PC Card is a parallel peripheral interface for laptop computers and PDAs. The PCMCIA originally introduced the 16-bit ISA-based PCMCIA Card in 1990, but renamed it to PC Card in March 1995 to avoid confusion with the name of the organization. The CardBus PC Card was introduced as a 32-bit version of the original PC Card, based on the PCI specification. The card slots are backward compatible for the original 16-bit card, older slots are not forward compatible with newer cards.
The Poqet PC is a line of palmtop PCs introduced in 1989 by Poqet Computer Corporation. The eponymous first model was the first IBM PC–compatible palmtop computer capable of running MS-DOS at CGA resolutions. The Poqet PC is powered by two AA batteries. Through the use of aggressive power management, which includes stopping the CPU between keystrokes, the batteries are able to power the computer for anywhere between a couple of weeks and a couple of months, depending on usage. The computer also uses an "instant on" feature, such that after powering it down, it can be used again immediately without having to go through a full booting sequence. The Poqet PC is comparable to the HP 95LX/HP 100LX/HP 200LX and the Atari Portfolio handheld computers. The computer originally sold for US$2,000; it was discontinued after Fujitsu Ltd. bought Poqet Computer Corp.
Kaypro Corporation was an American home and personal computer manufacturer based in Solana Beach in the 1980s. The company was founded by Non-Linear Systems (NLS) to compete with the popular Osborne 1 portable microcomputer. Kaypro produced a line of rugged, "luggable" CP/M-based computers sold with an extensive software bundle which supplanted its competitors and quickly became one of the top-selling personal computer lines of the early 1980s.
The Amstrad PC1512 was Amstrad's mostly IBM PC-compatible computer system, launched in 1986, and advertised with prices from £399 plus VAT. The system was also marketed in the US by Texas-based Vidco Inc. from the start of 1987. Later in 1987, a slightly updated version called the PC1640 was introduced, also marketed as the PC6400 and Sinclair PC500. Schneider branded machines for the German market were also sold.
DOS/V is a Japanese computing initiative starting in 1990 to allow DOS on IBM PC compatibles with VGA cards to handle double-byte (DBCS) Japanese text via software alone. It was initially developed from PC DOS by IBM for its PS/55 machines, but IBM gave the driver source code to Microsoft, who then licensed a DOS/V-compatible version of MS-DOS to other companies. Kanji fonts and other locale information are stored on the hard disk rather than on special chips as in the preceding AX architecture. As with AX, its great value for the Japanese computing industry is in allowing compatibility with foreign software. This had not been possible under NEC's proprietary PC-98 system, which was the market leader before DOS/V emerged. DOS/V stands for "Disk Operating System/VGA". In Japan, IBM compatible PCs became popular along with DOS/V, so they are often referred to as "DOS/V machine" or "DOS/V pasocom" even though DOS/V operating systems are no longer common.
The Atari Portfolio is an IBM PC-compatible palmtop PC, released by Atari Corporation in June 1989. It was the first palmtop computer compatible with the IBM PC ever released.
The TRS-80 Model 100 is a notebook-sized portable computer introduced in April 1983. It was the first commercially successful notebook computer, as well as one of the first notebook computers ever released. It features a keyboard and liquid-crystal display, in a battery-powered package roughly the size and shape of a notepad or large book. The 224-page, spiral-bound User Manual is nearly the same size as the computer itself.
The HP 200LX Palmtop PC, also known as project Felix, is a personal digital assistant introduced by Hewlett-Packard in August 1994. It was often called a Palmtop PC, and it was notable that it was, with some minor exceptions, a DOS-compatible computer in a palmtop format, complete with a monochrome graphic display, QWERTY keyboard, serial port, and PCMCIA expansion slot. The abbreviation "LX" stood for "Lotus Expandable".
A handheld personal computer (PC), typically built around either a clamshell form factor or a gaming form factor with a gamepad integrated for video games, is a mobile device that is significantly smaller than any standard personal computer (PC), but based on the same principles as PCs. The clamshell form factor is sometimes referred to as a palmtop computer, not to be confused with Palmtop PC which was a name used mainly by Hewlett-Packard.
The PC-9800 series, commonly shortened to PC-98 or 98, is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2000. The platform established NEC's dominance in the Japanese personal computer market, and, by 1999, more than 18 million units had been sold. While NEC did not market these specific machines in the West, it sold the NEC APC series, which had similar hardware to early PC-98 models.
Zeos International, Ltd., was a PC manufacturer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Originally based in New Brighton, Minnesota, and founded by Gregory E. Herrick, the company incorporated in Minnesota in 1981. Prior to manufacturing PCs, the company was called NPC Electronics. NPC was a contract assembly business best known for developing a transmitter device called Radio Realty. Marketed primarily to real estate brokers, this product enabled prospective home buyers to tune in and listen to prerecorded information about a property listing while parked in front of the dwelling. Radio Realty was divested in the early 1980s as NPC started developing, manufacturing, and selling PCs under the Zeos name. The company went public in mid-1985 by self-underwriting, and officially changed its name from NPC Electronics to Zeos International.
The HP 95LX Palmtop PC, also known as project Jaguar, is Hewlett Packard's first DOS-based pocket computer, or personal digital assistant, introduced in April 1991 in collaboration with Lotus Development Corporation. The abbreviation "LX" stood for "Lotus Expandable". The computer can be seen as successor to a series of larger portable PCs like the HP 110 and HP 110 Plus.
The history of laptops describes the efforts, begun in the 1970s, to build small, portable personal computers that combine the components, inputs, outputs and capabilities of a desktop computer in a small chassis.
Windows 3.0 is the third major release of Microsoft Windows, launched in 1990. Its new graphical user interface (GUI) represents applications as clickable icons, instead of the list of file names in its predecessors. Later updates expand capabilities, such as multimedia support for sound recording and playback, and support for CD-ROMs.
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few operating systems attempting to be compatible with MS-DOS, are sometimes referred to as "DOS". MS-DOS was the main operating system for IBM PC compatibles during the 1980s, from which point it was gradually superseded by operating systems offering a graphical user interface (GUI), in various generations of the graphical Microsoft Windows operating system.
DOS is a family of disk-based operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers. The DOS family primarily consists of IBM PC DOS and a rebranded version, Microsoft's MS-DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Later compatible systems from other manufacturers include DR-DOS (1988), ROM-DOS (1989), PTS-DOS (1993), and FreeDOS (1998). MS-DOS dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995.
A Palmtop PC was an approximately pocket calculator-sized, battery-powered computer compatible with the IBM Personal Computer in a horizontal clamshell design with integrated keyboard and display. It could be used like a subnotebook, but was light enough to be comfortably used handheld as well. Most Palmtop PCs were small enough to be stored in a user's shirt or jacket pockets.
The Zeos Pocket PC is a palmtop PC marketed by Zeos International beginning in 1992. The palmtop features an NEC V30 clocked at 7.15 MHz, came shipped with MS-DOS 5.0 in ROM, and has a monochrome LCD capable of displaying graphics at maximum resolution of 640×200 (CGA). These features make the Pocket PC compatible with most IBM PC software out at the time of its release. The Pocket PC is a badge-engineered version of the Tidalwave PS-1000, manufactured by Tidalwave Microtech of Taiwan. It sought to compete with the Poqet PC, another PC-compatible palmtop computer.
The Palm Top PC 110 is a handheld personal computer that was developed jointly by IBM's Japanese subsidiary and Ricoh. It was released exclusively in Japan in September 1995. It used the Intel 80486SX microprocessor and was available in three different configurations. It used a Japanese keyboard, could be used in a docking station, and had a modem connection. During the development phase, the size was decreased. After the release, it was received positively for the number of features, but negatively for the small keyboard.
