Compaq Portable Computer

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In November 1982 Compaq announced their first product, the Compaq Portable, a portable IBM PC compatible personal computer. It was released in March 1983 for $2995, considerably more affordable than competitors at the time. The Compaq Portable was one of the originators of today's laptop. It was the second IBM PC compatible, being capable of running all software that would run on an IBM PC.

It was a commercial success, selling 53,000 units in its first year. The Compaq Portable was the first in the range of the Compaq Portable series. Compaq was able to market a legal IBM clone because IBM mostly used "off the shelf" parts for their PC. Furthermore, Microsoft had kept the right to license the operating system to other computer manufacturers. The only part which had to be duplicated was the BIOS, which Compaq did legally by using clean room reverse engineering for $1 million.

Weight: 28 pounds.
CPU: Intel 8088, 4.77MHz, RAM: 128K, 640K max
Display: 9" monochrome monitor built-in  80 X 25 text
Color graphic card
Storage: Two 320K 5-1/4" disk drives, Ports: 1 parallel (expansion card)
OS: MS-DOS
 
Our model No: 101709

Very kindly donated by Martyn Leader

Manufacturer: Compaq
Date: March 1993



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Compaq Portable Computer Manuals:

Item Manufacturer Date
Basic Version 2 Reference Guide Compaq Unknown
MS-DOS Version 2 Reference Guide Compaq 1 Jan 1984
Compaq Portable Operations Guide Compaq 1 Jan 1984

Magazines RELATED to Compaq Portable Computer in our Library

Item Manufacturer Date
Personal Computer World - June 1984 Jun 1984
Electronics - 24 February 1986 24 Feb 1986
Practical Computing - April 1986 Apr 1986
Personal Computer World - April 1986 1 Apr 1986
Personal Computer World - December 1991 Dec 1991
Byte November 1987 9 Sep 2009
Byte October 1986 16 Sep 2009

Other Systems Related To Compaq Portable Computer:

Item Manufacturer Date
Compaq Deskpro 386 Type 25 Compaq 1986
Compaq Portable II Compaq February 1986
Compaq DeskPro 286 Model No: 2551 Compaq 1987
Compaq Portable III Compaq 1987
Compaq Portable 386 Compaq October 1987
Compaq DeskPro 386S/20N Compaq 1988
Compaq Deskpro 386/25 Type 38 Compaq 1989
Compaq Portable LT/286 Compaq 1989
Compaq DeskPro 386N Compaq 1989
Compaq SLT 386s/20 Compaq 1990
Compaq Portable SLT/286 2680 Compaq 1990
Compaq Concerto 2840A Compaq 1992
Compaq Prolinea 4/25S compaq 1993
Compaq Contura Aero 4/33C Compaq 1993
Compaq Plus Portable Compaq November 1993
Compaq Contura 2820D Compaq 1994
Compaq LTE Elite 4/40CX Compaq 1994
Compaq LTE Elite 4/75CX Compaq 1994
Compaq LTE 5280 Compaq 1995
Compaq Contura 400 Compaq 1995
Compaq Contura 420C Compaq October 1995
Compaq Presario 4122 Compaq 1996
Compaq Armada 4120 Compaq 1997
Compaq Armada 7750MT Laptop Compaq 1997
Compaq Armada 4160T Compaq 1997
Compaq Presario 3060 Compaq 1st August 1997
Compaq Aero 1520 Palm-size PC Compaq December 1998
Compaq AlphaServer DS20 Compaq 1999
Compaq Professional Workstation XP1000 Compaq 1999
Compaq iPAQ 3630 Pocket PC Compaq April 2000
Compaq iPaq H3850 Compaq 2001

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH1322. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.

 

Compaq Portable Computer


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