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🇯🇵 Unveiling the Toshiba T1100: A Journey into the Dawn of Portable Computing!

💻 In the early 1980s, a revolutionary device emerged, transforming the landscape of personal computing forever. The Toshiba T1100, released in 1985, marked a significant milestone in the history of portable computers. The Toshiba T1100 has subsequently been described by Toshiba as "the world's first mass-market laptop computer".

🌐 The Toshiba T1100 was among the first truly portable computers, designed for professionals and enthusiasts seeking computing power on the go. Weighing approximately 4.1 kilograms (9 pounds) with its lead-acid battery, this innovative machine provided users with unprecedented mobility.

⚙️ Equipped with an Intel 80C88 processor running at 4.77 MHz and boasting 256 KB of RAM, the Toshiba T1100 offered impressive computing capabilities for its time. Its 9.6-inch monochrome LCD screen provided a crisp display, while the detachable keyboard enhanced usability.

💾 The T1100 introduced several innovative features, including a built-in 3.5-inch floppy disk drive—a rarity at the time—which allowed for data storage and transfer with ease. This model also featured MS-DOS as its operating system, providing a familiar computing environment.

📈 The Toshiba T1100 set a new standard for portable computing, demonstrating the feasibility and practicality of laptops for business and personal use. Its success paved the way for subsequent generations of laptops, influencing the evolution of mobile computing worldwide.

👨‍💻 For professionals in various industries, the Toshiba T1100 represented a game-changer, enabling efficient data management, word processing, and spreadsheet tasks on the move. Its portability and functionality empowered users to work beyond traditional office environments.

🌟 Today, the legacy of the Toshiba T1100 lives on in the sleek, lightweight laptops and notebooks that have become indispensable tools for modern professionals and digital nomads. This groundbreaking device remains a testament to Toshiba's commitment to innovation and excellence in the field of computing. The Toshiba T1100 remains an iconic symbol of the dawn of portable computing—a chapter in the ongoing story of technological progress that continues to shape our digital world.

Another 2022-present portable computer thing. This is a 1991 Corvallis Microtechnologies PC5-L. It's a ruggedized, waterproof handheld MS-DOS computer meant for industrial applications. It ran on Ni-Cd batteries and they died so now it runs on AA's I got two of them for $50 on eBay during one of those months when i impulse buy obscure electronics as a form of escapism This thing is an absolute brick. You could murder someone by hitting them on the head with this, and it would work fine afterwards. Here's pictures of its organs for anyone curious:

That thick red wire around the screen PCB is a heater. Yep there's a setting to heat up the LCD so it doesn't get sluggish or shatter when you decide to leave it in the freezer. The thing runs on a little system-on-chip thing, which is interesting to see coming from the early 90's. Iirc the datasheet says it's capable of analog video out as well as driving the LCD, but I haven't poked around enough to enable it. Might be cool to hook it up to a TV. I did, however, open those 512k storage modules and I saw some unpopulated footprints on the boards. So I ordered some of the same chips, and at some point I'mma try soldering them on and see if it recognizes the extra space. They came with two voltmeter modules, which I couldn't get to work, so I took one of the casings and made it into a USB and WiFi adapter using an ESP32 running Zimodem, since this thing has RS232 ports on the top. I also made my own charging adapter, since they didn't come with one. I see that internal PCMCIA slot, and I tried putting a CF card adapter in, and tried installing the drivers, but it didn't work. I'm not good at DOS tbh, and I know nothing of what this slot is for. I might come back to it later. I did all of this in 2022-23 and haven't messed with it since. Except to use it to talk to my Kaypro 4 '84: