9 Nov
1998
9 Nov
'98
10:56 a.m.
I have recently obtained a machine that when carried resembles a sewing
machine in a carry case, marked Compaq Portable. It has a built in CRT
and is evidentally an 8088 or 8086 machine judging by the 8 bit slots.
Anyone have any info on it, and is there any collectability to these?
I'm in the process of cleaning and repairing it but I will inevitably
NOT keep it for myself due to space limits and am putting out feelers on
the list first for possible buyers/traders. I don't expect a lot out of
it, mostly what I have in it ($25) unless I have to put a lot of parts
or work into it, which I doubt since it appears to be semi-working at
the moment.
I'll probably put it on ePay around the 20th once I get it functional
and get no apparent responses.
Any info or prospects appreciated.
10 Nov
10 Nov
11:07 a.m.
On Mon, 9 Nov 1998, Russ Blakeman wrote:
I have recently obtained a machine that when carried
resembles a sewing
machine in a carry case, marked Compaq Portable. It has a built in CRT
and is evidentally an 8088 or 8086 machine judging by the 8 bit slots.
Anyone have any info on it, and is there any collectability to these?
It sounds like Compaq's first machine. What amazes me though is that this
could possibly be the first time you've seen one. They're extremely
common (which is one reason Compaq was able to survive in the early years
of clonedom).
-- Doug
9 Nov
9 Nov
11:27 a.m.
Doug Yowza wrote:
On Mon, 9 Nov 1998, Russ Blakeman wrote:
I've seen a couple back when they were commonplace and new, but not aware of
what point in Compaq's history that they fell or how common they were to date.
They seem to go for a quick buck on ePay so maybe I'll try there unless I get
a resonse from a collector here in the next few days.
I have recently obtained a machine that when
carried resembles a sewing
machine in a carry case, marked Compaq Portable. It has a built in CRT
and is evidentally an 8088 or 8086 machine judging by the 8 bit slots.
Anyone have any info on it, and is there any collectability to these?
It sounds like Compaq's first machine. What amazes me though is that this
could possibly be the first time you've seen one. They're extremely
common (which is one reason Compaq was able to survive in the early years
of clonedom). 
10 Nov
10 Nov
11:10 a.m.
On Mon, 9 Nov 1998, Russ Blakeman wrote:
I have recently obtained a machine that when carried
resembles a sewing
machine in a carry case, marked Compaq Portable. It has a built in CRT
and is evidentally an 8088 or 8086 machine judging by the 8 bit slots.
Compaq's first computer. Historically interesting. Not worth the money
you already put into it however. They are found in abundant quantities.
I can find one at least one everytime I go to any flea market or ham fest.
List it with the requisite eBay "RARE" labeling and you should make back
what you put into it.
Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Always being hassled by the man.
Coming in 1999: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0
See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details!
[Last web site update: 11/02/98]
9 Nov
9 Nov
11:21 a.m.
Sam Ismail wrote:
On Mon, 9 Nov 1998, Russ Blakeman wrote:
I did some back sale checking on ePay and it seems they sell good there as you say
but you are also correct that they seem abundant by some of the little tidbits
I've found by searching the net. This one seems to have been originally owned by
Boeing Aerospace in Seattle, for work on systems that I worked in the military
(nuclear cruise missiles). They had a program that read the air pressure of a
cooling air unit by way of the serial port.
Thanks Sam.
I have recently obtained a machine that when
carried resembles a sewing
machine in a carry case, marked Compaq Portable. It has a built in CRT
and is evidentally an 8088 or 8086 machine judging by the 8 bit slots.
Compaq's first computer. Historically interesting. Not worth the money
you already put into it however. They are found in abundant quantities.
I can find one at least one everytime I go to any flea market or ham fest.
List it with the requisite eBay "RARE" labeling and you should make back
what you put into it.
10 Nov
10 Nov
11:46 a.m.
On Mon, 9 Nov 1998, Russ Blakeman wrote:
I did some back sale checking on ePay and it seems
they sell good there
as you say but you are also correct that they seem abundant by some of
the little tidbits I've found by searching the net. This one seems to
have been originally owned by Boeing Aerospace in Seattle, for work on
systems that I worked in the military (nuclear cruise missiles). They
had a program that read the air pressure of a cooling air unit by way of
the serial port.
Well, there's your angle. Advertise it as a Nuclear Cruise Missile
testing computer and some Arab terrorist will pay you a sack of sheckles
for it.
Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Always being hassled by the man.
Coming in 1999: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0
See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details!
[Last web site update: 11/02/98]
9 Nov
9 Nov
12:19 p.m.
Sam Ismail wrote:
On Mon, 9 Nov 1998, Russ Blakeman wrote:
If I can get max to go for the $25000 I don't have to worry about it <big crap
eatin' grin>
I did some back sale checking on ePay and it
seems they sell good there
as you say but you are also correct that they seem abundant by some of
the little tidbits I've found by searching the net. This one seems to
have been originally owned by Boeing Aerospace in Seattle, for work on
systems that I worked in the military (nuclear cruise missiles). They
had a program that read the air pressure of a cooling air unit by way of
the serial port.
Well, there's your angle. Advertise it as a Nuclear Cruise Missile
testing computer and some Arab terrorist will pay you a sack of sheckles
for it. 
10 Nov
10 Nov
11:44 a.m.
Sam Ismail wrote:
On Mon, 9 Nov 1998, Russ Blakeman wrote:
Yup, mine was free for the taking at the last Trenton Computer
Festival, in a slightly gutted condition. No problem there, as its
destiny is to eventually house new guts taken from a TRS-80 Color
Computer 3 and add-ons for a luggable OS-9 Level II system. (My
imagination has too much time on its hands, restrained by the fact
that my body doesn't, since I have every component required except
for a color tube of the right size and that's optional anyway).
(Sure, I could put in a new Pentium mobo and have a luggable Linux
system, but what's the hack value in that? especially since I
already have a Linux notebook).
--
Ward Griffiths <mailto:gram@cnct.com> <http://www.cnct.com/home/gram/>
WARNING: The Attorney General has determined that Alcohol, Tobacco,
and Firearms can be hazardous to your health -- and get away with it.
I have recently obtained a machine that when
carried resembles a sewing
machine in a carry case, marked Compaq Portable. It has a built in CRT
and is evidentally an 8088 or 8086 machine judging by the 8 bit slots.
Compaq's first computer. Historically interesting. Not worth the money
you already put into it however. They are found in abundant quantities.
I can find one at least one everytime I go to any flea market or ham fest.
9 Nov
9 Nov
12:09 p.m.
Ward Donald Griffiths III wrote:
Yup, mine was free for the taking at the last Trenton
Computer
Festival,
I'm really starting to think that maybe I'll just hang onto it for the time
being since it seems that it is of historical (or hysterical) importance even
with the large quantity available. It might just work for something in the shop.
10 Nov
10 Nov
4:16 p.m.
It is slightly more collectible than a PCJr. Even EPAY isn't likely to
get up to your $25K asking price :-)
It's a little too heavy for the soft handle that they used, and the
length of travel of the keyboard latches was WAY too little, causing a
lot of keyboards to get knocked loose on airport escalators, etc.
But it was a reasonable early compatible, and helped define the term
"luggable". Not the first.
There was also a "Portable 286" with an almost identical case, and a
"Portable II" with a similar but slightly smaller case. Then they
started making "lunchbox"es. I'll be parting with a few of each in the next
wave.
A little known fact is that the internal monitor was EGA capable. Compaq
normally shipped them with a CGA card (recognizable by the extra
connector in the middle of the board.) But they also sold an EGA card
(with that same mid-board connector), and there was an add-on daughter
board for the ATI "Ega Wonder"? to provide Compaq capability.
Compaq was one of the first to use IDE drives - watch out for some
minor incompatibilities.
--
Fred Cisin cisin(a)xenosoft.com
XenoSoft http://www.xenosoft.com
2210 Sixth St. (510) 644-9366
Berkeley, CA 94710-2219
On Mon, 9 Nov 1998, Russ Blakeman wrote:
I have recently obtained a machine that when carried
resembles a sewing
machine in a carry case, marked Compaq Portable. It has a built in CRT
and is evidentally an 8088 or 8086 machine judging by the 8 bit slots.
Anyone have any info on it, and is there any collectability to these?
I'm in the process of cleaning and repairing it but I will inevitably
NOT keep it for myself due to space limits and am putting out feelers on
the list first for possible buyers/traders. I don't expect a lot out of
it, mostly what I have in it ($25) unless I have to put a lot of parts
or work into it, which I doubt since it appears to be semi-working at
the moment.
I'll probably put it on ePay around the 20th once I get it functional
and get no apparent responses.
Any info or prospects appreciated.
12 Nov
12 Nov
12:23 p.m.
At 07:16 PM 11/10/98 -0800, you wrote:
It is slightly more collectible than a PCJr. Even EPAY
isn't likely to
get up to your $25K asking price :-)
It's a little too heavy for the soft handle that they used, and the
length of travel of the keyboard latches was WAY too little, causing a
lot of keyboards to get knocked loose on airport escalators, etc.
But it was a reasonable early compatible, and helped define the term
"luggable". Not the first.
There was also a "Portable 286" with an almost identical case, and a
"Portable II" with a similar but slightly smaller case. Then they
started making "lunchbox"es. I'll be parting with a few of each in the next
wave.
There was also a Portable III. I have five of them!! They're a little
larger than a lunch box and have a 12 MHz 286 CPU and a fold out gas plasma
screen. They have a place for a MODEM on an ISA card in the bottom of the
case. And a place for a memory expansion card that held up to six SIMMs.
The SIMMS that were available were 256K or 1 meg so you could have up to 6
Megs & 640K of memory. There was an option to add a box on the back that
contained an 8 bit and a 16 bit ISA slots. Mine have the box with the ISA
card slots and I use them for portable instrument controllers.
A little known fact is that the internal monitor was
EGA capable. Compaq
normally shipped them with a CGA card (recognizable by the extra
connector in the middle of the board.) But they also sold an EGA card
(with that same mid-board connector), and there was an add-on daughter
board for the ATI "Ega Wonder"? to provide Compaq capability.
Compaq was one of the first to use IDE drives - watch out for some
minor incompatibilities.
I've added bigger IDE drives to mine with no trouble. The P III has a
good drive table with about 50 different drive types included. Only 20 and
40 Mb drives were available from compaq.
Joe
--
Fred Cisin cisin(a)xenosoft.com
XenoSoft http://www.xenosoft.com
2210 Sixth St. (510) 644-9366
Berkeley, CA 94710-2219
On Mon, 9 Nov 1998, Russ Blakeman wrote:
I have recently obtained a machine that when
carried resembles a sewing
machine in a carry case, marked Compaq Portable. It has a built in CRT
and is evidentally an 8088 or 8086 machine judging by the 8 bit slots.
Anyone have any info on it, and is there any collectability to these?
I'm in the process of cleaning and repairing it but I will inevitably
NOT keep it for myself due to space limits and am putting out feelers on
the list first for possible buyers/traders. I don't expect a lot out of
it, mostly what I have in it ($25) unless I have to put a lot of parts
or work into it, which I doubt since it appears to be semi-working at
the moment.
I'll probably put it on ePay around the 20th once I get it functional
and get no apparent responses.
Any info or prospects appreciated.
10:32 a.m.
At 05:23 PM 11/12/98, Joe Rigdon wrote:
There was also a Portable III. I have five of
them!! They're a little
larger than a lunch box and have a 12 MHz 286 CPU and a fold out gas plasma
screen. They have a place for a MODEM on an ISA card in the bottom of the
case. And a place for a memory expansion card that held up to six SIMMs.
The SIMMS that were available were 256K or 1 meg so you could have up to 6
Megs & 640K of memory. There was an option to add a box on the back that
contained an 8 bit and a 16 bit ISA slots. Mine have the box with the ISA
card slots and I use them for portable instrument controllers.
Gotta be one of the most well-build machines I've ever seen. We
have some here in the lab that are 10 years old and they still get
used constantly for data comm applications. Love that plasma display.
Alex
13 Nov
13 Nov
9:35 a.m.
At 04:32 PM 11/12/98 -0500, you wrote:
At 05:23 PM 11/12/98, Joe Rigdon wrote:
The P IIIs are well built but not nearly as well built as the original
Compaq portable. It was built like a tank! The displays are great, that's
one reason I like these so well.
Joe
There was also a Portable III. I have five of
them!! They're a little
larger than a lunch box and have a 12 MHz 286 CPU and a fold out gas plasma
screen. They have a place for a MODEM on an ISA card in the bottom of the
case. And a place for a memory expansion card that held up to six SIMMs.
The SIMMS that were available were 256K or 1 meg so you could have up to 6
Megs & 640K of memory. There was an option to add a box on the back that
contained an 8 bit and a 16 bit ISA slots. Mine have the box with the ISA
card slots and I use them for portable instrument controllers.
Gotta be one of the most well-build machines I've ever seen. We
have some here in the lab that are 10 years old and they still get
used constantly for data comm applications. Love that plasma display. 
12 Nov
12 Nov
11:05 a.m.
At 05:23 PM 11/12/98, you wrote:
There was also a Portable III. I have five of
them!! They're a little
larger than a lunch box and have a 12 MHz 286 CPU and a fold out gas plasma
screen. They have a place for a MODEM on an ISA card in the bottom of the
case. And a place for a memory expansion card that held up to six SIMMs.
The SIMMS that were available were 256K or 1 meg so you could have up to 6
Megs & 640K of memory. There was an option to add a box on the back that
contained an 8 bit and a 16 bit ISA slots. Mine have the box with the ISA
card slots and I use them for portable instrument controllers.
Did they market a Portable III to 386 upgrade kit? I've got a Portable III
with a 386-20 (well, now a 486slc-40) in it, but it still has the III on
the case and the XT-style keyboard.
-jrs
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/\|\/ | jason(a)xio.com | Wanted: '87-90 Volkswagen Fox 2 Door Wagon
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aknight＠mindspring.com -
cisin＠xenosoft.com -
dastar＠ncal.verio.com -
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