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BOOK II - A modern Apple II Plus Clone Laptop

S

SlCKB0Y

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Joined
Nov 1, 2025
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18
Hello!

I couldn’t see a topic on this device here and so wanted to enquire if anyone had any experience about the new Book II: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005012216952263.html

This is an Apple 2 plus clone in laptop form and is produced by the same team who make the Book 8088/Pocket 8086, Hand 386 and Pocket 386 clone laptops which are pretty popular in the IBM PC parts of this forum:
R

Thread 'Book 8088 discovery and modification thread'

I though it might be a nice idea to put together a thread to collect information about the Book 8088.

I just received mine (Version 1) and I have a version 2 on the way with the parallel and serial port.

Here is a list of Fn+ commands (that I know about)
1 mute
2 sound on
3 sound on?
4 play +enter
5 dn +enter
6 turbo mode switch (no indication of mode?)
7 mode 80
8
9 HOME
10 END
11 PGUP
12 PGDN

The Fn+4 and Fn+5 are interesting because you can make play.bat or dn.bat files to launch applications. These must be stored in the CPLD as I am not finding references to it in the BIOS...
  • Like
Plasma

Thread 'Pocket 386'

I see our Chinese friends are back with another "laptop"...

I don't understand their obsession with IDC plugs which necessitates the use of breakout cables for all the ports. I also have doubts that is really an IPS screen. In all the screenshots it looks like a TN panel with a cheap backlight.

These devices, whilst having some rough edges and compromises, are generally pretty well done and affordable. This latest device is significantly more expensive than their previous products but the inclusion of the mechanical keyboard suggests they are attempting to lift their build quality but then the shell seems to be 3D printed? If the case is not injection moulded then this feels much more like a prototype

I’ve been meaning to get back in to Apple 2 stuff recently and so I’m interested in this to some degree. The price (~$470USD) is just beyond what I’m willing to take a leap of faith on.

The info from the product page:

Included:
BOOK II main unit × 1 , Power Adapter × 1

Overview

The BOOK II is a portable Apple II (Plus) compatible computer, redesigned using standard TTL chips and equipped with ROMs from early Apple II compatibles or clones. Beyond its core Apple II functionality, it integrates several built-in enhancements: an 80-column video card, a 16KB Language Card, a Z80 Softcard, a printer controller, and a Disk II compatible controller.

As a portable computer, the BOOK II features a built-in lithium battery, an RGB LCD, and a low-profile mechanical keyboard. It supports original Apple Disk II floppy drives as well as floppy drive emulators.

Features
  • CPU: 6502
  • SRAM: 48KB (+16KB)
  • Z80 Softcard (for CP/M?)
  • 80 Column Video Card
  • 16KB Language Card RAM
  • Disk II controller
  • Printer Interface
  • RGB Display (800x600)
  • Mechanical keyboard
  • Lithium battery (4x18650)
  • Expansion Bus Support (Slot 5)
Manual: https://ae-pic-a1.aliexpress-media....T&file=S0447fbc0d4714d75b0bdf8b9c2999cc1i.pdf
 
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I’ve just messaged them to ask about the case as I’m hoping it’s not 3D printed, or if it is, the photos there are of a prototype or something. I’ll update if/when I get an answer.
 
hello... yes im Tom from the usa... i bought one of these laptops... i was going to do a video on it but when it arrived it had a hardware glitch, to which they had to send a physical replacement part, one of the vintage chips rom chips randomly died... but they sent me a replacement after a little diagnosis and after popping it in it works perfectly fine.... in the mean time i broke my hand so running a camera is a bit tough, but i'll get it it soon! its a very thck chunky laptop... almost 3 inches thick... very nice modern motherboard but the roms are true vintage clone CJ II parts, not sure where they are getting them. the case has characteristics of 3d printed, but i think the production ones are was done with a mold. it runs physical disk drives perfectly fine, even on pure battery power... has a pop up menu to adjust special up/down keys and see power level (its a ii+ clone). i attempted to run a mockingboard in slot 5, but something i believe is wrong with MY software, i will get to this soon and attempt again. ... i wrote a lot of software but my target was usually for IIE enhanced so im scrambling rewriting stuff to make it work on this. i did rewrite my cassette in audio recorder and was able to record and playback 1bit audio perfectly fine (what a godscent cause now i can have an easy way to make apple ii audio that friends ask me all the time when they write games... its so convenient now with this little thing.) i played michael packards alien downpour, oregon trail from physical disks and my sdII drive emulator works flawlessly. the fan is interesting, it only comes on when plugged into wall, on battery its off. when the disk drive comes on, the fan temporarily shuts off---- BUT for some reason stays on when formatting a dos 3.3 disk... that i find very weird! overall i like it a lot, if you look at it from a hobbiest build perspective its done very well, no rough edges and clean design. i been looking at the site and they havent made any more available for sale, so i am guessing there are only 20 (or less) of these in the wild so far, pretty rare item. i'll try to come back here and check for questions if you have any.. thanks. .......... final thought.... price very high but quality good... i havent bought any a2 hardware in years but the design intriegued me so much i jumped on it the second i saw it, and glad i did. there are a bunch of portable emulator apple ii products, but this is the real deal.... had that chip issue but i dont think it was their fault, just a totally random glich, and they fixed it quick for me. my only complaint if there is one, there is access to a second floppy drive controller under the screen/keyboard and not an easy way to route a way to hook up a 2nd drive, i guess its for a future add on drive emulator, you could route a cable if you took it apart but then you couldnt close the screen all the way...
 
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tpmmyptr said:
hello... yes im Tom from the usa... i bought one of these laptops... i was going to do a video on it but when it arrived it had a hardware glitch, to which they had to send a physical replacement part, one of the vintage chips rom chips randomly died... but they sent me a replacement after a little diagnosis and after popping it in it works perfectly fine.... in the mean time i broke my hand so running a camera is a bit tough, but i'll get it it soon! its a very thck chunky laptop... almost 3 inches thick... very nice modern motherboard but the roms are true vintage clone CJ II parts, not sure where they are getting them. the case has characteristics of 3d printed, but i think the production ones are was done with a mold. it runs physical disk drives perfectly fine, even on pure battery power... has a pop up menu to adjust special up/down keys and see power level (its a ii+ clone). i attempted to run a mockingboard in slot 5, but something i believe is wrong with MY software, i will get to this soon and attempt again. ... i wrote a lot of software but my target was usually for IIE enhanced so im scrambling rewriting stuff to make it work on this. i did rewrite my cassette in audio recorder and was able to record and playback 1bit audio perfectly fine (what a godscent cause now i can have an easy way to make apple ii audio that friends ask me all the time when they write games... its so convenient now with this little thing.) i played michael packards alien downpour, oregon trail from physical disks and my sdII drive emulator works flawlessly. the fan is interesting, it only comes on when plugged into wall, on battery its off. when the disk drive comes on, the fan temporarily shuts off---- BUT for some reason stays on when formatting a dos 3.3 disk... that i find very weird! overall i like it a lot, if you look at it from a hobbiest build perspective its done very well, no rough edges and clean design. i been looking at the site and they havent made any more available for sale, so i am guessing there are only 20 (or less) of these in the wild so far, pretty rare item. i'll try to come back here and check for questions if you have any.. thanks. .......... final thought.... price very high but quality good... i havent bought any a2 hardware in years but the design intriegued me so much i jumped on it the second i saw it, and glad i did. there are a bunch of portable emulator apple ii products, but this is the real deal.... had that chip issue but i dont think it was their fault, just a totally random glich, and they fixed it quick for me. my only complaint if there is one, there is access to a second floppy drive controller under the screen/keyboard and not an easy way to route a way to hook up a 2nd drive, i guess its for a future add on drive emulator, you could route a cable if you took it apart but then you couldnt close the screen all the way...
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the info.

As an update, I got a response back from the Aliexpress vendor/manufacturer of this product and they did confirm that the case is 3D printed but did emphasise the resulting prints are high quality and the thickness of the shell prints means they expect the robustness to not be an issue. I guess time will tell and it will be good to see some actual video reviews of this.
 
as somebody that had to take it apart to fix a chip.... the case should hold up with normal use just fine.... plastics internally are thin where the screws are but i think its only an issue if you take it apart. be gentle opening the screen and it should last 20 years. if i didnt brake my hand, id break my neck trying to get out the first video out on it.... it looks like 25-30 units have sold so a review should be on the way pretty quick regardless.
 
So does it have any sort of internal 3D structure to it or is it all essentially constructed of flat planes (like a paper box)?
 
there are some 'plastic' round pylons that stick in pretty far where the screws would go into, but even though its a very thick "laptop", the inside is nearly 100% accounted for by the circuit boards.... most of the screws go into 'metal connectors' on the outside of the motherboard to hold it all together. there is one cavity where the battery goes into which i believe has raised sides/edges aka a box. i'm not about to take it all apart again... i suppose if you were rough with it, the case could crack if its all apart, but put together there should be decent strength. if you look at the sides, its apparent 3d layering, but you (or at least I) could not tell from just viewing the top or bottom surface. im not an expert, but it is NOT shoddy at all.
 
I splurged on one of these too. The case is 3D printed, but it's the highest quality such case I’ve ever seen. I will still be extremely careful with it because I wouldn't want to see the result of a drop onto a hard surface.

Company page: https://8086cpu.com/Z80/6502/110.html

I started dumping the roms and studying the (published!) schematics and I can say a few things about the built-in peripherals:
  • Slot 0: 16K language card
  • Slot 1: Printer card - Epson APL B clone. A little underwhelming, because how many people really want a printer port? It's not bidirectional so it's usefulness as GPIO is limited. If it had been a Grappler+ clone you could use it for SoftSP. Though there may still be a way to do that with a little more work.
  • Slot 2: not present
  • Slot 3: 80-column card - Videx Videoterm clone. The firmware included is pre-2.4.x, so it wouldn't do soft-switching even if the hardware supported it. There are separate RCA jacks for normal and 80-column video, and a physical switch for the LCD panel to switch between them, as well as a physical switch to disable the card entirely.
  • Slot 4: Z80 card - Haven't looked at much yet
  • Slot 5: Is a real card-edge connector on the rear of the machine.
  • Slot 6: Disk II controller card: normal Disk II clone, stock 16-sector P5 and P6 ROMs. One of the ports is internal and there's a jumper to select whether that's drive 1 or drive 2. The external port is always drive 1. The state machine code is on a normal EEPROM, which may be less reliable because of timing issues. There's a cutout in the case with the intention that a floppy emulator could be designed to go there, but no such device yet exists. They provide a PCB template, I'll probably order a blank one just so I have something in there for now.
  • Slot 7: There is an un-advertised internal header for slot 7, which sits on the left side of the area above the keyboard, and there's maaaybe enough room for a specially designed card to be mounted in that space. It also has pins labelled for a VGA connector.
The CPUs and interface chips are vintage, and the rest really are all standard TTL chips, just like an Apple II/II+ (at least, they're labelled that way, it's hard to trust the labelling of Chinese chips) - The only modern exceptions are the power supply and the RGB converter/LCD controller section.
 
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Physically, it measures about 250mm x 194mm x 48mm, so it's actually a bit under 2 inches thick.

The mechanical keys are fine, but the spacing is narrow, about 17mm rather than the standard 3/4 inch.
 
FWIW if you have a virtual printer device for an Apple II then you might be able to at least the use printer port on this thing for it's intended purpose.

Assuming the BOOK II works as advertised, the parts probably aren't fakes or intentionally mislabeled. Whether they are exactly what the label says is a different story, but they have to be more or less compatible with the design of the Apple II Plus.
 
The most common issue with fake chip labels in my experience is that chips are labelled as 74LSxx, but in actuality are something like 74HCxx. If the circuit was designed to be CMOS compatible this isn't a problem. If it wasn't, it might work in trivial situations, but absolutely won't be reliable.
 
If there are any real 74LS chips, I hope they used 74HCT with them or made appropriate design adjustments...

Otherwise problems are likely to occur and premature failure is possible.
 
There is a fan, but its only on when there is electrical power supplied. It might be there more for heat during battery charging than the circuit boards themselves. I suspect few people use the Apple for hours nonstop these days as we have access to modern hardware. But there is a big vent opening (provided you don't get the Floppy emu upgrade, and there are vents also on side and bottom. I do hope it lasts a long time, the little sucker was expensive.
 
dorkbert said:
which means it will cook itself on a fine warm day.
Click to expand...
None of the Apple II family systems have any built-in active cooling. They may run warm, but don't generally "cook themselves".

Granted that the II, II plus, IIe, and IIgs shipped in cases with vents and a fair amount of open space internally.
 
btb said:
  • Slot 6: Disk II controller card: normal Disk II clone, stock 16-sector P5 and P6 ROMs. One of the ports is internal and there's a jumper to select whether that's drive 1 or drive 2. The external port is always drive 1. The state machine code is on a normal EEPROM, which may be less reliable because of timing issues. There's a cutout in the case with the intention that a floppy emulator could be designed to go there, but no such device yet exists. They provide a PCB template, I'll probably order a blank one just so I have something in there for now.
Click to expand...

I meant EPROM here, not EEPROM. All of the EPROMs are 27C256, except the two for the 80-column card, which are 27C32.
 
Istarian said:
None of the Apple II family systems have any built-in active cooling. They may run warm, but don't generally "cook themselves".

Granted that the II, II plus, IIe, and IIgs shipped in cases with vents and a fair amount of open space internally.
Click to expand...
the initial shipping II shells had no vents, and nearly all were replaced. this is clear indication that heat was a real problem. packing a II+ in a tiny package is a neat idea, but it will fail without active cooling.
 
tpmmyptr said:
There is a fan, but its only on when there is electrical power supplied. It might be there more for heat during battery charging than the circuit boards themselves. I suspect few people use the Apple for hours nonstop these days as we have access to modern hardware. But there is a big vent opening (provided you don't get the Floppy emu upgrade, and there are vents also on side and bottom. I do hope it lasts a long time, the little sucker was expensive.
Click to expand...

Given what other people have said here, you might want to consider modifications to improve air flow or some way to draw heat away from the chips.

Modern laptops almost universally use heatpipes that terminate at a heatsink where a fan constantly pulls fresh air past it to disperse the heat.
 
btb said:
  • Slot 6: Disk II controller card: normal Disk II clone, stock 16-sector P5 and P6 ROMs. One of the ports is internal and there's a jumper to select whether that's drive 1 or drive 2. The external port is always drive 1. The state machine code is on a normal EEPROM, which may be less reliable because of timing issues. There's a cutout in the case with the intention that a floppy emulator could be designed to go there, but no such device yet exists. They provide a PCB template, I'll probably order a blank one just so I have something in there for now.
Click to expand...

I got this backward, the internal drive header is always drive 1, the jumper selects whether the external header is drive is 1 or drive 2. If you're designing an internal drive, you could easily have it plug directly into these jumper pins and get full control over both.
 
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