Future Computers FX31

Sean Caron scaron at umich.edu
Sat Aug 29 13:39:51 CDT 2015


Alphabook is indeed a real thing; it was made by RDI, IIRC. They also did a
HPPA laptop as well as their more commonly known SPARC machines sold in
competition against Tadpole. These machines all suffered from the vices you
describe however some people seem to still dig them just to have the exotic
processors in the laptop form factor :O

But I think the OP is describing something that's significantly older;
maybe some kind of early near-PC-compatible x86 machine?

Best,

Sean


On Sat, Aug 29, 2015 at 2:09 PM, Sue Skonetski <
Sue.Skonetski at vmssoftware.com> wrote:

> I can not see the picture but could it be an alphabook?  Forgive me if
> this sounds like a joke,, but there a very short lived hardware called an
> Alphabook.  Ran very hot, to hot for a laptop and weighed 14 pounds.  If
> you have one I would hold onto it,  People have mistakeny thought it was
> laptop (same dimensions).  A friend picked on up for $25 because the person
> thought t was a broken laptop.  This is a real Alpha.
> > On Aug 29, 2015, at 12:29 PM, Jules Richardson <
> jules.richardson99 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > Anyone know anything about this system? Someone on a vintage computer
> group on Facebook has one (missing its keyboard[1]), and having seen some
> photos, although it seems to be mostly a generic PC-compatible with 8-bit
> ISA, it's notable for having a "video in" connector on the back, as well as
> LAN in/out ports (proprietary? presumably some kind of ring network though)
> >
> > Surprisingly, Google's coughing up nothing of any use. I'm guessing
> someone tried making a PC-compatible with a few built-in extras as a
> selling point (not that uncommon back then), and of course it didn't work
> out.
> >
> > [1] Although the keyboard socket is something oddball, I see four wires
> leading back to the motherboard and an 8042 near to where the keyboard
> connects, so there's a possibility that it can be wired to a standard AT
> (or possibly XT) keyboard - although of course maybe the scan codes or even
> the protocol are completely different, and the owner has themselves a nice
> boat anchor...
> >
> > cheers
> >
> > Jules
> >
>
> Sue Skonetski
>
> VP of Customer Advocacy
> Sue.Skonetski at vmssoftware.com
> Office: +1 (978) 451-0116
> Mobile: +1 (603) 494-9886
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Mit freundlichen Grüßen – Avec mes meilleures salutations
>
>
>
>


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