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Compaq Portable 486

I didn't even know they made a portable 486, I thought Compaq had gone to all laptop formfactor portables by 486 days, damnit, now I want one too ;-)
 
Threw me for a loop also, I had no idea they tried to do a portable 486 in that case either. Pretty sure I have their 486 color laptop with a super small screen. It was an OK system except for the stupid power supply cable which has a bunch of pins and doesn't have a tight fit with the system.


tmbolek, are you a Compaq collector and just filling in all the gaps or just curious what your motivation is with this system?
 
That's the same quick source I found too (mention on wikipedia). From the looks of it they did call it the Compaq Portable 486. I was expecting it to perhaps just be an upgrade kit for the Compaq Portable III which mine I believe is a 386.
 
That's the same quick source I found too (mention on wikipedia). From the looks of it they did call it the Compaq Portable 486. I was expecting it to perhaps just be an upgrade kit for the Compaq Portable III which mine I believe is a 386.

Pretty sure all the "Portable III" should be a 286, The "Portable 386" is a 386 in same case as the III though, but I am PRETTY certain they were all badged as 386, not III (that's how the few 386s I have seen have been badged), but I've been wrong before.

EDIT: Come to think of it, the badge is on the Keyboard, which is removable, so its sure possible you could have a Portable 386 with a Portable III keyboard and badge on it ;-)
 
Pretty sure all the "Portable III" should be a 286, The "Portable 386" is a 386 in same case as the III though, but I am PRETTY certain they were all badged as 386, not III (that's how the few 386s I have seen have been badged), but I've been wrong before.

EDIT: Come to think of it, the badge is on the Keyboard, which is removable, so its sure possible you could have a Portable 386 with a Portable III keyboard and badge on it ;-)

The III came in two subtypes. 2660 and 2670. The 2660 had the 286 and he 2670 had the 386. As far as I can tell, the only differences between a III 386 and a straight 386 is that the III keyboard did not have all 12 function keys on it and all of the Portable 386 systems I have came with a 5.25" floppy but the III 2670 I have came with a 3.5" floppy.
 
Yes, that is a portable 486 but it's not a very good picture.

It's quite a bit different from the IIIs: the screen doesn't swing and tilt as the IIIs do, the entire upper section sort of 'rotates' in the lower part instead.

'Sewing machine' is an apt name for it...

I've got a couple of their early 486 laptops as well but the portable had expansion slots; I don't doubt that they were available at the same time for different applications.
 
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The III came in two subtypes. 2660 and 2670. The 2660 had the 286 and he 2670 had the 386. As far as I can tell, the only differences between a III 386 and a straight 386 is that the III keyboard did not have all 12 function keys on it and all of the Portable 386 systems I have came with a 5.25" floppy but the III 2670 I have came with a 3.5" floppy.

The 2670's I have owned or run across in the past were all badged as "Portable 386" not "Portable III", which is what I meant in my last post, its the exact same chassis as a III, but its not referred to as a III in any documentation I have seen. I know each model had different configs possible as far as floppy, a 3.5" floppy was an upgrade they sold on some 2660 III's as well, It's referenced in the physical manual I have for my current 2660.
 
Yes, that is a portable 486 but it's not a very good picture.

It's quite a bit different from the IIIs: the screen doesn't swing and tilt as the IIIs do, the entire upper section sort of 'rotates' in the lower part instead.

'Sewing machine' is an apt name for it...

I've got a couple of their early 486 laptops as well but the portable had expansion slots; I don't doubt that they were available at the same time for different applications.

It's this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slnXL_SegTE
Compaq Portable 486C

Unfortunately not for sale though, price tag when new was huge, takes EISA and ISA cards.
Mine was ex-telecommunications, a network sniffer. Power supply likes to throw capacitors otherwise a great machine.
 
I've got a couple of their early 486 laptops as well but the portable had expansion slots; I don't doubt that they were available at the same time for different applications.

For what its worth, there are still companies who make "Portable"/luggable form factor PCs, I know someone who's company uses them for portable HD broadcast work, since there is no real laptop which can handle that kind of work, so there still is a legitimate market for things like this, just no large name manufacturers left in the game, most are custom one-off configs.
 
Orchid Portable Computers who seems to have made the Compaq Portable III case for Compaq still thinks they're the way to go per their products page also.

I could be mistaken with my Compaq. I'll have to dig it out and see which it is, it's possible it's a Portable 386 and I just thought it was a III.. I'm trying and failing to remember what floppy drive it has installed. I just remember it had a hard drive so I didn't care much but it does have or I later found that ISA expansion unit for it which I had always wanted to drop an ethernet card in.
 
...I later found that ISA expansion unit for it which I had always wanted to drop an ethernet card in.

I acquired the expansion for my 2660 a year or two ago, I have a 3Com Etherlink III in one slot, and an AST SixPak RAM card with 4MB on it in the other, makes for a pretty dang usable 286, I map drives to my NAS array from it, it makes file transfer and installing new games and applications a breeze.
 
I have a COMPAQ LTE ELITE 4/75CX (series 2850B) laptop for sale/trade.
Complete with original dead-battery, power cord, manual, and nylon COMPAQ zippered bag.
16mb, 321mb HD, Win95, MSoffice, Opera, Norton, Ghost, etc. etc.
No pcmcia modem card included.
Seems to be in perfect working condition using AC power. Keyboard is spotless. LCD crisp like-new display.
compaq_21.jpg
Make a PayPal offer (include shipping from Phoenix AZ) OR,
I'll trade it for a good LCD screen to fit a HP/COMPAQ nc6320.
 
I have a COMPAQ LTE ELITE 4/75CX (series 2850B) laptop for sale/trade.
Complete with original dead-battery, power cord, manual, and nylon COMPAQ zippered bag.
16mb, 321mb HD, Win95, MSoffice, Opera, Norton, Ghost, etc. etc.
No pcmcia modem card included.
Seems to be in perfect working condition using AC power. Keyboard is spotless. LCD crisp like-new display.
View attachment 14405
Make a PayPal offer (include shipping from Phoenix AZ) OR,
I'll trade it for a good LCD screen to fit a HP/COMPAQ nc6320.

Not really the right place for this, please post to FOR SALE / TRADE thread. The OP was looking for a "Portable 486" which is a much different beast from a Laptop. Post it in the Sale/Trade and I bet you might get a few bites, they were nice machines ;-)
 
He never did say what he'd be prepared to pay; I'm delighted to learn that you guys consider it @RARE@ ;-)

Personally not having ever seen one for sale before, I don't know what one would go for. The Portable 386's go between $35 and $100, so the best I can guess the 486 would probably be north of those ;-)

I take it from the tone of that comment that you have one ;-)
 
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