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Sharp set out to produce a mini-notebook computer that would, feature-for-feature, blow away the Sony Vaio 505. They largely succeeded. Although the weight and form factor of each computer are essentially identical, the PCA-150 is thinner than the Vaio at the front (0.8"), and deeper at the rear (1.1").

However, the design feature that is most obviously different and which strikes you most immediately is the display. Commanding more than 90% of the Japanese LCD market, Sharp so dominates the field of TFT technology that the chances are that the display in your Toshiba or Panasonic notebook was supplied by Sharp. Since the display in a notebook computer is usually the single most expensive component, the unique position enjoyed by Sharp yields two very important competitive advantages: First, Sharp will always be able to reserve its best and latest technology for its own products. Second, crucial design dollars which otherwise would go to buying a display can be deployed to boost other system specifications.

The screen is a massive, superbright 11.3" TFT (regular aspect ratio) Visible viewing area is some 20% greater than that of the Vaio 505, no mean feat considering that the footprint of each machine is virtually identical. Sharp achieved this in two ways: First, they have pushed the screen right to the very edges of the display body. Second, they have placed the PCA-150 battery internally rather than along the spine of the display/keyboard interface. While the placement of the battery in the Vaio is a clever idea, the disadvantage is that real estate which could have accommodated extra screen area is used instead to house the battery. As a result of this, when the Vaio is opened up side-by-side with the PCA-150, the PCA-150 looks a much bigger

 and taller machine, which is of course an optical illusion. Keeping the two computers side-by-side, and opening up Windows Explorer, it becomes quickly obvious that size is not the only thing in the PCA-150' favor: the display of the PCA-150 is so bright, that it makes the Vaio display look yellow by comparison.

Featuring specifications that one would normally expect in a regular sized - and much heavier - notebook, the PCA-150 features 64MB EDO RAM as standard, a massive super-fast 4.3GB HDD The latest model features a Pentium 266MMX CPU, and 2MB of Video RAM

In use, the PCA-150 mouse is superior in both construction and response. However, there is little to choose between the touch-typable 17mm pitch keyboard of either machine, although the PCA-150 has a 2.5mm stroke compared to the Vaio's 2mm stroke.

The PCA-150 features design innovations of its own. Killing two birds with one stone, the floppy disk drive unit features parallel, serial and PS/2 ports at its rear, thereby rendering any kind of dedicated mini-dock obsolete. Sharp also took a leaf out of Sony's book by creating space within the floppy drive to house its own cable. Unlike Sony, however, Sharp incorporated both a monitor port and a (second) PS/2 port directly into the machine, thus allowing the travelling business executive the convenience of giving presentations without carrying a mini-dock. The only computer of comparable weight that has all the ports built-in is the new Panasonic Let's Note CF-22. Often overlooked when calculating total travel weight, is the size and weight of the AC adapter. The AC adapter breaks new ground in power-supply design and, at 0.4lbs, is the lightest and tiniest AC adapter we have ever seen.

It was obvious to Sharp from the outset that to be taken seriously, the PCA-150 would have to feel every bit as solid and well-crafted as Sony's Vaio 505. Featuring a silver magnesium alloy body, the is as reassuringly solid to the touch as the Vaio, and has a smooth, polished finish to it, in contrast to the 505's rough, matt finish. When you hear the various latches and interface doors click as satisfyingly as they do, you know that an awful lot of thought, care and attention has been put into this product.

Detailed Specifications
Model

Sharp PCA-150

Model

Processor

Pentium 266MHz with MMX multimedia technology
Main Memory

64MB EDO RAM (max. 64MB)
Primary Cache

32KB
Secondary Cache

512KB (synchronous pipeline burst SRAM)

Main Storage

4.3GB internal HDD
Weight

3.0lbs (1.37kg) including internal battery
Size

10.2 x 8.3 x 0.8" at front, 1.1" at back (259 x 212 x 21.2mm at front, 28.3mm at back)
ROM

System BIOS, VGA BIOS, PnP compatible BIOS
Video Subsystem

NeoMagic NM2160 graphics accelerator, PCI bus connection
Video RAM

2MB
Display

11.3 inch TFT color display with backlight, non-glare
Display resolution

800 x 600 pixels, 16.7M colors

On external monitor

up to 1024 x 768, 65536 colors
Keyboard

87-key QWERTY keyboard, 17mm pitch, 2.5mm stroke
Pointing device

Touchpad

PC Card Slots

One Type II, CardBus/ZV compatible
Interfaces

Floppy drive port (0.7lbs, 300g; Floppy drive itself contains parallel, serial and PS/2 ports at rear); Monitor port; PC Card slot; USB port; Keyboard/mouse PS/2 port; Microphone monaural input jack; Stereo output jack; Fast Infrared port (IrDA 4Mbps, 115kbps/ASK 9600bps)
Soundcard

SoundBlaster Pro compatible, full duplex; integrated monaural speaker

Accessories Included

Internal Standard Lithium-ion cell; Floppy drive (contains 3 ports at rear: parallel, serial and PS/2 keyboard/mouse)
Main Optional Acc's

Add-on Large Lithium-ion cell (0.8lbs, 380g); PC Card 20X CD-ROM player
Power Supply

Special small universal AC Adapter (0.4lbs, 180g, 3.9 x 1.7 x 1.0inches, 100 x 43 x 25mm, AC100-240V (50/60Hz)
Battery Life

2.5 hours of operation (total 8.5hrs when using optional add-on large cell)
Power Consumption

max. 35.2W
Documentation

English manual; original Windows 98 manual
Software

. Windows 98 pre-installed; MS Internet Explorer 4.0; MS Internet News, Mail