The Sharp PC-G801 was an impressive little pocket computer when it debuted in 1988. However, in the year 2025, a Z80-compatible machine with just 8 kB of RAM is hardly much to get excited about. [s…

The Sharp PC-G801 was an impressive little pocket computer when it debuted in 1988. However, in the year 2025, a Z80-compatible machine with just 8 kB of RAM is hardly much to get excited about. [shiura] decided to take one of these old machines and upgrade it into something more modern and useful.

The build maintains the best parts of the Sharp design — namely, the case and the keypad. The original circuit board has been entirely ripped out, and a custom PCB was designed to interface with the membrane keypad and host the new internals. [shiura] landed on the Raspberry Pi Zero 2W to run the show. It’s a capable machine that runs Linux rather well and has wireless connectivity out of the box. It’s paired with an ESP32-S3 microcontroller that handles interfacing all the various parts of the original Sharp hardware. It also handles the connection to the 256×64 OLED display. The new setup can run in ESP32-only mode, where it acts as a classic RPN-style calculator. Alternatively, the Pi Zero can be powered up for a full-fat computing experience.

  • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org
    9·
    17 hours ago

    May I recommend a Nokia N900 - it’s already much more powerful, has a usable keyboard, and already runs Linux. But alternative OSs exist, if that’s your fancy.

    • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
      4·
      10 hours ago

      I had N900 like 12 years ago. My favorite phone ever but even 12 years ago the connection speeds were terrible. I still don’t understand why we don’t have modern PDAs like Zaurus or phones like N900. All the kickstarter projects are crazy expensive and limited in functionality. Just give me modern N900 god dammit!

      • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org
        1·
        6 hours ago

        Maemo Leste is available for a similar keyboard phone, the Motorola droid 4, which is much more powerful than the N900 and has 4G iirc.

        • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
          1·
          6 hours ago

          It’s still a 13 year old phone. Is this really usable today? Also, Maemo was awesome but today, without android emulation a phone will be just a toy, not a daily driver. I think Titan is closer to something usable but I think it’s not easy to run custom ROMs on it.

          • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org
            1·
            5 hours ago

            I used my N900 as a daily driver for a few months in 2020, but it was a constant pain and the www is right out anyhow. Never tried the Droid 4 (though I did order one, but then gave it away) and Maemo leste was not ready for prime in 2020 on any device, but I believe they’re much better now. I believe the Droid 4 was top tier back in 2012.

            Having that keyboard is not that big of a priority for me; I’m not likely to spontaneously start hacking while out and about; I can tweak my phone from the comfort of a real keyboard and an ssh connection.