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 Solo 2200 | |
| Developer |
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|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Sanyo (early models) |
| Type | Laptop |
| Release date | September 1995 |
| Lifespan | 1995–2003 |
| Discontinued | 2003 |
| CPU | |
The Solo was a line of laptop computers sold by Gateway, Inc. (originally Gateway 2000), from 1995 to 2003. All models in the range were equipped with Intel x86 processors and came preinstalled with the Windows operating system.
Gateway unveiled the Solo line of laptops on August 15, 1995, shortly before Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system became generally available for sale on August 24, 1995. [1] Initial entries in the Solo lineup were manufactured on an OEM basis by the Japanese company Sanyo. [2] The Solo was the first laptop to have a Windows key and a Menu key, which respectively activate the Start menu and context menus in Windows (the Start menu first appeared in Windows 95). [3] Gateway worked closely with Microsoft on development of the Solo to make it fully optimized with Windows 95, which was a nearly top-down redesign of Microsoft's previous Windows 3.1x operating systems. [4] The Solo replaced Gateway's earlier ColorBook and Liberty line of laptops and were the first of the company's laptops to feature Intel's x86-based Pentium processor, for which Windows 95 was optimized during its development. [1] [5]
The Solo was released to retailers and corporate resellers in September 1995. The first two models—the V75 and the S90—came with Pentium processors clocked at 75 MHz and 90 MHz respectively. [6] Both Solos were multimedia-oriented and came with a Sound Blaster–compatible sound chip and removable CD-ROM drives bays as standard; [4] Gateway later made the CD-ROM drives an optional add-on to reduce cost at the entry level. [6] The company marketed the Solo at the cost-conscious businessperson and positioned it as a budget version of the more upscale IBM ThinkPad and Toshiba Satellite lines of laptops. [2]
Later entries in the Solo line featured the Pentium II, Pentium IIIs, and various P6-based Celerons. [7] [8] [9] [10] The Solo line was retired in late 2002, Gateway still selling refurbished units on their website until 2003. [11] [12]
Zenith Data Systems Corporation (ZDS), was an American computer systems manufacturing company active from 1979 to 1996. It was originally a division of the Zenith Radio Company, after they had purchased the Heath Company and, by extension, their Heathkit line of electronic kits and kit microcomputers, from Schlumberger in October 1979. ZDS originally operated from Heath's own headquarters in St. Joseph, Michigan. By the time Zenith acquired Heathkit, their H8 kit computer already had an installed fanbase of scientific engineers and computing enthusiasts. ZDS' first offerings were merely preassembled versions of existing Heathkit computers, but within a few years, the company began selling bespoke systems, including the Z-100, which was a hybrid Z80- and 8088-based computer capable of running both CP/M and MS-DOS.
Subnotebook, also called ultraportable, superportable, or mini notebook, was a marketing term for laptop computers that are smaller and lighter than a typical notebook-sized laptop.
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.
The Deskpro 386 is a line of desktop computers in Compaq's Deskpro range of IBM PC compatibles. The computers feature Intel's 32-bit 80386 microprocessor. Introduced in September 1986, the Deskpro 386 is the first implementation of the 80386 processor in a computer system for sale to the public. It also marks the first time that a major component of the IBM Personal Computer de facto standard was updated by a company other than IBM themselves—in this case, upgrading from the 80286 processor of the Personal Computer/AT.
The IBM ThinkPad 365 is a notebook computer series developed by IBM and manufactured by ASE Group. It was released in North America in November 1995, and was the successor of the ThinkPad 360 series. The series had 8 models that were released before being discontinued, and was succeeded in 1997 by the ThinkPad 380 series.
The LTE Lite was a series of notebook-sized laptops under the LTE line manufactured by Compaq from 1992 to 1994. The first entries in the series were Compaq's first computers after co-founder Rod Canion's ousting and Eckhard Pfeiffer's tenure as the new CEO. The notebooks were co-developed and manufactured by Compaq and Citizen Watch of Japan. They were a hot-seller for Compaq and spanned multiple models, with various processors and liquid-crystal display technologies.
The Digital HiNote was a series of laptop computers manufactured by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) from 1994 until 1998 and by Compaq from 1998 until 2002. It was generally positively reviewed by technology journalists. The series consisted of the VP and Ultra models which were based on the i486, Pentium, Pentium MMX and Pentium II. After Digital was acquired by Compaq in 1998, the series was phased out.
The ProSpeed was a line of laptop computers developed by NEC in 1988. It was introduced simultaneously with their slimmer and less heavy UltraLite line of notebook computers. The i386SX-equipped CSX model, released in September 1989, was the first laptop with a color LCD. It was also one of the first laptops with to be offered with a docking station. The CSX model was featured on the front cover of PC Magazine.
Reply Corporation, often shortened to Reply Corp., was an American computer company based in San Jose, California. Founded in 1988 by Steve Petracca, the company licensed the Micro Channel architecture from IBM for their own computers released in 1989, competing against IBM's PS/2 line. The company later divested from offering complete systems in favor of marketing motherboard upgrades for older PS/2s. Reply enjoyed a close relationship with IBM, owing to many of its founding employees, including Petracca, having worked for IBM. The company was acquired by Radius in 1997.
The Versa was a line of laptop computers sold by the Japanese electronics conglomerate NEC Corporation from 1993 to 2009. It comprised many form factors of laptops, from conventional clamshell notebooks to pen-enabled convertibles featuring detachable displays, before the line was effectively discontinued in 2009 after NEC pulled out of the global market for personal computers.
The ActionNote was a series of laptop computers developed by Epson America in 1993. The series was Epson's answer to the small businesses and home office market for laptops and initially ran alongside their corporate-oriented NB series of laptops. The series was segmented into premium and low-cost offerings and included a subnotebook, the ActionNote 4000. The bulk of the laptops' manufacturing was performed by ASE Technologies of Taiwan, with the exception of the short-lived initial entries into the 700 series, which were produced by Jabil Circuit. The ActionNote received mixed, mostly positive, reception in its lifespan before Epson America silently left the personal computer market in 1996.
Canon Computer Systems, Inc. (CCSI), sometimes shortened to Canon Computer, was an American subsidiary of Canon Inc. formed in 1992 to develop and market the parent company's personal computers and workstations. The subsidiary also assumed the responsibility of marketing Canon's printers and photocopiers, which were formerly sold by other Canon divisions. It went defunct in January 2001.
DTK Computer is the name for international branches of Datatech Enterprises, a Taiwanese computer manufacturer. Founded in 1981, the company was an early supplier of peripherals for IBM PCs as well as PC compatible motherboards. In the late 1980s, the company switched to developing complete systems under the DTK name as well as serving as an OEM for motherboards and cases, as bought by other small computer companies and systems integrators. The company was little-known in its own time but performed well in the marketplace. DTK was the 10th and 11th biggest personal computer manufacturer in the world in 1991 and 1992 respectively, according to Electronics magazine.
Advanced Logic Research, Inc. (ALR), was an American computer company founded in 1984 in Irvine, California by Gene Lu. The company marketed IBM PC compatibles across that standard's evolution until 1997, when it was acquired by Gateway 2000. ALR had a reputation for beating its larger competitors to market with compatibles featuring cutting-edge technologies but struggled with brand recognition among the fiercely competitive market of low-end PCs in the mid-1990s. According to computer journalist and collector Michael Nadeau, "ALR's business strategy was to be the first to market with the latest and fastest possible PC-compatible designs", a strategy that "often succeeded".
Librex Computer Systems Inc. was a short-lived American subsidiary of the Nippon Steel Corporation that manufactured notebook computers from 1990 to 1992. Librex had roots in Nippon Steel's Electronics and Information Systems Division (EISD) back in Japan, which starting in 1986 had formed joint ventures with several high-profile American computer companies. Librex was Nippon Steel EISD's first venture in the United States; it also set up Nippon Steel Computer PLC in the United Kingdom to sell identical products. The company's notebooks received praise in the technology press, but a fierce price war in the market for laptops in the early 1990s combined with dwindling profit margins compelled Nippon Steel to dissolve Librex in 1993.
The Personal System/2 Model 25 and its later submodels the 25 286 and 25 SX are IBM's lowest-end entries in the Personal System/2 (PS/2) family of personal computers. Like its sibling the Model 30, the Model 25 features an Industry Standard Architecture bus, allowing it to use expansion cards from its direct predecessors, the PC/XT and the PC/AT—but not from higher entries in the PS/2 line, which use Micro Channel. Unlike all other entries in the PS/2 line, the Model 25 and its submodels are built into an all-in-one form factor, with its cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitor and system board occupying the same enclosure. IBM oriented the Model 25 at home office workers and students.
OPTi Inc. was a fabless semiconductor company based in Milpitas, California, that primarily manufactured chipsets for personal computers. The company dissolved in 2001 and transferred its assets to the unaffiliated non-practicing entity OPTi Technologies
The SupersPort is a line of PC-compatible laptops manufactured by Zenith Data Systems and sold from 1988 to 1993. The first two main entries in the SupersPort line included either an Intel 80286 microprocessor clocked at 12 MHz or an 8088 processor clocked at 8 or 4.77 MHz, switchable. Later entries included the 386SX, 486SX and 486 processors. The SupersPort 286 in particular was one of the top-selling laptops of the late 1980s, although Zenith's position in this segment faltered by the early 1990s.
Cumulus Corporation was an American computer peripheral and system manufacturer active from 1987 to 1993. Based in Beachwood, Ohio and started by Tecmar founder Martin Alpert, the company set out to exclusively manufacture expansion products for IBM's Personal System/2 (PS/2) family of computers—mainly RAM expansion cards. It later released cross-platform CPU upgrade cards and memory expansion cards for other platforms besides the PS/2. Beginning in 1990, the company began trading as Cumulus Computer Corporation and began releasing complete systems of their own. Initially a success story for the tech industry in Cleveland, a botched stock launch in 1992 proved disastrous for the company's ailing cash flow situation, and in 1993 the company was liquidated amid massive debt to suppliers and lenders.
Dauphin Technology, Inc., often shortened to Dauphin, was an American computer and electronics company active from 1988 to 2006 and based in Illinois. The company was founded by Alan Yong and Lucy Yong in 1988 for the production of laptop computers. The company soon pivoted to the manufacture of palmtop PCs, releasing the DTR-1, a 486SLC palmtop weighing 2.5 pounds (1.1 kg) and running Windows for Pen Computing, in 1993. The DTR-1 was a flop in the marketplace and was a major factor in Dauphin's bankruptcy in 1995, from which they emerged in 1996. The company offered a more successful palmtop PC in 1998 before pivoting again to the manufacture of set-top boxes in 2001. In 2006, Dauphin reversed merged with GeoVax, Inc., of Atlanta, Georgia.
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Formerly Gateway 2000; acquired by Acer in 2007 | ||
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