Sharp's Cut-Above-Average MZ-80K Hardware
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'Review: double-track disc drives, storing 143 kilobytes per disc. The disc drive mechanisms are very smooth and well Sharp's cut-above-average made, the 70-track format is unusual and non-standard in the U.K. and means that software which might otherwise be MZ-80K hardware regarded as standard, e.g., CP/M-based programs is not directly transportable The Sharp MZ-80K computer was first marketed in the recorder is controlled both by mechanical from other machines to the MZ-80K. keys and the system software. Like all the peripheral units forming U.K. in 1979; before that, it had been available only as a The tape counter is fitted in the cassette STOCK RCOISTÿTTON part of the MZ-80K system, the MZ-80 I/O kit in Japan. In the 18 months the machine has been on recorder and programs or data on the ttoo- AWN***** unit is housed in a smart steel case, sale in Britain, the price for a model equipped with 20K cassette tape can be located accurately and STOCK €»«iu:»v containing a five-slot mother board and a reasonably quickly using #TO> V*H.U4T1W the fast forward .OUT or tmc* List discrete power supply unit. The mother RAM has substantially r t t««s ens fallen to £380. and rewind controls with the counter. The .outs AMI' . board uses double-sided connectors with .SUPPLICPS IU* data-transfer rate for the recorder is * 30 pins on each side. The pitch of the THE SHARP MZ-80K is advertised widely, The steel case of the computer is impressive it allows the 14 kilobyte connector appears to be 0.125in. a non- often with an emphasis on its suitability strongly constructed with a piano hinge Sharp Basic—tape to be loaded in about 1.5 U.K. standard. The I/O interface— unit is for business or office use. It is also used connecting the upper and lower sections minutes. connected to the MZ-80K by approx¬ for laboratory and industrial process which are normally secured by four On microcomputers, the keyboard and imately 18in. of shielded 50-way ribbon control by firms such as 3D Digital Design screws. The strut supporting the upper the visual display unit are the interface cable. and Development. Three units are section of the computer when it is opened between machine and user. The level of Part of the MZ-80K configuration is a available as part of the MZ-80K package; has a retaining thumbscrew on the lower ambient lighting in an office environ¬ real-time clock which starts counting from an input/output interface unit, a dual leg which can be screwed-in to prevent the ment, the reflections from a VDU screen zero when the machine is switched-on. floppy disc drive and a tractor-feed dot¬ and the angle at which it slopes, the ability The clock can be synchronised with GMT matrix printer. to separate the keyboard from the screen and could be used to control external reputation The commercial of Japanese Dimensions Weight so that a typist or operator can be devices. If personal computers are to very largely MZ-80K 41W 47D firms is based on often clever 28H 13kg comfortable are all important consider¬ continue their present penetration into the precision engineering and high-quality MZ-80IO 20 32 13 5 ations in designing a machine which will MZ-80FD 20 32 20 7 9 home market, it will be because they are MZ-80P3 41 38 19 10 allow a user to operate it for long periods seen to have a useful function around the by John Dawson without fatigue or unnecessary strain. house. Software serial numbers Similarly, a considerable amount of Sharp/Xtal monitor SP 1002 control during production. The ability of work has been done on the ergonomics of The Sharp MZ-80K. Machine durability Japanese ingenious Sharp tape Basic SP 502S the to write software Sharp disc keyboard design and this is apparent now Basic SP 601 S computer is, however, less certain. Xtal CP;M Version 2 21 in both computers and word processors The will have to run con¬ The high-quality engineering in, for Xtal CBasic Version 2 06 1 from firms like IBM and Logica at one tinuously — with tighter electrical- example, the MZ-80K double-track disc Dimensions are quoted in centimeters and end of the scale to more modest machines engineering and safety requirements — if, drives may suggest that the Japanese have exclude cable-bending radii Total power con- Tandy for example, it is to operate a burglar sumption for the four units is given as 2 1 5Watts such as the TRS-80 at the other. sought hardware solutions to compensate Those who use keyboards as part of their alarm, deal with incoming telephone calls, for their software failings. work develop strong preferences and this process the family budget, and act as a Table I. Equipment dimensions. The dimensions, weights and power allows room for variations such as the facsimile transceiver for letters and mail¬ consumption for the review equipment are extended front on the IBM 5120 machine order catalogues. The MZ-80K and its set out in table 1. The review MZ-80K had upper section of the case collapsing on which an operator can rest the palm of peripherals ran continuously for three been fitted with a Xtal CP/M adaptation. accidentally. his hand. These variations are made, days during the review period without The machine consists of four printed The visual display unit produces a however, within well-defined limits of signs of overheating or distress in any of circuit boards; the main CPU board, tape white-on-black image 40 characters wide good design. the units. recorder, keyboard, and visual display by 25 lines deep in an eight-by-eight The keyboard of the MZ-80K is Software has two important parts; the unit/audio frequency amplifier. The CPU format. A wide range of graphics markedly at variance with the rest of the program itself and the accompanying board is the largest and is mounted inside characters are available including elec¬ machine, is outside any concepts of good documentation. Good documentation is the base of the steel case with the other tronic symbols for drawing circuit design and surely can be neither intended not the myth it often seems to be and boards mounted on the upper section of diagrams on screen and a good number of nor used for serious typing. The spacing companies such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM the case. games and general-purpose shapes. The of the keys is the same as an ordinary and Rockwell produce excellent written The power supply is enclosed within a lower-case letters have true descenders offices typewriter 0.75in. from key explanations to support their products. ventilated metal case and is mounted and there is a pseudo-high-resolution centre to key centre— but the relative The U.K. armed forces also understand beside the CPU board. Power is supplied graphics capability which will display 50 positions of the keys—are non-standard the importance of clear, simple and through a two-pin connector which is by 80 pixels. although the board uses a normal concise English in their instruction standard for all the units in the system at Both the stability and definition of the QWERTY lay-out. manuals. the rear of the computer and display excellent, although Comment on the CP/M manuals there is a are there was In particular, the position normally Sharp’s MZ-80 P3 dot-matrix printer. second opening, with a screwed metal some pin-cushion distortion in the picture occupied by the space bar contains the supplied with the Xtal adaptation for the cover, which allows access to a 50-pin symmetry on the review machine, which cursor control, carriage return and insert/ syncrasy whenever text is being entered. the print head to traverse the full width of Sharp should start on a long rising note of Scotchflex connector. The CPU bus is meant that the last six characters on the delete key in addition to a small space key. The MZ-80P3 printer is a tractor-fed the paper and return. hysteria and frustration. The abundance brought out to the connector and is the right-hand side of the bottom line were The key-tops are transparent plastic caps dot-matrix printer capable of handling The print-head prints in one direction of jargon and virtual absence of worked sole signal input and output pathway to almost illegible because they had curved marked with graphics characters as well as paper widths from four to lOin. The only and will produce 80 characters per examples throughout the CP/M the computer the 50 lines are shown off the screen. the alpha-numeric characters. The main normal characters are printed in a six-by- line on lOin. paper. The printer accepts documentation made the system almost diagrammatically— in figure 1. This fault is not apparent on two other alpha-numeric markings do not stand out seven dot format and there are no parallel eight-bit ASCII data and will wholly obscure for a user without access The MZ-80K has a three-octave sound newer MZ-80K machines where the clearly enough which makes identification descenders on lower-case letters. The produce 255 ASCII and graphics to a source of CP/M folklore. generator and a real-time clock which is picture symmetry is good good enough of a particular key more difficult. printer will produce double-width characters.