The Osborne 1 luggable computer

For some of us our earliest memories of computers are Commodore-128's and
Tandy's... maybe and Apple II or IIe? But what is your earliest memory of a
'portable' computer?

Recently some colleagues (who have twenty years on me) were discussing
'luggable' computers, the first truly portable computers and the predecessor
to the laptop. I believe I sparked the conversation with a comment about my
computer bag. I currently carry two laptops, two power supplies, a 500GB
external hard drive and countless USB peripherals. My computer bag weighs
between 20-25 lbs.

The Osborne <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osborne_1> 1, by comparison,
weighed 23.5 lbs. So 27 years later, for the same weight I have almost 2000
times the computing power at my disposal, plus the convenience of a number
of peripheral devices that were unimaginable in 1981.

If I compare the stronger laptop I carry against the Osborne 1, here's how
the comparison breaks down:

Osborne 1

Dell XPS M1710

Year

1981

2007

Disk Drives

Dual 5¼-inch, single-sided 40 track floppy disk drives ("dual density"
upgrade available)

1 x 100GB @ 2700 RPM; 1 X DVD R/RW

CPU

4 MHz Z80 CPU

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7600 (2.33GHz/4MB)

Memory

65 kilobytes main memory

4GB SDRAM (DIMM)

Screen

5-inch, 52 character × 24 line monochrome CRT display

17-inch LCD; 512MB NVIDIA GeForce Graphics Card

Ports

IEEE-488 port configurable as a Parallel printer port

6x USB 2.0; 1 x Firewire; CRT/HD out; 1 x Expansion Port; 1 X Flash Card
Port

Comms

RS-232 compatible 1200 or 300 baud Serial port for use with external modems
or serial printers

1 X Internal Wireless & Bluetooth Card; 1 x Ethernet & Phone Card (1 port
each)

Here are some photos and descriptions of the first luggables, courtesy of
Tech Republic:

<http://content.techrepublic.com.com/2347-10877_11-191880-191885.html?seq=5>
Keyboard

These screens were only 5" and monochrome. Notice the dual 5 ¼" floppy
drives! That's one drive for applications and one for data. SWEET!

<http://content.techrepublic.com.com/2347-10877_11-191880-191886.html?seq=6>
Familiar ports

Ah, serial ports, long before USB!

<http://content.techrepublic.com.com/2347-10877_11-191880-191887.html?seq=7>
A battery -- that's innovation

It was the first to have a battery pack accessory!

<http://content.techrepublic.com.com/2347-10877_11-191880-191892.html?seq=12
> Wordstar

This one still works... I've burned through several laptops since the mid
90's that certainly don't work anymore. What quality!

More photos can be viewed here:
http://content.techrepublic.com.com/2346-10877_11-191880-5.html