--- title: Sharp PC-5000 categories: - Computers types: - Portable origins: - Japan years: - '1983' cpus: - Intel 8088 params: name: PC-5000 image: /media/museum/photos/sharp_pc-5000_1.jpg company: /companies/sharp company_name: Sharp specs: - label: NAME value: PC-5000 - label: MANUFACTURER value: Sharp - label: TYPE value: Portable - label: ORIGIN value: Japan - label: YEAR value: '1983' - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE value: Microsoft Basic 1.0 - label: KEYBOARD value: Full-stroke 72 keys with 8 function keys and arrow keys (English, German and French versions) - label: CPU value: Intel 8088 - label: SPEED value: 4.77 Mhz - label: RAM value: 128k, up to 256k (Magnetic Bubble Memory, 64k and 128k modules) - label: ROM value: 192k (64k system program + 128k for Basic/MS-DOS) - label: TEXT MODES value: 80 chars x 8 lines (LCD screen) - label: GRAPHIC MODES value: 640 x 80 dots - label: COLORS value: Monochrome - label: SOUND value: Beeper - label: SIZE / WEIGHT value: 325 (W) x 305 (D) x 85 mm (H) / 4.5 Kg - label: I/O PORTS value: |- Bubble memory cartridge slot\ Serial port (proprietary)\ RS232c port\ Bus expansion port\ Tape-recorder - label: OS value: MS-DOS - label: POWER SUPPLY value: 12vdc 850mA / + -(O- - - label: PERIPHERALS value: Built-in thermal transfer printer (optional), double 5''1/4 disk-drive (360k), numeric keypad - label: PRICE value: |- 3506 (France, 1985)\ £1195 (U.K., 1984)\ 350 000 yens (Japan, 1985) tabs: - photos - adverts - hardware - software - links photos: - title: SYSTEM CLOSED subtitle: '' text: In fact the PC-5000 is quite big for a laptop computer, it's rather a transportable computer... image: /media/museum/photos/sharp_pc5000_closeright_1.jpg - title: RIGHT SIDE VIEW subtitle: '' text: Thanks to [Oh no, not another computer museum!](http://www.xs4all.nl/~fjkraan/comp/index.html) for this picture. image: /media/museum/photos/sharp_pc5000_side.jpg - title: LEFT SIDE VIEW subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/sharp_pc5000_closeleft_1.jpg - title: FRONT VIEW subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/sharp_pc5000_opened_1.jpg - title: ACCESSORIES HOUSING subtitle: '' text: A convenient accessories housing is located at the back of the LCD display. Printer ribons, bubble memory modules, ROM packs, etc. could be stored here. image: /media/museum/photos/sharp_pc5000_storage_1.jpg - title: ROM MODULES HOUSING subtitle: '' text: |- Two ROM modules housing are located under the system. To note also: **(1)** The permanent clock switch\ **(2)** The sound volume and display contrast adjustments. image: /media/museum/photos/sharp_pc5000_cardhouse_1.jpg - title: BUBBLE MEMORY CARTRIDGE HOUSING subtitle: '' text: Bubble memory is seen by the system as a disk drive. image: /media/museum/photos/sharp_pc5000_bubblehouse_1.jpg - title: REAR CONNECTORS subtitle: '' text: |- **(1)** Power switch. An external P.S.U. or an internal battery supply the power\ **(2)** Serial I/O connector intended for Sharp devices\ **(3)** Serial RS-232C standard connector\ **(4)** Expansion bus connector\ **(5)** Tape recorder ear/micro/remote jacks\ **(6)** AC adaptor plug image: /media/museum/photos/sharp_pc5000_back_1.jpg - title: INSIDE PC-5000 subtitle: '' text: |- As always with Sharp company, technological innovation is the priority. To design such a complex computer the engineers used almost none of the existing components and prefered to design innovative and complex chipsets. That allows them and the company to be at the leading edge of fundamental search, not to be copied and to preserve a permanent technological advance from competitors. **(1)** Thermal or ribbon graphic integrated printer (optional).\ **(2)** Sharp ceramic chipsets in charge, inter alia, of serial communications, floppy discs management and intelligent power regulation.\ **(3)** Intel 8088 microprocesseur, assisted by a second Sharp 8 bits CMOS microprocessor.\ **(4)** CMOS chipset that supervises the whole system and stops the operations of the circuits not in use in order to save energy.\ **(5)** Expansion connector for RAM or ROM optional cards or cartridges.\ **(6)** On this board, we can find:\ • 128 Kb. of ROM memory holding MS-DOS 2.11 operating system, Microsoft GW-BASIC interpreter and characters generator,\ • Some system Input/Output modules,\ • The PISCS chipset which allows MS-DOS to recognize bubble memory as floppy disc drives A: or B:\ **(7)** This board acts as a floppy disc controller for bubble memory.\ **(8)** 16 memory chips holding 128 kb of standard RAM memory.\ **(9)** Housing for bubble memory modules. image: /media/museum/photos/sharp_pc5000_inside_1.jpg - title: THE BOX subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/sharp_pc5000_box_1.jpg adverts: - title: BROCHURE COVER subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/pubs/sharp_pc5000_brochurecover_1.jpg hardware: - title: FLOPPY DISC UNIT subtitle: '' text: |- **Double 5''1/4 diskette drive unit.** The two diskette drives of this unit are labelled C and D, as A: and B: are used by the bubble memory modules. Drives are 360 Kb. double side, single density TEAC brand and the unit must be connected to main power. Despite of manufacturing quality, the price was really excessive (1525 Euros) image: /media/museum/hardware/sharp_pc500_fdunit_1.jpg - title: 1P-01 PRINTER subtitle: '' text: This optional graphics printer took place inside the PC-5000. It could print on thermal paper or normal paper with a ribbon. image: /media/museum/hardware/sharp_pc5000_printer_1.jpg screenshots: - title: EASYPAC ROM CARTRIDGE subtitle: '' text: |- EasyPac ROM cartridge (CE-116M), features a software suite including the word processor **EasyWrite II**, the graph module **EasyReport** and the communication module **EasyComm**. This cartridge tooke place at the bottom of the PC-5000 image: /media/museum/software/sharp_pc5000_easy_cart_1.jpg - title: MICROSOFT BASIC CARTRIDGE subtitle: '' text: This cartridge allowed the PC-5000 to run any BASIC program written with IBM-BASIC, MS-BASIC or GW-BASIC image: /media/museum/software/sharp_pc5000_basic_cart_1.jpg links: - title: Handheld Computer Museum url: http://member.nifty.ne.jp/handheld/computer/pc5000/pc5000.html text: Interesting info and good pictures (japanese & english) - title: Oh no, not another computer museum! (PC-5000 page) url: http://www.xs4all.nl/~fjkraan/comp/pc5000/index.html text: Interesting infos and great pictures here - title: Uncle Roger's Classic Computers (PC-5000 page) url: http://www.sinasohn.com/cgi-bin/clascomp/bldhtm.pl?computer=shp5000 text: Has useful information about the PC-5000 comments: - author: Rob Taylor (Whitby, Canada) date: Wednesday 20th February 2002 text: |- I had this machine in the late 80's.\ Nice, long-lasting battery. The printer was a very keen feature, and I used to run Borland Turbo Pascal on it to develop small programs. Ah, memories...\ RT oc_id: 476 source: url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230609171922/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=476 date: '2023-06-09' --- The PC-5000 is the Sharps's first attempt to produce a laptop computer, and was one of the first clamshell style portable computer with the Grid Compass and the Gavilan. So it is a clamshell style portable computer : when you open the PC-5000, the LCD screen (8 x 80) is lifted to reach its ''in-use'' position, and when you close the computer the screen tilts until it covers the keyboard. There is an optional printer which can be mounted into the case of the PC-5000 (see picture). The type of memory used here is quite special, it's magnetic bubble memories. The advantage is that it's quite fast and you can change the memory cartridges (64k or 128k each) in the computer. Thus you can reach 256k RAM, or you can insert applications stored on ROM modules. But the main drawback of theses memories, is that there are very expensive ! The PC-5000 uses MS-DOS but is not really PC compatible, although Sharp tried to sell it by focusing on this point. Some good software was available for the PC-5000, including Easy-Writer II (wordprocessor), Easy-Comm (communications)and Easy-Planner (spreadsheet). There were sold together as the EasyPac (some sources say that Easy-Report was included).\ EasyMenu was the menu-interface built-in the PC-5000.