Retro Gadget Review: The Sharp OZ-5500 Wizard Personal Information Organizer

Long, long ago in the time before Smartphones, Netbooks, Tablet computers, and iAnything, humans still had to get organized, remember telephone numbers, take notes, and manage an appointment calendar. This review covers one of their ancient tools. It is a device called Sharp OZ-5500 Wizard and it belongs in the Personal Data Assistant (PDA) category of ancient artifact.

Back before the start of the present millennium, humans roamed the Earth bereft of mobile internet connectivity, Most of these early technological pioneers had no apps other than those built into their PDA device. This was in the time before Mob Wars during humanity's pre-Angry Birds era. The Sharp Wizard device had a cable for synchronizing with a PC and some enterprising developers used it to port over custom-built applications. Otherwise most users were confined to the built in features which included Calendar, Schedule, To Do, Anniversary, Clock, Telephone Directory, User File Management, Outline, Memo, and Money Tracking. The device also has a traditional calculator built in.

Even without directions, archeologists have found it easy to navigate through the features of this small device. The Sharp Wizard (OZ-5500) measures only 3 1/2-inches by 6 1/4-inches and opens in the clam-shell way that a netbook opens. It has a built in QWERTY keyboard with function keys in a block above the traditional letter keys. The numbers have been moved up to a numeric calculator keyboard which lies to the right of the LCD screen. The space bar has been shortened from a traditional keyboard layout so that special keys can be arrayed along the bottom row. These keys handle Insert, Delete, Enter, Caps Lock, and Symbol functions. Two additional keys are marked 2nd and Word. However, these functions still elude this retro reviewer.

When first activated, the Sharp Wizard (OZ-5500) prompts the user to set up the device with his or her own data. The data collected includes name, address, telephone number, timezone, and nearest big city in same timezone. While modern devices would immediately report this information home via the Internet so that it can be used for marketing purposes, the Sharp Wizard merely displays it on opening screens so that the device can be returned if it is lost. The Wizard has a 100-year calendar so set up for modern day use of this retro gadget is no problem. In some respects, the Sharp Wizard has more applications than my Sylvania 7-inch Netbook.

The calendar functions were fairly intuitive. This retro reviewer was able to set an appointment easily and the memo feature was useful for quick haiku poetry and the like. However, the device does not seem to wake itself to deliver and alarm to alert the user to an upcoming event. Users may be disappointed to find that this hardworking little gadget had no built in games. However, if you are committed to a retro lifestyle, this PDA could still be useful for storing addresses, phone numbers, a calendar, memos, and outlines.

Overall, for $4 this PDA was an interesting thrift store find. While this reviewer didn't like the Wizard as much as the Casio Cassiopeia, the Sharp Wizard just might stay in the inventory of ancient gadgets and gear.

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