Sharp MZ-80A mod?


I am thinking of purchasing a Sharp MZ-80A. Is there any mods for it? So I do not need to use a tape for reading applications.

Welcome!

There are several options:

  • First, you can use a cassette adapter (like it used to be used in cars) to read software via the built-in tape drive. Besides the tradional, cable-based ones, there are also adapters featuring SD cards or a bluetooth connection for the audio/data stream. (There used to be a software to convert ninary to audio signals, but I don’t know, what OSes may be supported.)
  • While the MZ-80A features a built-in parallel printer port, it requires an expansion module/box to connect to disk drives, much like the MZ-80K. (But it does run CP/M out of the box, provided the software is suitable for a 40 columns display.) – Notably, the B series already incorporates this and doesn’t require a special I/O expansion.
  • There’s an 80-columns card (maybe also modern solutions)
  • There are several people who have tinkered with modern I/O options, compare:

Here are some pages from the old “sharpmz” site:

It’s simply not true that the MZ-80A includes a built-in parallel printer port. A bare-bones MZ-80A comes out of the box with a built-in cassette recorder and built-in screen but that is it. You need the expansion box with a printer card installed in it to use a printer (and, as you say, disk drives and other peripherals). For mods, the link you mentioned to engineers@work is the probably your best bet but I don’t know of anyone who is actually selling fully complete mods, it’s more DIY. Sometime this year I hope to have finished my “fast loader” for the MZ-80A which halves the loading time from tape.

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Sorry, I read this in a contemporary review.
(I only have the K variant. So no opportunity to check…)