The Early Portables

Compaq Arrives

In 1982, Compaq Computer Corporation began producing its first machine, the Transportable. This 28-pound luggable won praise for its high-quality workmanship (company salesmen used to drop demo machines on the floor, then restart them, to demonstrate their ruggedness). This was the first DOS-compatible portable ever--it would be two years before Big Blue began making one of its own. Similarly, the chipset was superb--at a time when many clone computers were not fully compatible with the IBM PC, the Transportable could run virtually 100% of PC software. This machine made Compaq $111 million in the company's first year of existence, a new record in American business.
The hardware specifications of the Transportable are listed below.

CPU:	a full-fledged Intel 8088, 4.77 Mhz
monitor:	built-in 9-inch monochrome CRT
disk drives:	5.25 inch, 320Kb capacity

This was a truly full-fledged clone in all respects but size.

IBM Enters the Market

IBM introduced its first portable in 1984, the IBM 5155 Personal Portable Model 68 Computer. Here are the specifications for this 30-pound luggable.

CPU: full Intel 8088
Monitor: 9-inch amber monochrome CRT; output to external CGA monitor supported.
Drives: 1 or 2 double-sided 5.25 inch half-height floppies, capacity 360Kb
RAM: 256Kb, expandable to 512Kb
Expansion slots: 8, with 6 open for user
Coprocessor: socket exists for optional 8087 FPU
Attachment ports: for CGA adapter, diskette adapter

This was really an XT in a small case, without a hard drive. Upgradeability was not yet an issue of concern; in this case almost identical to that of a desktop machine! An 8087 could be added, and 8-bit expansion cards could be placed in the standard 8-bit expansion bus. Indeed, the great majority of existing expansion cards were supported by the 5155.

Further Developments: Laptops, LCD's, hard drives...

Hard drives began to be introduced in portables around 1984. For example, Texas Instruments began production of its 40-pound TI Portable that year. Most of its features were quite standard, like its 8088 processor, 5.25 inch 360Kb drive, and 80-column screen. However, one had the option of buying it with a 10Mb hard drive.

Hewlett Packard jumped into the fray with its first laptop. This was the Model 110, dubbed The Portable--an 8086-powered machine with 128Kb of Ram. Notice its LCD CGA-compatible monitor! (LCD screens would become a popular choice in the future for portable monitors.) AT nine pounds, this was quite lightweight for the time. It most remarkable feature was its 384K of ROM, which contained such impressive software as Lotus 1-2-3. Another interesting feature was its 8086 CPU--actually an 80C86. This was a special CMOS version of the chip, meaning that when the computer was shut down, whatever was in the memory would last for up to five years.

IBM's first laptop was its 5140 Convertible. This 80C88-powered machine was introduced in 1986. It seems that Big Blue was somewhat behind with respect to portables!
IBM Convertible