Sharp MZ

Although commonly believed to stand for "Microcomputer Z80", the term MZ actually has its roots in the MZ-40K, a home computer kit produced by Sharp in 1978 which was based on Fujitsu's 4-bit MB8843 processor and provided a simple hexadecimal keypad for input.

From the first Z80 processor-based model to the MZ-2200 [jp] in 1983, the MZ computers included the PC, monitor, keyboard, and tape-based recorder in a single unit, similar to Commodore's PET series.

In 1983, after the most popular home computers appeared in the UK, the Sharp MZ-700 was briefly the 10th best selling machine out of 20 considered, beating the Apple IIe, Atari 800 and TI-99/4A.

[3] In May 2012, Sharp's Japanese Twitter account announced that they had found a copy of an MZ manual in a warehouse, and were hoping to digitize it in the future.

[4] On 21 December 2012, Sharp's Japanese Twitter account announced[5][6][7] that they had published digital copies of manuals for the MZ-80 on their official website.

The MZ-80K sold well in Europe despite its high price (it retailed at over £500 in 1980), and a large range of software was available, including some Japanese arcade games.