37
votes
Were there ever any dumb terminals in a portable form factor?
if there was ever a case of a company making some sort of serial ASCII terminal, but in a portable factor
Well, it all depends on the definition of dumb, portable and terminal. Let's go with the most ...
- 199k
26
votes
Accepted
First computer with LCD screen
As the question is unclear about what is to be considered a laptop and what screen size is sufficient, we will have multiple possible winners:
(I will only include mass-market machines, as special ...
- 199k
18
votes
Accepted
Which pointing devices were used by early laptop computers?
One alternative to the trackpoint was a trackball, either below the screen (as in the Macintosh Portable), or next to the screen (as in the Compaq LTE Lite). When the trackball was next to the screen ...
- 11.3k
15
votes
Were there ever any dumb terminals in a portable form factor?
The Termiflex was a handheld terminal that was introduced in 1979. It was very cumbersome to operate as it had a very limited keyboard and could only display a few characters at a time. It looks like ...
- 639
15
votes
Identify early portable computer
Found this while browsing one of the links on the "laptops with mini-diskette drives" question:
It appears to be a generic 80186-based IBM PC AT clone, distributed as "Tava Flyer". ...
- 151
13
votes
Accepted
Were single-sided floppy drives really more tolerant of rough handling?
In a double-sided drive, there are two heads which are necessarily closely spaced, facing both sides of the thin magnetic-coated disc once it is inserted. The concern would have been that the heads ...
- 16.5k
13
votes
Compaq Portable vs IBM 5155 Portable PC
The main reason for Compaq's longer-term success in the PC market, in comparison to IBM, is what is commonly referred to as the "First-mover advantage".
In the beginning of the PC market, IBM ...
- 59.5k
13
votes
Accepted
Compaq Portable vs IBM 5155 Portable PC
I personally have never seen the attraction of a 'portable' that weighs more than many desktop machines, but my feelings on the matter are immaterial; the fact is that the market at the time was ...
- 199k
12
votes
Can anyone help me identify this computer?
This is one of dozens (hundreds?) of luggable designs that came out of Taiwan and other far east nations in the late 80s/early 90s before everything reverted back to the AT case style. The case was ...
- 18.5k
11
votes
Which pointing devices were used by early laptop computers?
One uncommon pointing device was the J Mouse. Zenith had it on some of their laptops. I remember seeing a laptop with this back in the early 90's.
Another uncommon pointing device was the mouse on ...
- 4,584
11
votes
Accepted
Grid Compass - why such a small display?
I just came across a possible answer on this page:
"The most important problem that had to be solved before mass production of ELDs could begin was increasing the reliability of the EL thin film ...
- 55.6k
8
votes
Dealing with old laptop batteries?
Ni-Cd cells like the ones used in the last century have one strong advantage over the Li-based battery cells we use today: They simply die silently.
As long as they are not leaking and contaminate ...
- 30.7k
7
votes
Identify early portable computer
We distributed TAVA Flyers as part of an integrated package that included our SalesMaker software by Daedalus Technology and Proquest Technology of Texas. They were brought in by our French software ...
7
votes
Can anyone help me identify this computer?
This looks like a generic, Compaq style schlepable build from standard components with the Elitegroup HM386SX as a typical generic Heatland 386SX chipset based motherboard. I would date it as early to ...
- 199k
7
votes
How early could plasma screens be used in laptops?
There is a fascinating publication called Flat Panel Displays in Perspective, put out by the (now closed) Office of Technology Assessment, United States Congress. The key quote from the publication:
...
- 171
7
votes
Which pointing devices were used by early laptop computers?
Trackballs in various shapes and designs - if there was a build in pointing device at all. Early laptops, from Grid and Sharp PC5000 to all the early Toshiba (T1000ff) didn't have any such device. If ...
- 199k
6
votes
Which pointing devices were used by early laptop computers?
what pointing devices were used by early laptop computers?
None at all.
Windows 1.0 dates from 1985 but Windows started to become really well established around the time of Windows 3 in 1990
Here ...
- 160
6
votes
Dealing with old laptop batteries?
The battery probably isn't a part of the power-filtering system. If you aren't sure if you'll be able to use the laptop without it, just disassemble the laptop, remove the battery and power on the ...
- 1,017
5
votes
Accepted
How early could plasma screens be used in laptops?
The Plato IV computer terminal introduced in 1972 had a 512×512 pixel plasma display.
The reason why plasma displays were never popular in battery-powered laptops is because they use a lot of power ...
- 17.3k
5
votes
Building a Sega Genesis Classic Portable - What kind of display?
In the video you linked (at 01:12), I notice that this device has the standard yellow and white connectors for composite video and audio. Many cheap portable LCD TVs support this kind of input, and ...
- 7,894
5
votes
Compaq Portable vs IBM 5155 Portable PC
Which makes it surprising that the IBM portable PC flopped; it looks to me like essentially the same product, only with the IBM nameplate; I would expect this to be an attractive proposition for the ...
- 4,676
5
votes
Compaq Portable vs IBM 5155 Portable PC
One definite advantage of the Compaq Portable over the IBM 5155 is that it had a video card and display that could render text at MDA resolution, with 14 pixel rows per character, and still support ...
- 6,572
4
votes
Were there ever any dumb terminals in a portable form factor?
Unix
On page 44 of his book Unix: A History and a Memoir, in the context of a photo showing Thompson and Ritchie next to a PDP-11 around 1972, Brian Kernighan briefly mentions an experimental portable ...
- 1,234
4
votes
Were there ever any dumb terminals in a portable form factor?
To complement the answer by "henros": the French Minitel had various versions. The Minitel 5 build by Matra was a portable terminal.
See https://sites.google.com/site/collectionminitel/...
- 141
4
votes
Accepted
Dealing with old laptop batteries?
I have 3 of these laptops, and can assure you that they will run OK without the NiCd battery installed, although you may need to replace the lithium CMOS battery if that hasn't been replaced. You can ...
- 56
2
votes
Which pointing devices were used by early laptop computers?
The original Macintosh Portable, from 1989, is fairly typical in using a trackball; also in the '80s you could have had an early touchpad (e.g. on 1983's Gavilan SC) and GRID had experimented with a ...
- 34.4k
2
votes
Which pointing devices were used by early laptop computers?
The Outbound was a Mac clone in a laptop form factor. It used a unique pointing device consisting of a small rolling cylinder that controlled the up-and-down motion and could be forced sideways ...
- 18.5k
2
votes
Were there ever any dumb terminals in a portable form factor?
The French Minitel system seems to fit this description.It was a highly successful serial communication system which predated the Internet. Plenty of information available - start with Wikipedia: ...
- 121
1
vote
Were there ever any dumb terminals in a portable form factor?
I have a Brother EP-44 electronic typewriter in my collection - it doesn't have its own built-in modem, but it can be connected to one using serial cable. It can also be connected directly to a ...
- 1,570
1
vote
First computer with LCD screen
Visual Commuter released in 1983 had an 80 character 16 line LCD screen. It also supported the standard IBM MS pixel graphics. In 1985 it was upgraded to 24 lines of text.
- 11
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible