The Power of 64k Memory
Released in 1981 by the Osborne Computer Corporation, the Osborne 1 is considered to be the first true portable computer.
{ Commodore SX-64 Executive, the first color portable computer, 1983 }
{ Digi-Log Systems, 1981 | Computer World }
May 8th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
We had a very similar IBM - but was a little later. Probably about 1985-1986. Beleive it or not, it came with its own bag - similar to what a laptop bag looks like now - but this sucker was not going to fit in ANY overhead bin! I remember the brochure that it came with had a business exec type standing in line at an airport lugging this enormous bag around with the ‘portable’ pc. I want to say it was as large as a traditional garment bag!
September 22nd, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Who’s keeping up with Commodore? People with a 6 bits per second DSL connection.
September 22nd, 2007 at 10:24 pm
I actually have the first mentioned computer in my office at work (collecting dust). I had to mail order a set of CP-M floppies (the actually floppy kind, 5.25″ single-density 160kb) to see if it worked.
I grew up on the Commodore SX-64. We rarely used the built-in monitor though… it was always hooked up to a genuine Commodore color display.
September 23rd, 2007 at 2:18 am
i bet the guy in the osborne ad was over seven feet tall…to make the computer look more “luggable” in comparison
September 23rd, 2007 at 4:44 am
The point here is that you are actually looking at a portable Commodore 64 alias C64…
It’s a CLASSIC… unuseful but funny knowledge it’s being considerd to be the first portable Computer ever….
It’s not an IBM and it has not much to with DSL either…
September 23rd, 2007 at 5:08 am
A funny thing is how the current technology seems so cool. I’m sure after 20 or so years our current gadgets will seem so primitive and technologically backward.
September 23rd, 2007 at 7:57 am
and i can’t believe the digi-log was already skype-equipped
September 23rd, 2007 at 8:07 am
remember the compaq, it was long cube with a screen at the end
September 23rd, 2007 at 8:15 am
I’m sorry son, but you cant describe a cube as “long”.
September 23rd, 2007 at 8:16 am
There is a lesson to be learned here. When I first met my girlfriend I was impressed with her intelligence and relevance(like an Osborne or portable Commodore), and I thought she was great for me. Now I see her as outdated, overbearing and bulky, and want to find something younger and hotter, like her younger sister or maybe even a Macbook.
September 23rd, 2007 at 8:25 am
Move over fratboys, the new misongynists are nerds.
September 23rd, 2007 at 8:49 am
These *aren’t* portable Commodore 64’s. These *predate* the C64 by several years.
By the time the C64 rolled around, the “toy” factor had come into computers. (Remember the Atari 400 with the plastic keys?) The C64 was a great computer — but a toy-like computer.
The Osbourne Micro Ace, Commodore Pet, TRS-80 Model I Level I — these all predated the colorful toys like the Atari 400/800, Timex/Sinclair, Commodore 64, TRS-80 Color Computer, TI 99/4A.
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:18 am
23 year old Epson PX-8.
http://www.bytecellar.com/archives/000123.php
September 23rd, 2007 at 10:15 am
BobbyTuck - re-check your facts. Commodore 64 came out in 1982. I got my first one in 1983. The Executive-64 - also known in the US as the SX-64 didn’t come out until 1984 and they are just a portable Commodore 64.
September 23rd, 2007 at 10:56 am
“Move over fratboys, the new misongynists are nerds.”
Misogyny rocks! Repeal women’s suffrage and return to the days where wives are considered property! The divorce rate would be much lower!
September 23rd, 2007 at 12:22 pm
I’m really happy to born in this century
September 23rd, 2007 at 2:06 pm
“I’m really happy to be born in this century”
You’re six?
September 23rd, 2007 at 2:37 pm
@iliya: You’re only 7 years old?
/sarcasm
September 23rd, 2007 at 3:02 pm
nice oscilloscopes
September 23rd, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Wow that Osborne 1 was expensive too. The Commodore 64 is considered portable hehe… yeah lug that box around to the pool while drinking mimosas.
I had a Radio Shack TRS-80. Man, I don’t miss the tape drives! Also, one of the coolest computers I built was from Heathkit. That was good stuff.
September 24th, 2007 at 3:38 am
i think i remember those 5 inch floppies …
we played with (throwing like frisbees and stuff) …
we didnt know what floppies were then …
hehe …
guess someone will soon not know what a DVD is …
hehe …
September 25th, 2007 at 5:16 am
I wonder if that thing had a Commodore 1542 drive. That was a really horrible, expensive (same price as the C64 itself I think), unbelievably slow piece of kit when bought separately for the C64. It regularly went out of alignment and a cottage industry of expensive re-aligners grew up. I remember a C64 book (it might have been written about using the 1542 - I can’t remember now) with the dedication :”This book is undedicated to my 1542 drive - may it rot in Hell.”
October 11th, 2007 at 8:41 am
My first computer experience was on an Osborne. Swapping floppies on the go was an art. Good times!
October 24th, 2007 at 9:24 am
@Geoff:
It had a 5.25″ floppy, that’s for sure. Not sure if it was a 1542 or not… more likely a 1541.
Wow.. I still have that sound in my head… the wonderful sound of copying a copy-protected floppy.
Anyone remember when the 3.5″ discs came out? I used a soldering iron to burn a hole in the other side to double the storage space!