(Irony) The perfect notebook...

[Amethyst1]

for @eyoungren

20 glorious inches and just 18 lbs.

The best part of the story is that a friend of mine had that beast while I had an 11.1-inch ultraportable, i.e. he had the largest notebook you could get, I had one of the smallest. I don't have the picture of both machines sitting next to each other anymore sadly.

 

[eyoungren]

What…exactly is it?

 

[amagichnich]

Reminds me of the notebooks in Eureka, they are indeed "portable PCs"

 

[Amethyst1]

What…exactly is it?

A (very) heavyweight laptop with a 20" screen and a detachable keyboard/trackpad. https://web.archive.org/web/2006100...etails.aspx/xpsnb_m2010?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

 

[keysofanxiety]

A (very) heavyweight laptop with a 20" screen and a detachable keyboard/trackpad. https://web.archive.org/web/2006100...etails.aspx/xpsnb_m2010?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

When they called it “portable”, did they mean “on wheels”?

 

[B S Magnet]

for @eyoungren

20 glorious inches and just 18 lbs.

The best part of the story is that a friend of mine had that beast while I had an 11.1-inch ultraportable, i.e. he had the largest notebook you could get, I had one of the smallest. I don't have the picture of both machines sitting next to each other anymore sadly.

This could edge out Compaq's revolutionary portable.

 

[keysofanxiety]

This could edge out Compaq's revolutionary portable.

Little known fact: it was called the “XTREE” because that’s the sound people’s spine made when they tried to pick up that behemoth.

 

[eyoungren]

This could edge out Compaq's revolutionary portable.

I saw my first "portable" when I was about 13 (1983 or 1984 thereabouts) when I was over visiting some place. Another visitor had some business for the homeowner so she set up her Kaypro on this lady's kitchen table. Big ass box that took over the entire table.

I was amazed.

 

[B S Magnet]

I saw my first "portable" when I was about 13 (1983 or 1984 thereabouts) when I was over visiting some place. Another visitor had some business for the homeowner so she set up her Kaypro on this lady's kitchen table. Big ass box that took over the entire table.

I was amazed.

I have a somewhat similar memory. I can't remember where I was or whether if it was a green or amber CRT, but I do recall being sort of in awe that this family's only/main computer had a tiny (which back then seemed to me like a plus, not a minus) IBM PC XT-style computer with a keyboard which literally doubled up as the system's lid. It's all but likely it was a Compaq, since at the time I was living in the city where that company began.

 

[Project Alice]

Aren't you all forgetting something?

 

[B S Magnet]

Aren't you all forgetting something?
View attachment 822526

That came much later in, I think, 1989.

And for its day, it was remarkably compact and also one of the very first portables of any kind with a flatscreen.

 

[weckart]

for @eyoungren
20 glorious inches and just 18 lbs.

The best part of the story is that a friend of mine had that beast while I had an 11.1-inch ultraportable, i.e. he had the largest notebook you could get, I had one of the smallest. I don't have the picture of both machines sitting next to each other anymore sadly.

I remember passing by this in a shop window in London every day on the way to work , the only place that sold this and just stopped myself getting one; it just wasn't laptoppy enough. I believe the screen uncoupled as a separate display. I ended up getting one of the earlier Intel MBPs and regretting that instead. If I remember right, Dell also had an 18.5" version but it was all about this beast.

 

[Project Alice]

That came much later in, I think, 1989.

And for its day, it was remarkably compact and also one of the very first portables of any kind with a flatscreen.

I guess that's true. It's just laughable to imagine anyone carrying that around. But, I was born in 1994 so I suppose I don't have a right to say anything about that era.

 

[B S Magnet]

I guess that's true. It's just laughable to imagine anyone carrying that around. But, I was born in 1994 so I suppose I don't have a right to say anything about that era.

Thank you for at least disclosing that. It helps to contextualize your angle.

I started using Macs in grade 12 of high school in 1990 — namely, to write papers. Everything in the school lab (of maybe 12 computers) was Macintosh — 128Ks and SE/30s — connected to one laserprinter (which we had to get permission to use) and two dot-matrix printers.

At the time, I wasn't even aware of a Macintosh Portable being a current thing. But I do know my younger self well enough to know this: had I known of its contemporary presence, I’d have marvelled by the impressive forethought and technology which went into taking the Macintosh and putting it in a easily portable package like that — especially that backlit LCD.

Bear in mind how also in 1990, I marvelled at the extent of tech Sony could pack into the Discman D-555 and also its ES line of studio equipment, or of learning how colour Macintoshes existed (which they had — by then for three years in the Macintosh II, but at ~USD$12K in today's money, they weren't the kind of thing you were likely to stumble onto incidentally).

 

[reddrag0n]

Aren't you all forgetting something?
View attachment 822526

When i was in high school, (1992) there was a kid that had one of these and he would have it always on him. Lunch break he would set it up, power cord and all and he would always be on it, listening to star trek audio clip bits on floppy and doing word programs of some sorts.

 

[1042686]

Ohhh I had one of those compaq portables ... er I should say my Dad did. Brings back memories none the less. Ours had a fabric/foam case with a shoulder strap. I guess that made it portable?
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When i was in high school, (1992) there was a kid that had one of these and he would have it always on him. Lunch break he would set it up, power cord and all and he would always be on it, listening to star trek audio clip bits on floppy and doing word programs of some sorts.

and this kid actually survived highschool?

 

[weckart]

Ohhh I had one of those compaq portables ... er I should say my Dad did. Brings back memories none the less.

I still have one. It has a 286 processor inside so will run up to Windows 286 (aka Win 2.0)

 

[Amethyst1]

I still have one. It has a 286 processor inside so will run up to Windows 286 (aka Win 2.0)

Windows 3.1 (not Windows for Workgroups 3.1x though) will also run on a 286. Whether that's enjoyable is a different matter.