, which might exist.

Quote:I agree the E500 is better in several ways, but these classic models are still rather 'Sharp' to my eye...

Same here. I also own one but the classic models mentioned above are much more aesthetically appealing, and possibly more durable as well.

Best regards.
V.