Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!mailrus!purdue!haven!grebyn!escom!al
From: al@escom.com (Al Donaldson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: 80186 XT clones
Summary: VPC186, Arnold Schwarzenegger portable..
Keywords: Intel, XT, IBM, 80186
Message-ID: <468@escom.com>
Date: 21 Jul 89 19:45:02 GMT
References: <8408@saturn.ucsc.edu>
Distribution: na
Organization: ESCOM Corp., Oakton, VA
Lines: 19

In article <8408@saturn.ucsc.edu>, lance@helios (Lance Bresee) writes:
> How about any machine using the 80186?

Back in 83 when I started at Verdix Corporation, they hired some small company
down in Boca Raton, FL (no, some OTHER small company.. :-) to build some 80186
based prototype systems.  As I remember, the VPC-186 (Verdix PC-186) had something
like a 12 inch CRT, and the basic system was about 10" wide x 10" high x 24" deep,
with a handle on top so you could carry it around.  The design included a set 
of options modules that plugged in from the bottom, including battery packs, 
hard disks, etc.  With a battery pack you could unplug the system from the AC outlet 
and it would continue to run.  Pretty neat.

But as I remember, the system weighed over 30 pounds, not counting battery
and disk options, etc.  Because of its weight, it became known to some of us
engineers as "the Arnold Schwarzenegger" PC.  Need I say, the thing never got 
off the ground.  Last I knew, Verdix still had all ten of the boxes laying around 
collecting dust.

Al Donaldson