Editing Portable computer (section)

==Early history==
===SCAMP===
In 1973, the [[IBM]] Los Gatos Scientific Center developed a portable computer prototype called SCAMP (Special Computer APL Machine Portable) based on the [[IBM PALM processor]] with a [[Philips]] compact cassette drive, small [[Cathode-ray tube|CRT]] and full function keyboard. SCAMP emulated an [[IBM 1130]] minicomputer in order to run APL\1130.<ref>{{cite web|last=Freeman |first=Shanna |url=http://computer.howstuffworks.com/first-portable-computer.htm |title=HowStuffWorks "What was the first portable computer?" |publisher=Computer.howstuffworks.com |date=2012-09-19 |access-date=2014-07-22}}</ref> In 1973, [[APL (programming language)|APL]] was generally available only on mainframe computers, and most desktop sized microcomputers such as the [[Wang 2200]] or [[HP 9800 series|HP 9800]] offered only [[BASIC]]. Because SCAMP was the first to emulate APL\1130 performance on a portable, single user computer, ''PC Magazine'' in 1983 designated SCAMP a "revolutionary concept" and "the world's first personal computer".<ref>''PC Magazine'', Vol. 2, No. 6, November 1983, ‘’SCAMP: The Missing Like in the PC's Past?‘’</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc/pc_2.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050126094625/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/pc/pc_2.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 26, 2005 |title=IBM Archives: IBM 5100 Portable Computer |date=23 January 2003 |publisher=03.ibm.com |access-date=2014-07-22}}</ref> The engineering prototype is in the [[Smithsonian Institution]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.si.edu/object/nmah_334628 |title= IBM SCAMP, National Museum of American History | publisher= Smithsonian Institution |date= |access-date= 2023-02-15}}</ref>

===Xerox NoteTaker===
[[Xerox NoteTaker]], developed in 1976 at [[Xerox PARC]], was a precursor to later portable computers from [[Osborne Computer Corporation]] and [[Compaq]], though it remained a prototype and did not enter production.

===IBM 5100===
[[File:IBM 5100 - MfK Bern.jpg|thumb|IBM 5100 (1975)]]
Successful demonstrations of the 1973 SCAMP prototype led to the first commercial [[IBM 5100]] portable microcomputer launched in 1975. The product incorporated an [[IBM PALM processor]], {{convert|5|in|adj=on}} CRT, full function keyboard and the ability to be programmed in both APL and BASIC for engineers, analysts, statisticians and other business problem-solvers. (IBM provided different models of the 5100 supporting only BASIC, only APL, or both selectable by a physical switch on the front panel.)<ref>This author learned this from an original IBM document for operators of the 5100 but does not recall the title of the document.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/ibm5100/index.htm |title=Daves Old Computers- IBM 5100 |access-date=2019-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071126062928/http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/ibm5100/index.htm |archive-date=2007-11-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[IBM]] referred to its [[IBM PALM processor|PALM]] processor as a [[microprocessor]], though they used that term to mean a processor that executes [[microcode]] to implement a higher-level [[instruction set]], rather than its conventional definition of a complete processor on a single [[silicon]] [[integrated circuit]]; the PALM processor was a large circuit board populated with over a dozen chips. In the late 1960s, such a machine would have been nearly as large as two desks and would have weighed about half a ton ({{convert|0.5|ST|disp=out}}). In comparison, the IBM 5100 weighed about 53 pounds (24&nbsp;kg and very portable for that time).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.advantech.com/products/Portable-Computers/sub_1-2JKOHS.aspx |title=Industrial Portable Computers |publisher=Advantech |access-date=2014-07-22}}</ref>

===MIT Suitcase Computer===
The MIT Suitcase Computer, constructed in 1975, was the first known microprocessor-based portable computer.  It was based on the [[Motorola 6800]].  Constructed in a Samsonite suitcase approximately {{convert|20x30x8|in}} and weighing approximately {{convert|20|lb|abbr=on}}, it had 4K of SRAM, a serial port to accept downloaded software and connect to a modem, a keyboard and a 40-column thermal printer taken from a cash register.  Built by student David Emberson in the MIT Digital Systems Laboratory as a thesis project, it never entered production.  It is currently in the collection of Dr. Hoo-Min D. Toong.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

===Micro Star or Small One===
An early portable computer was manufactured in 1979 by GM Research,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/accession/X1243.96 |title=Computer History Museum |access-date=2008-12-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523011552/http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/accession/X1243.96 |archive-date=2013-05-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref> a small company in Santa Monica, California. The machine which was designed and [http://www.google.com.ar/patents/US4294496 patented] by James Murez. It was called the Micro Star and later the name was changed to The Small One. Although Xerox claims to have designed the first such system, the machine by Murez predated anything on the market or that had been documented in any publication at the time{{snd}} hence the patent was issued. As early as 1979, the U.S. Government was contracting to purchase these machines. Other major customers included Sandia Labs, General Dynamics, BBN (featured on the cover of their annual report in 1980 as the C.A.T. system) and several dozen private individuals and companies around the world. In 1979, [[Adam Osborne]] viewed the machine along with several hundred other visitors at the first computer show that was sponsored by the IEEE Westec in Los Angeles.  Later that year the machine was also shown at the first [[COMDEX]] show.

===Portal R2E CCMC===
[[File:Micro ordinateur portable le PORTAL de R2E CCMC.jpg|thumb|R2E CCMC [[Portal (computer)|Portal]] laptop in September 1980 at the SICOB show in PARIS]]

The portable micro computer; the "[[Portal (computer)|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. The Portal was based on an intel 8085 processor, 8-bit, clocked at 2&nbsp;MHz. It was equipped with a central 64&nbsp;KB RAM, a keyboard with 58 alpha numeric keys and 11 numeric keys (separate blocks), a 32-character screen, a floppy disk: capacity = 140 000 characters, of a thermal printer: speed = 28 characters / sec, an asynchronous channel, a synchronous channel, a 220&nbsp;V power supply. Designed for an operating temperature of {{convert|15-35|C}}, it weighed {{convert|12|kg}} and its dimensions were {{convert|45|x|45|x|15|cm|abbr=on}}. It provided total mobility. Its operating system was [[Prolog]].  A few hundred were sold between 1980 and 1983.

===Osborne 1===
[[File:Osborne 1 open.jpg|thumb|Osborne 1 (1981)]]
The first mass-produced microprocessor-based portable computer released in 1981 was the [[Osborne 1]], developed by Osborne, which owed much to the NoteTaker's design. The company had early success with the design and went public but later due to small screen sizes and other devices being released found trouble selling the Osborne.<ref name=oldcomputer>{{cite web|url=http://oldcomputers.net/osborne.html |title=Osborne 1|publisher=OldComputers.net|access-date=May 21, 2010}}</ref> The Osborne 1 is about the size and weight of a sewing machine, and was advertised as the only computer that would fit underneath an [[airline seat]].<ref name=atlantic>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/doc/198207/fallows-computer/2 |title=Living With a Computer|first=James|last=Fallows |date=July 1982 |publisher=Atlantic Magazine |access-date=May 21, 2010}}</ref>

===Kaypro===
Another early portable computer released in 1982 was named the [[Kaypro II]], although it was the company's first commercially available product. Some of the press mocked its design—one magazine described [[Kaypro Corporation]] as "producing computers packaged in tin cans".<ref name="dickinson198607">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5hdeC0k_JHwC&pg=PA116 | title=Kaypro 2000 | work=PC | date=July 1986 | access-date=9 January 2015 | author=Dickinson, John | pages=116}}</ref>  Others raved about its value, as the company advertised the Kaypro II as "the {{US$|long=no|1595}} computer that sells for {{US$|long=no|1595}}",<ref name="kaypro198401">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1984-01/BYTE-1984-01#page/n395/mode/2up | title=The {{US$|long=no|1595}} Computer That Sells for {{US$|long=no|1595}}. | work=BYTE | date=January 1984 | access-date=20 January 2015 | pages=390 | type=advertisement}}</ref> some noting that the included software bundle had a retail value over {{US$|long=no|1000}} by itself, and by mid-1983 the company was selling more than 10,000 units a month, briefly making it the fifth-largest computer maker in the world. It managed to correct most of the [[Osborne 1]]'s deficiencies: the screen was larger and showed more characters at once, the floppy drives stored over twice as much data, the case was more attractive-looking, and it was also much better-built and more reliable.

===Grid Compass===
[[File:Macintosh Portable-IMG 7541.jpg|thumb|Macintosh Portable (1989)]]
[[File:GRiD Compass 1101 (1).jpg|thumb|Grid Compass (1982)]]
The [[Grid Compass]] ran its own operating system, GRiD-OS. Its specialized software and high price (US$8,000–10,000) meant that it was limited to specialized applications. The main buyer was the U.S. government. NASA used it on the Space Shuttle during the early 1980s, as it was powerful, lightweight, and compact. The military Special Forces also purchased the machine, as it could be used by paratroopers in combat.<ref>{{Cite web|last=didyouknowwebsite|date=2020-06-14|title=The Space Age Best Inventions We use Today|url=https://didyouknowwebsite.com/2020/06/14/the-space-age-best-inventions-we-use-today/|access-date=2020-06-14|website=Did You Know?|language=en-US}}</ref>