Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!pegasus!psrc
From: psrc@pegasus.ATT.COM (Paul S. R. Chisholm)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Laptop PCs
Summary: news about some new ones
Keywords: laptop
Message-ID: <2919@pegasus.ATT.COM>
Date: 25 May 89 04:36:11 GMT
References: <115@regulus.bucknell.edu>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 48

In article <115@regulus.bucknell.edu>, droms@regulus.bucknell.edu (Ralph E. Droms) writes:
> Anyone heard any rumors about other lightweight
> (circa 6 lbs) laptops to be released soon?

Check out "The incredible shrinking PC", pp. 48-49 in the May 19, 1989
issue of (of all things) U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT.  The article is
mostly about the market, but mentions some products:

o  The 4.4 pound NEC UltraLite, a fully powered MS-DOS system that's
shipping now; at $3000 to $3700, it's "'pound for pound the most
expensive computer on the market,' sniffs a spokesman for competitor
Zenith".

o  The 1 (one!) pound, $399 Atari Portfolio, announced at Comdex Spring
and allegedly shipping in June 1989.  According to COMPUTER SHOPPER
(June 1989, p. 54), it's "a complete PC compatible . . . the system
includes word processing software, a spreadsheet, a personal calendar,
and phone directory."  Drawbacks:  the screen only displays eight lines
(remember the TRS Model 100?), the keyboard is a tad small, and (though
U.S. NEWS doesn't mention this) Atari announces a wider range of
products than they ever eventually ship.  Atari also announced Stacy, a
laptop ST (their 68000 system) with 1M of RAM, a floppy disk drive, "an
8-line 640 by 400 resolution LCD display" (I think the screen size is a
COMPUTER SHOPPER typo) starting at $1495.

o  The 1 (still one!) pound, $2000 laptop from Poqet Computer, a new
Sunnyvale, CA, start-up.  Advantages:  "full keyboard, memory storage
that rivals that of some desktops and the ability to run mainstream
[MS-DOS] software. . . .  [founder Stav] Prodromou hints that the
batteries work for weeks without needing to be recharged" (source:  the
U.S.N.&W.R article mentioned above).  Disadvantages:  no internal modem
(an external modem will be available); the credit card sized "memory
cards" run $500 apiece.

The biggest news in the laptop market could come, not from the
engineers or the marketeers, but the lawyers.  Tandy claims to own (by
dint of buying Grid) the patent on the "fold down" hinged display used
by every laptop on the market, and how to run signals from one part
(the laptop body and keyboard) to another (the display).  They may have
a legitimate claim with this one.  If Tandy succeeds in demanding
licensing fees for laptops that use this technique, we may see laptop
systems get more expensive.

> - Ralph Droms, droms@sol.bucknell.edu, droms@bknlvms.BITNET

Paul S. R. Chisholm, AT&T Bell Laboratories
att!pegasus!psrc, psrc@pegasus.att.com, AT&T Mail !psrchisholm
I'm not speaking for the company, I'm just speaking my mind.