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Portable computing not old school? Baloney!
My first laptop was:
1) made in February 1985. Is that old school enough for you? wink
2) a true laptop. 4 pounds. Ran 16 hours on 4 AA batteries. Fit in a briefcase, about 8"x10"x1.75".
3) Integrated LCD - 40x16 characters. It did have bit-addressable monochrome graphics.
4) Had apps in ROM - no built-in floppy. (I did later purchase a 200K external floppy drive that also ran on 4 AA batteries.) It included Basic, a text editor, basic telecom and MS Multiplan spreadsheet software standard.
5) 24K RAM and 72K ROM - upgradable to 72K RAM and 104K ROM. Oh, and a built-in 300 baud modem. 2.4Mhz 80c85 CPU. Bootup time in fractions of a second.

The wonder machine? A Tandy Model 200. I _still_ use it - runs great for jotting recipes & whatnot in the kitchen due to it's long battery life and IMNSHO, the best laptop keyboard *ever*. The built-in keyboard rivals the IBM Model 'M'; I used to be able to type over 100wpm (my best is over 110wpm) on that keyboard - new lappy keyboards I'm lucky to hit 65wpm.

I'm thinking of inviting all my geek friends and throwing a party for it when it turns 30. (Mainly just a reason to drink heavily, tho... wink )
Posted by rmerchberger@...
7th Nov