Origins of term "laptop" computer

has Evan's previous searching results which he likely rigorously searched through at the library. I did. Thank you for acknowledging that. found the 1982 reference of the HX-20 (and apparently also the TI-CC40 as a notebook which is also an interest conclusion that perhaps the term was end-user and notebook or "notebook sized computer" may have been first before the probably less flattering "lap-top" or "lap-held" computer. That's true. "Laptop" was definitely not the original term for such computers. The very early references, i.e. the ones from 81-ish, mostly just use "mobile" or "portable" in a generic sense, and that's true whether the source is the manufacturers or the journalists or the peanut gallery. :) Then from 82(-ish) to 83(-ish), there were all kinds of terms being used, such as notebook, lap-sized, and (this was also very common) "briefcase computers" .... I own a couple of buyer's guide-type books from that period and the authors used "briefcase computer" quite frequently. Same goes for articles by David Ahl, etc. .... from what I found during that research, the story about Galivan being called a "laptop" is fiction, until someone products proof. (However I have not yet asked Manny Fernandez about it. It's on my to-do list.) might have been pre-M.A.R.C.H/museum phase so I'm sure lots has been learned was leaning towards the HX-20 being the first laptop or advertised device as a notebook. Later he found references to the Grundy NewBrain system Thank you, again. Time passes and we all hopefully learn a few things in life. :) I have since decided based on extensive research that the Husky Hunter beats 'em all. Husky shipped in 81. (It too was never called a "laptop" but it certainly meets the * common * description of one.) the first to coin and use the term They are indeed separate things. There's a similar debate about PDAs. Nobody doubts that Apple may have * coined the term * "personal digital assistant", but there are 15 years' worth of handheld electronic organizers on the market before that. (And if you guys think I'm stressing about "laptop" then you ought to see my veins bulge when Apple fanboys insist the Newton was the "first * real * PDA" ... put them in the same room as Psion fanboys over in the U.K. who made the same claim about that company's product from 1984 .... wanna know the truth? PDAs, by whatever name you like, were around since the late 1970s.) the device in question i.e. does it have to be battery powered? You are a wise man (because you seem to agree with me!) :)