Portability (was: Firsts)

From: Joe <rigdonj_at_intellistar.net>
Date: Tue Jan 20 19:49:01 1998

At 10:29 AM 1/20/98 -0800, you wrote:
>Uncle Roger <sinasohn_at_ricochet.net> wrote:
>> I can do better than that -- I've got a Zenith that makes the Kaypro look
>> pocket sized. *But* both fold up conveniently, and can be carried with one
>> hand. The IBM 5100 (and RS mIII, Commodore Pet, HP 85, etc.) is *not*
>> convenient to tote around on a regular basis.
>
>OK, you've mentioned the HP 85, so I'll write about it a bit.
>
>Was the 85 portable? That's a good question. HP apparently thought
>it could be pressed into service that way -- I remember the CEs
>bringing out a largish travel case containing an 85 with (at least) an
>HP-IB interface and some tapes that made it a diagnostic tool and
>exerciser for CS/80 disc drives. Of course, they also brought some
>other similarly sized travel cases full of 7933 kit and a hand truck
>to help move the lot from station wagon to computer room.
>
>But I didn't see that case come up to the computer room unless the CEs
>thought they were going to use it to deal with the problem at hand.
>Make of that what you will. I read it as: it's easily movable, but
>it's not convenient enough to be carried everywhere.
>
>I'm thinking that the 85 was designed at HP's Corvallis site. Were
>those responsible thinking of themselves as "Portable Computer
>Division" back then?

   Frank,

  I think the HP 85s were all built in Ft. Collins, Co. A lot of the hand
held calculators were built at Corvallis but I don't think they ever built
8x machines.
   Joe
>
>-Frank McConnell
>
Received on Tue Jan 20 1998 - 19:49:01 GMT