Laptop Computers
Written by Jason P. Hartz   

Before the laptop computers ever became a possibility, there were similar ideas that had come out particularly one that was from Alan Kay’s Dynabook concept which was developed in the 70s by Xerox Parc.

Fact is the first ever commercial laptop computer was the Osborne 1 which was created in 1981. This used the CP/M operating system. The Osborne 1 was built as a large and quite heavy computer as compared with its successors. This laptop was a turning point in the production of  computers since many individuals including business professionals were able to take their computer as well as their data whenever they go for the very first time. Initially, called as luggables, their development had been inspired by the first portable computer known as the Xerox NoteTaker. And although the Xerox NoteTaker is about the size of a sewing machine, it can still be brought in to any commercial aircraft. The only setback is the Osborne cannot run on batteries but must be plugged to the power supply.

Another portable computer became a direct competitor to the Osborne 1. This is the Kaypro II which was introduced by Kaypro back in 1982. The Kaypro II used a CP/M operating system and its display is bigger than Osborne’s. It also has a double-density floppy drives with more than twice the storage capacity of Osborne’s. Kaypro II also has software included upon purhase which is very similar to the Osborne 1.

The Bondwell 2 followed suit and although the CP/M had declined as one of the operating systems, this portable computer is one of the remaining computers that run on CP/M. It also used a 64 K RAM, Z-80 CPU and a built in 3.5” floppy disk drive which is unusual for a portable computer running on CP/M. The Bondwell 2’s LCD was a 80 by 25 characters which was mounted on a hinge which is the same with present day laptops. The other remaining CP/M laptops were the NEC PC-8401A, EPSON PX-4, PX-8 as well as the NEC PC-8500. These four portable computers did not follow the form factor that Bondwell 2 used  because the CP/M are in the ROM.

The Compaq Portable enjoyed more success than its predecessors. This is the first product of Compaq which was released in the market by 1983 during the time that the standard platform was the IBM Personal Computer. Although this is more portable than any of the Osborne machines and also runs on AC power, the Compaq Portable used MS-DOS as its operating system making it the first ever IBM clone.

On the other hand, EPSON released another machine in 1983 known as the EPSON HX-20. This was a handheld computer which included a rechargeable battery, 68-key keyboard, a small dot-matrix liquid crystal display, a Microsoft BASIC interpreter and 16 KB of Random Access Memory (RAM) which can be expanded into 32 KB. But many people still consider the GriD Compass 1101 which was designed by Bill Moggridge as the first true laptop.