I got a printer and a tape interface for my 4-bit BASIC computer/pocket calculator Sharp PC-1248. I love this little toy because it has far more RAM than most users would ever need - almost 8K is available to the user. The printer is quick and tiny, too. The computer runs 150 hours from two CR2032, and the printer is powered by four AA batteries with unknown yet runtime.

Here's the device loading the program and printing the image. Sorry it's very blurry, I'm too excited to share it ASAP :D

If you're wondering why I needed a printer for this computer: well, first, it's cool, and second, the computer can record the programs to a tape without this device, but can't load them. I tried to build my own version of the cassette tape interface for it from scraps a couple of weeks ago, but it didn't work for some reason. Probably the signal was too quiet.

If you ever find yourself owning this little computer, here are some very useful resources:

Basic->WAV converter (comes with source codes):
https://www.peil-partner.de/ifhe.de/sharp/

DIY tape interface (you can't just load tapes from the device without it, only save): https://ht-deko.com/pokecom/bbce124.html

Printer emulator using Arduino: http://www.cavefischer.at/spc/html/CE-126P_Emulator.html#PC-1250A

Now that I have this wonder of portable personal computing in its final form, I need to think: what kind of computing I can do on a 4-bit BASIC computer (read: slow) with a super bad keyboard (read: worse than ZX81) and a screen of 16 characters (e.g. most output goes to a printer right away)? And the IO is limited to a tape and a printer.

There's enough RAM to run a simple text editor, but the keyboard is a pain, so I'd rather not. Simple spreadsheet app is feasible, but I might as well just use BASIC. A database app would require some clever sharding. It could work as an organiser for 100 notes/contacts, but this is better done by a sheet of paper hidden in the back cover of the computer.

What do I even do with you, o little computer?

It's obviously very useful for little programs like "enter your mortgage details and we'll print the payment schedule, taking compound interest into account" or "type in the colours of the stripes on your resistor and it'll print out the resistance". But what else?

@nina_kali_nina

- print a randomly generated poem
- tarot reading
- basic inventory management (tracking stock, recording item transactions, tracking storage locations)
- regular reminders (if it has an internal clock); could be useful if you're the kind of person who finds physical reminder notes better & need to remember a bunch of regular things ie medication intake. have the printer roll out the thermal paper straight onto your desk and don't tear it off until you do it
@cyanidesunrise the reminder thing is pretty cool! It is possible to connect a 9V power brick to run it off the mains, and there's WAIT command that should sleep for ~1 second, so it should be doable. Probably not the best way to use all the powers
@nina_kali_nina if it's no clock and wait commands it'd need regular sync (i bet some commands are VERY blocking), which feels self-defeating. your reminder device needs reminders to function
@nina_kali_nina i think the reminder thing could also be adapted to a multi user context, like household chores reminder with the option for anyone to type in additional schedules; the horrible keyboard does not matter if it's just "mo/1230/milk for andy"
@cyanidesunrise it does work as a tiny printer with a timer, but it's not clear to me how it is superior to just a note on the fridge and an alarm xD
@nina_kali_nina it's not, the idea is bullshit, i'm just trying to scrounge up SOMETHING
@nina_kali_nina i suppose it is vastly aesthetically superior. you invite someone over and they see disheveled antique hardware with incomprehensible key layouts glued to furniture ask wtf that is and you say "oh that's my post-it" but that's probably nothing new in your home
@cyanidesunrise Oh, I know what kind of stuff it can be used for! Let me try a thing...