Sharp PA-3100S Instruction Guide

Sharp PA 3100 series (second generation) portable e.t.s were first released in 1989. Models include but may not be limited to PA-3100 II, PA-3100 S, PA--3110 II, PA-3140 II, 3140 S. Earlier PA 3100 series (first generation) models (PA-3100, 3100 E, 3110, 3120) have a slightly different design, notably narrower platen knobs and a narrower … Continue reading Sharp PA-3100S Instruction Guide →

Sharp PA-3000 Instruction Guide

First generation Sharp PA-3000 series portables were first released in 1989. Models in this short series include but may not be limited to the PA-3000, 3000 S, 3020, 3030, QL 800, 830. These e.t.s have a modest top speed of 10 cps and take a non-cassette wheel (unlike earlier, higher quality Sharp PA-3100 models which … Continue reading Sharp PA-3000 Instruction Guide →

Sharp PA-3100E Instruction Guide

Sharp PA 3100 series portable e.t.s were first released in 1986. Models include but may not be limited to PA-3100, 3100 E, 3110, 3120. Later (second generation) PA 3100 series models have a modified design, notably chunkier platen knobs and a broader margin scale/front facia. Subscriber Content Thank you for your support. Here's the file: … Continue reading Sharp PA-3100E Instruction Guide →

Be Original, Be Sharp

It used to "Be Sharp", but these days the company slogan of the Sharp Corporation (now majority owned by the Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer, Foxconn1) is Be Original. Sharp's original colour of choice for its personal e.t.s, e.t.s like this circa 1990 PA-3000, was BLACK. Grey-beige or cream-beige variants do exist, but they're harder to … Continue reading Be Original, Be Sharp →

Sharp PA-3100 II

Portable electronic typewriters like this Sharp PA-3100 II were churned out (in large numbers) from a foreign plant in South Korea and shipped globally to Japan, Australia, the USA, the UK, Europe. This is the first to come up for sale locally and cheaply on Gumtree after several years of waiting, and boy was I disappointed. Even … Continue reading Sharp PA-3100 II →

The World According to Sharp

Although Sharp owed its initial success, and eventually its name¹, to the Ever-Sharp Mechanical Pencil, it was the calculator that really transformed its fortunes. In 1981 (according to Sharp's corporate history at www.sharp-world.com) the two companies that had been marketing Sharp electronic office equipment were merged to form Sharp Business, Co., Ltd. Thereafter, Sharp made its first … Continue reading The World According to Sharp →

Lord of the Wedge

I didn't know it at the time of bidding on my Sharp ZX-500, but it turns out the same model of typewriter was used by William Golding to write the second draft and subsequent drafts of his novel Close Quarters. Close Quarters was a sequel to Rites of Passage and the second volume of Golding's To the Ends … Continue reading Lord of the Wedge →