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History of laptops
The history of laptops describes the efforts, begun in the 1970s, to build small, portable laptop computers that combine the components, inputs, outputs and capabilities of a desktop computer in a small chassis.
The portable microcomputer "Portal", of the French company R2E Micral CCMC, officially appeared in September 1980 at the Sicob show in Paris. The Portal was a portable microcomputer designed and marketed by the studies and developments department of the French firm R2E Micral in 1980 at the request of the company CCMC specializing in payroll and accounting. It was based on an Intel 8085 processor, 8-bit, clocked at 2 MHz. It was equipped with a central 64K byte RAM, a keyboard with 58 alphanumeric keys and 11 numeric keys (in separate blocks), a 32-character screen, a floppy disk (capacity - 140,000 characters), a thermal printer (speed - 28 characters/second), an asynchronous channel, a synchronous channel, and a 220-volt power supply. Designed for an operating temperature of 15–35 °C, it weighed 12 kg (26 lb) and its dimensions were 45 × 45 × 15 cm. It ran the Prologue operating system and provided total mobility.
The Osborne 1 is considered the first true mobile computer by most historians. Adam Osborne founded Osborne Computer and produced the Osborne 1 on April 3, 1981. The Osborne 1 had a five-inch screen, incorporating a modem port, two 5+1⁄4-inch floppy drives, and a large collection of bundled software applications. An aftermarket battery pack was available. The computer company was a failure and did not last for very long. Although it was large and heavy compared to today's laptops, with a tiny 5" CRT monitor, it had a near-revolutionary impact on business, as professionals were able to take their computer and data with them for the first time. This and other "luggables" were inspired by what was probably the first portable computer, the Xerox NoteTaker. The Osborne was about the size of a portable sewing machine, and could be carried on commercial aircraft. The Osborne 1 weighs close to 11 kg (24 lb) and was priced at US$1,795 (equivalent to $6,357 in 2025).
The Compaq Portable was the first PC-compatible portable computer created in 1982. The first shipment was in March 1983 and was priced at US$2,995 (equivalent to $9,992 in 2025). The Compaq Portable folded up into a luggable case the size of a portable sewing machine, similar in size to the Osborne 1. The third model of this development, Compaq Portable II, featured high resolution graphics on its tube display. It was the first portable computer ready to be used on the shop floor, and for CAD and diagram display. It established Compaq as a major brand on the market.
The first significant development towards laptop computing was announced in 1981 and sold from July 1982, the 8/16-bit Epson HX-20. It featured a full-transit 68-key keyboard, rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries, a small (120×32-pixel) dot-matrix LCD with 4 lines of text, 20 characters per line text mode, a 24 column dot matrix printer, a Microsoft BASIC interpreter, and 16 KB of RAM (expandable to 32 KB). The HX-20's very limited screen and tiny internal memory, made serious word-processing and spreadsheet applications impractical and the device was described as "primitive" by some. In terms of mass storage, the HX20 could be fitted with a Microcasette Drive, which is powered and operated by the Main Unit. External Floppy Drives and even an Adapter for CRT output were also available. The HX-20 was the first laptop to be called a notebook.
The first clamshell laptop, the Grid Compass, was made in 1982. Enclosed in a magnesium case, it introduced the now familiar design in which the flat display folded shut against the keyboard. The computer was equipped with a 320×200-pixel electroluminescent display and 384 kilobyte bubble memory. It was not IBM-compatible, and its high price (US$8,000–10,000, equivalent to $27,000-33,000 in 2025) limited it to specialized applications. However, it was used heavily by the U.S. military, and by NASA on the Space Shuttle during the 1980s. The GRiD's manufacturer subsequently earned significant returns on its patent rights as its innovations became commonplace. GRiD Systems Corp. was later bought by the Tandy (now RadioShack) Corporation. The Grid's portability was restricted as it had no internal battery pack and relied on mains power.
The first contender for true laptop computing was the 16-bit Dulmont Magnum, designed by David Irwin and John Blair of Dulmison, Australia, in 1982 and released in Australia in September 1983 by Dulmont. This battery-powered device included an 80 character × 8 line display in a lid that closed against the keyboard. The Dulmont was thus the first computer that could be taken anywhere and offered significant computing potential on the user's laptop (though weighing in at 4.8 kg (11 lb)). It was based on the MS-DOS operating system and applications stored in ROM (A:) and also supported removable modules in expansion slots (B: and C:) that could be custom-programmed EPROM or standard word processing and spreadsheet applications. The Magnum could suspend and retain memory in battery-backed CMOS RAM, including a RAM Disk (D:). A separate expansion box provided dual 5.25-inch floppy or 10 MB hard disk storage. The product was marketed internationally from 1984 to 1986. Dulmont was eventually taken over by Time Office Computers, who relabeled the brand "Kookaburra" and marketed 16- and 25-line LCD versions.
Two other noteworthy early laptops were the Sharp PC-5000 (similar in many respects to the Dulmont Magnum) and the Gavilan SC, announced in 1983 but first sold in 1984, Gavilan filing bankruptcy the same year. Both ran the 8/16-bit Intel 8088 CPU. The Gavilan was notably the first computer to be marketed as a "laptop". It was equipped with an internal floppy disk drive and a pioneering touchpad-like pointing device, installed on a panel above the keyboard. Like the GRiD Compass, the Gavilan and the Sharp were housed in clamshell cases, but they were partly IBM-compatible, although primarily running their own system software. Both had LCDs, and could connect to optional external printers.
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History of laptops
The history of laptops describes the efforts, begun in the 1970s, to build small, portable laptop computers that combine the components, inputs, outputs and capabilities of a desktop computer in a small chassis.
The portable microcomputer "Portal", of the French company R2E Micral CCMC, officially appeared in September 1980 at the Sicob show in Paris. The Portal was a portable microcomputer designed and marketed by the studies and developments department of the French firm R2E Micral in 1980 at the request of the company CCMC specializing in payroll and accounting. It was based on an Intel 8085 processor, 8-bit, clocked at 2 MHz. It was equipped with a central 64K byte RAM, a keyboard with 58 alphanumeric keys and 11 numeric keys (in separate blocks), a 32-character screen, a floppy disk (capacity - 140,000 characters), a thermal printer (speed - 28 characters/second), an asynchronous channel, a synchronous channel, and a 220-volt power supply. Designed for an operating temperature of 15–35 °C, it weighed 12 kg (26 lb) and its dimensions were 45 × 45 × 15 cm. It ran the Prologue operating system and provided total mobility.
The Osborne 1 is considered the first true mobile computer by most historians. Adam Osborne founded Osborne Computer and produced the Osborne 1 on April 3, 1981. The Osborne 1 had a five-inch screen, incorporating a modem port, two 5+1⁄4-inch floppy drives, and a large collection of bundled software applications. An aftermarket battery pack was available. The computer company was a failure and did not last for very long. Although it was large and heavy compared to today's laptops, with a tiny 5" CRT monitor, it had a near-revolutionary impact on business, as professionals were able to take their computer and data with them for the first time. This and other "luggables" were inspired by what was probably the first portable computer, the Xerox NoteTaker. The Osborne was about the size of a portable sewing machine, and could be carried on commercial aircraft. The Osborne 1 weighs close to 11 kg (24 lb) and was priced at US$1,795 (equivalent to $6,357 in 2025).
The Compaq Portable was the first PC-compatible portable computer created in 1982. The first shipment was in March 1983 and was priced at US$2,995 (equivalent to $9,992 in 2025). The Compaq Portable folded up into a luggable case the size of a portable sewing machine, similar in size to the Osborne 1. The third model of this development, Compaq Portable II, featured high resolution graphics on its tube display. It was the first portable computer ready to be used on the shop floor, and for CAD and diagram display. It established Compaq as a major brand on the market.
The first significant development towards laptop computing was announced in 1981 and sold from July 1982, the 8/16-bit Epson HX-20. It featured a full-transit 68-key keyboard, rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries, a small (120×32-pixel) dot-matrix LCD with 4 lines of text, 20 characters per line text mode, a 24 column dot matrix printer, a Microsoft BASIC interpreter, and 16 KB of RAM (expandable to 32 KB). The HX-20's very limited screen and tiny internal memory, made serious word-processing and spreadsheet applications impractical and the device was described as "primitive" by some. In terms of mass storage, the HX20 could be fitted with a Microcasette Drive, which is powered and operated by the Main Unit. External Floppy Drives and even an Adapter for CRT output were also available. The HX-20 was the first laptop to be called a notebook.
The first clamshell laptop, the Grid Compass, was made in 1982. Enclosed in a magnesium case, it introduced the now familiar design in which the flat display folded shut against the keyboard. The computer was equipped with a 320×200-pixel electroluminescent display and 384 kilobyte bubble memory. It was not IBM-compatible, and its high price (US$8,000–10,000, equivalent to $27,000-33,000 in 2025) limited it to specialized applications. However, it was used heavily by the U.S. military, and by NASA on the Space Shuttle during the 1980s. The GRiD's manufacturer subsequently earned significant returns on its patent rights as its innovations became commonplace. GRiD Systems Corp. was later bought by the Tandy (now RadioShack) Corporation. The Grid's portability was restricted as it had no internal battery pack and relied on mains power.
The first contender for true laptop computing was the 16-bit Dulmont Magnum, designed by David Irwin and John Blair of Dulmison, Australia, in 1982 and released in Australia in September 1983 by Dulmont. This battery-powered device included an 80 character × 8 line display in a lid that closed against the keyboard. The Dulmont was thus the first computer that could be taken anywhere and offered significant computing potential on the user's laptop (though weighing in at 4.8 kg (11 lb)). It was based on the MS-DOS operating system and applications stored in ROM (A:) and also supported removable modules in expansion slots (B: and C:) that could be custom-programmed EPROM or standard word processing and spreadsheet applications. The Magnum could suspend and retain memory in battery-backed CMOS RAM, including a RAM Disk (D:). A separate expansion box provided dual 5.25-inch floppy or 10 MB hard disk storage. The product was marketed internationally from 1984 to 1986. Dulmont was eventually taken over by Time Office Computers, who relabeled the brand "Kookaburra" and marketed 16- and 25-line LCD versions.
Two other noteworthy early laptops were the Sharp PC-5000 (similar in many respects to the Dulmont Magnum) and the Gavilan SC, announced in 1983 but first sold in 1984, Gavilan filing bankruptcy the same year. Both ran the 8/16-bit Intel 8088 CPU. The Gavilan was notably the first computer to be marketed as a "laptop". It was equipped with an internal floppy disk drive and a pioneering touchpad-like pointing device, installed on a panel above the keyboard. Like the GRiD Compass, the Gavilan and the Sharp were housed in clamshell cases, but they were partly IBM-compatible, although primarily running their own system software. Both had LCDs, and could connect to optional external printers.