Compaq Portable

The Compaq Portable was announced in November 1982 and first shipped in March 1983,{{cite web|title=Compaq I Portable computer|url=http://www.oldcomputers.net/compaqi.html|website=www.oldcomputers.net|accessdate=25 July 2016}} priced at {{US$|2995|1983|round=-2}} with a single half-height {{frac|5|1|4}}" {{val|360|u=KB}} diskette drive or US$3,590 for dual, full-height diskette drives. The {{convert|28|lb|abbr=on|adj=on}}{{r|dahmke198301}} Compaq Portable folded up into a luggable case the size of a portable sewing machine.

IBM responded to the Compaq Portable with the IBM Portable PC, developed because its sales force needed a comparable computer to sell against Compaq.{{Cite news |title=Doubts Raised About PCjr |last=Rosenberg |first=Ronald |date=1984-02-28 |work=The Boston Globe}}

Compaq sold 53,000 units in the first year with a total of {{US$|111 million}} in revenue, an American Business record. In the second year revenue hit {{US$|

329 million}} setting an industry record. Third year revenue was at {{US$|503.9 million}}, another US business record.

The Compaq Portable has basically the same hardware as an IBM PC, with Compaq's BIOS instead of IBM's, transplanted into a luggable case specifically designed to fit as carry-on luggage on an airplane,. (An engineer said that the Portable fits under an airplane seat if no one too heavy sat above it.){{r|wilcox}} All Portables shipped with 128 KB of RAM and 1-2 double-sided double-density 360 KB disk drives. Like the non-portable IBM PC, the Compaq Portable runs on power from an AC outlet only; it has no battery.

The machine has a hybrid of the IBM MDA and CGA which supports the latter's graphics modes, but uses the former's high-quality character set in 80x25 text mode.{{r|dahmke198301}} (When Mitch Kapor saw the Portable use both standards while demonstrating Lotus 1-2-3 to Sears Business Centers, he stopped the presentation to explain his amazement at Compaq's achievement.{{Cite web |last=Wilcox |first=Joe |title=The Compaq Portable: The machine that forever altered the computer industry landscape |url=http://www.crn.com/crn/special/supplement/816/816p61_hof.jhtml |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20100204231953/http://www.crn.com:80/crn/special/supplement/816/816p61_hof.jhtml |archive-date=2010-02-04 |access-date=2025-05-16 |website=ChannelWeb}}) When using the internal monochrome monitor the 9×14 font is used, and the 8×8 one when an external monitor is used (the user switches between internal and external monitors by pressing {{key press|Ctrl|Alt|>}}). With a larger external monitor, the graphics hardware is also used in the original Compaq Deskpro desktop computer.

Compaq used a "foam and foil" keyboard from Keytronics, with contact mylar pads that were also featured in the Tandy TRS-80, Apple Lisa 1 and 2, Compaq Deskpro 286 AT, some mainframe terminals, SUN Type 4, and some Wang keyboards. The foam pads the keyboards used to make contact with the circuit board when pressed disintegrate over time, due to both the wear of normal use and natural wear. The CRT display also suffered from a low refresh rate and heavy ghosting.

{{Gallery

|title=Various views

|width=200

|height=200

|align=center

|File:Compaq portable-IMG 7218.jpg|Front of the suitcase, with connectors for parallel and CGA port

|File:Compaq portable-IMG 7220.jpg|Rear of the suitcase, with AC power input

|File:Compaq portable-IMG 7221.jpg|Bottom of the suitcase with removable keyboard; stand is deployed

|File:Compaq portable-IMG 7222.jpg|Keyboard removed, computer ready for use

}}

File:Compaq Portable and Wordperfect.JPG

Compaq's efforts were possible because IBM had used mostly off-the-shelf parts for the PC and published full technical documentation for it, and because Microsoft had kept the right to license MS-DOS to other computer manufacturers. The only difficulty was the BIOS, because it contained IBM's copyrighted code. Compaq solved this problem by producing a clean room workalike that performed all documented functions of the IBM PC BIOS, but was completely written from scratch.

Although numerous other companies soon also began selling PC compatibles, few matched Compaq's achievement of essentially-complete software compatibility with the IBM PC (typically reaching "95% compatibility" at best) until Phoenix Technologies and others began selling similarly reverse-engineered BIOSs on the open market.{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzsEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22flight+simulator%22&pg=PT1 | title=A public Windows pane to make compatibility clearer | accessdate=February 28, 2011 | last=Alsop | first=Stewart | date=1994-01-31 | publisher=InfoWorld | pages=102}}

The first Portables used Compaq DOS 1.10,{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} essentially identical to PC DOS 1.10 except for having a standalone BASIC that did not require the IBM PC's ROM Cassette BASIC, but this was superseded in a few months by DOS 2.00 which added hard disk support and other advanced features.

Aside from using DOS 1.x, the initial Portables are similar to the 16 KB – 64 KB models of the IBM PC in that the BIOS was limited to 544 KB of RAM and did not support expansion ROMs, thus making them unable to use EGA/VGA cards, hard disks, or similar hardware. After DOS 2.x and the IBM XT came out, Compaq upgraded the BIOS. Although the Portable was not offered with a factory hard disk, users commonly installed them. Starting in 1984, Compaq began offering a hard disk-equipped version, the Portable Plus, which also featured a single half-height floppy drive. The hard disk offered would be 10 to 21 megabytes, although bad sectors often reduced the space available for use.

In 1985, Compaq introduced the Portable 286, but it was replaced by the more compact Portable II in a redesigned case within a few months. The Portable 286 featured a full-height hard disk, and the options of one half-height floppy drive, two half-height floppy drives, or a half-height floppy drive and a tape backup drive.

BYTE wrote, after testing a prototype, that the Compaq Portable "looks like a sure winner" because of its portability, cost, and high degree of compatibility with the IBM PC. Its reviewer tested IBM PC DOS, CP/M-86, WordStar, SuperCalc, and several other software packages, and found that all worked except one game.{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1983-01-rescan/1983_01_BYTE_08-01_Looking_Ahead#page/n31/mode/2up | title=The Compaq Portable | work=BYTE | date=January 1983 | accessdate=27 July 2013 | author=Dahmke, Mark | pages=30–36}} "Compaq", InfoWorld said, "deserves the success it enjoys ... an excellent, convenient machine designed and priced for professional use".{{Cite magazine |last=Siegel |first=Lenny |date=7 November 1983 |title=Review: Conpaq |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0C8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA87#v=onepage&q&f=true |magazine=InfoWorld |pages=87-88 |volume=5 |issue=45}} PC Magazine also rated the Compaq Portable very highly for compatibility, reporting that all tested applications ran. It praised the "rugged" hardware design and sharp display, and concluded that it was "certainly worth consideration by anyone seeking to run IBM PC software without an IBM PC".{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=14Kfbrc6cbAC&pg=PA186 | title=Compaq: Have Computer Will Travel | work=PC Magazine | date=June 1983 | accessdate=21 October 2013 | author=Sandler, Corey | pages=186}}

File:Compaq Portable Plus (cropped).jpg

Released in 1983 upgraded version; The Compaq Portable Plus simply had a hard drive to replace one floppy disk drive, and logos and badges with gold backgrounds instead of silver. Independent computer stores were previously doing this upon request of users, and Compaq saw this as a lost revenue opportunity.{{Cite web|title=Compaq Plus Portable - Computer - Computing History|url=http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/5746/Compaq-Plus-Portable/|access-date=2021-10-08|website=www.computinghistory.org.uk}}

==== Compaq Portable 286 ====

The Compaq Portable 286, Compaq's version of the PC AT, was offered in the original Compaq Portable chassis;{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qy8EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22compaq%20portable%20286%22&pg=PA58|title=InfoWorld|date=1986-04-21|publisher=InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.|language=en}} it was equipped with a 6/8 MHz 286 and a high-speed 20 MB hard drive.

{{main|Compaq Portable series}}

The Compaq Portable machine was the first of a series of Compaq Portable machines. The Compaq Portable II was smaller and lighter version of Compaq Portable 286; it was less expensive but with limited upgradability and a slower hard drive, The Compaq Portable III, Compaq Portable 386, Compaq Portable 486 and Compaq Portable 486c were later in the series.

{{reflist}}

{{commons category|Compaq Portable}}

• [http://oldcomputers.net/compaqi.html Old Computers - Compaq Portable]
• [http://www.cedmagic.com/history/compaq-portable.html CED in the History of Media Technology - Compaq Portable]
• [http://www.obsoletecomputermuseum.org/compaq/ Obsolete Computer Museum - Compaq Portable description]

{{Compaq}}

*

Category:Computer-related introductions in 1983