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Most defining computer laptop?
- Thread starter edcross
- Start date
1ST1
Veteran Member
For me one of the very early defining laptops is the Olivetti M15(+), because this already looks very common, compared to much later models. M15 is 512 kBytes 80c88 @ 4,77 MHz with CGA LCD, 2x 720kB Floppy. The plus version replaces one FDD by 20 MB XT-Bus-HDD.
Another important one is the first Apple power book, because it invents the mouse pad position in the middle in front of the keyboard, like 99% of the today's notebooks also use that layout.
But also very important is the Olivetti S16, S20, S25, D33 family (Triumph Adler Walkstation series, Acorn A4) as they were the first ones to have a mousepad, between keyboard and display. They are of the 286, 386SX-16 to 386DX-33 era.
Interesting detail: M15, S25 and D33 and Walkstation 386 have the courious detail that you can take out their keyboard and lay it in front of the laptop as external keyboard.
An interesting one is also the ATARI ST-Book as it introduced the "Vector pad" to move the mouse. That Vector pad works the same way as the red track point of later Thinkpads, but it's outside of the keyboard.
The godfather of every Netbook and other modern small formfactor notebooks is the Olivetti Quaderno, with NEC V40 CPU and ROM based MS-DOS 5. And if you look for even smaller devices, there is Atari Portfolio, Poquet-PC, Sharp PC-3x00, HP 200LX etc.
Don't forget Toshiba T1x00 as the first LCD based MS-DOS laptops.
Another important one is the first Apple power book, because it invents the mouse pad position in the middle in front of the keyboard, like 99% of the today's notebooks also use that layout.
But also very important is the Olivetti S16, S20, S25, D33 family (Triumph Adler Walkstation series, Acorn A4) as they were the first ones to have a mousepad, between keyboard and display. They are of the 286, 386SX-16 to 386DX-33 era.
Interesting detail: M15, S25 and D33 and Walkstation 386 have the courious detail that you can take out their keyboard and lay it in front of the laptop as external keyboard.
An interesting one is also the ATARI ST-Book as it introduced the "Vector pad" to move the mouse. That Vector pad works the same way as the red track point of later Thinkpads, but it's outside of the keyboard.
The godfather of every Netbook and other modern small formfactor notebooks is the Olivetti Quaderno, with NEC V40 CPU and ROM based MS-DOS 5. And if you look for even smaller devices, there is Atari Portfolio, Poquet-PC, Sharp PC-3x00, HP 200LX etc.
Don't forget Toshiba T1x00 as the first LCD based MS-DOS laptops.
g4ugm
Veteran Member
For me, its got to be the ThinkPad series. Really the first proper laptop that you could just sling in a bag and know it was going to work...
My earliest memory of what I would call a laptop is the Toshiba T1100 I saw in PC magazine. The I think it was the Zenith SuperSport. Lately I've been playing with the Epson PX-8. My favorite, one I spent a lot of time working on, is the Toshiba T4700CS. I couldn't afford the CT!
SomeGuy
Veteran Member
The Kaypro 2000. Because if you dropped it, it would redefine your foot. 
1ST1
Veteran Member
That Kaypro 2000 is nice, and it also has keyboaqrd to take out, interesting.
T-R-A
Veteran Member
I'd go with the Tandy (Kyocera) TRS-80 Model 100. More "Laptop-like" than "Laptop", it showed that portable computing was indeed possible...
NeXT
Veteran Member
I'll vouch for it, even though I don't have the pay bracket to afford one.
well engineered body and the visuals would mimic most portables until the late 80's when they started getting more compact but MAN it was neither cheap or PC compatible until the second generation.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
Data General/One (1984)--pretty much defined the form factor for laptops to follow (virtually unreadable LCD display, however):
Eudimorphodon
Veteran Member
I think the Gavilan SC *may* have been the first clamshell laptop with an internal floppy, beating the Data General by about a year. (But it was far less PC compatible.) Interestingly that machine also sported a crude GUI and a kind of proto-touchpad.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
Problem is that the Gavilan didn't have a full-size display. The Grid Compass 1101 was even earlier, but lacked both a disk drive (used bubble memory) and an internal battery.
Eudimorphodon
Veteran Member
Certainly the Gavilin wasn't a very practical machine; a GUI on a 400x64 pixel LCD alone was pretty crazy ambitious. It's mostly interesting for how forward-looking it was in retrospect. (When was the next laptop computer that featured a built-in pointing device?) Display technology really was the big limiting factor for anything we'd call a "modern" laptop in the early 80's.
The DG-1's "full CGA" LCD, as unreadable as it was, was the wonder of the age. There were quite a few otherwise mostly-PC-compatible laptops that came out around the same time that tried to get by with 8 and 16 lines displays which were also pretty unreadable in addition to being incompatible. The Tandy Model 100 and it's cousins were probably in large part a success despite their underpowered nature because they didn't try to be too ambitious while still offering a huge advance over obviously impractical sizes like 20x4. (Didn't hurt they were a lot cheaper, too.)
The DG-1's "full CGA" LCD, as unreadable as it was, was the wonder of the age. There were quite a few otherwise mostly-PC-compatible laptops that came out around the same time that tried to get by with 8 and 16 lines displays which were also pretty unreadable in addition to being incompatible. The Tandy Model 100 and it's cousins were probably in large part a success despite their underpowered nature because they didn't try to be too ambitious while still offering a huge advance over obviously impractical sizes like 20x4. (Didn't hurt they were a lot cheaper, too.)
tipc
Banned
IBM before the Think pads, I think, made a Japanese Kanji little notebook. I want to say it was 286 based. It was as stylish as all get out. Silver gray exterior. Had a couple opportunities to own 1 (mid 90s and beyond). Never took the plunge. Gorgeous monochrome screen, excellent contrast and brightness. I don't know if it was defining, but striking for it's time. I don't have any specific details, was hoping someone knows what I'm talking about.
Truthfully the early Zeniths were pretty defining. The ones to beat at least. The original big screen Supersport? seemed kind of revolutionary at the time. And don't forget the Minispurt ahahaha Minisport with it's itty bitty cutey pie 2" floppy drives. You can't help but kiss those diskettes every time you insert one, so damned cute.
Truthfully the early Zeniths were pretty defining. The ones to beat at least. The original big screen Supersport? seemed kind of revolutionary at the time. And don't forget the Minispurt ahahaha Minisport with it's itty bitty cutey pie 2" floppy drives. You can't help but kiss those diskettes every time you insert one, so damned cute.
1ST1
Veteran Member
The most strange laptops in that time were Olivetti M111, M211 and M311. They were technically nice machines, fullsize CGA display, battery, 3.5 ich floppy, internal HDD, 8088, 80286 or even 386 CPU and even a handle under the keyboard. But their post modern design was quite strange, when the display was closed over the keyboard, they looked very similar to Olivetti's portable electronic typewriters of the same time, as these laptops hat a round design element at the sides which looked like the handles on a typewriter to linefeed the paper manually.
Agent Orange
Veteran Member
The laptop was just a tool early on. Word processing was more or less done on desktops and dedicated word processors. Back in the 80' & 90's I used an ancient HP portable, that weighed in at around 9 pounds or so, for programming mobile radio code plugs and other work in telephony, which included a data base for dial-up telephone numbers. In my reallocation, the laptop really didn't take-off until the advent of the wireless internet, then everybody wanted one. The Tandy 100, with the pen option, was a nice little machine for doing inventories on site. It would be difficult to put your finger on any one laptop and say this is the one. IIRC, early laptops were very expensive in the workplace and the cost had to be justified.
1ST1
Veteran Member
The Olivetti M15 which I bought some years ago, came with an MS-DOS boot disk with older MS-Word version onto it, and a few data disks. It was used to write docs.
Nevets01
Experienced Member
The Tandy Model 100. 'twas the most portable computer of the early '80s.
Still more convenient than many laptops today -- what modern laptop can you run for a month on a single charge, boot in less than half a second, and not even have to open a lid?
If something like that was available with a modern CPU, screen, and drive, etc (but not a modern keyboard... blech) I'd buy one for use as a daily driver.
Still more convenient than many laptops today -- what modern laptop can you run for a month on a single charge, boot in less than half a second, and not even have to open a lid?
If something like that was available with a modern CPU, screen, and drive, etc (but not a modern keyboard... blech) I'd buy one for use as a daily driver.
RadRacer203
Veteran Member
The best I've personally used is my Panasonic Exec Partner. Very nice layout, very clear screen, and surprisingly upgradable for a "laptop". It doesn't really belong on a lap though, weighing about 30 lbs
