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| post | COMPAQ Revisited | 2016-02-24 14:00:00 | /blog/2016/02/24/ |
I finally obtained a ROM Dump from COMPAQ's first machine, the COMPAQ Portable.
At the same time, I thought it would be a good idea to create my own roughly chronological list of COMPAQ machines from the 1980s, since they are all machines I would like to see PCjs eventually support:
- COMPAQ Portable
- COMPAQ [Portable] Plus
- COMPAQ DeskPro
- COMPAQ DeskPro 286
- COMPAQ Portable 286
- COMPAQ Portable II
- COMPAQ DeskPro 386
- COMPAQ Portable III
- COMPAQ Portable 386
- COMPAQ 386/20e
- COMPAQ SLT Series
- COMPAQ SLT/286
- COMPAQ LTE Series
- COMPAQ LTE 286
- COMPAQ LTE 386
It's hard to stop at this point, because COMPAQ did produce other 80386-based systems, like those in the "LTE Lite" series. But I think I need to stick my original plan and draw a line at the end of the 1980s.
Below is a random assortment of information I've gathered about some of the above models, with gaping holes for others. Currently, the most gaping is the COMPAQ DeskPro 386, because that's the one COMPAQ machine that PCjs already supports. I just need more time to organize and fill in the details.
COMPAQ Portable
PCjs now has a ROM Dump.
Reviewed in Byte Magazine, Jan 1983. Reprinted here.
Also see Wikipedia.
COMPAQ Portable Plus (aka COMPAQ Plus)
Reviewed in Byte Magazine, Jul 1984, pp. 247-251: "The Compaq Plus".
COMPAQ DeskPro
Introduced June 28, 1984. Reviewed in Byte Magazine, May 1985, pp. 260-267. For use with MS-DOS 2.11.
| Model | Price | CPU | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model 1 | $2495 | 4.77-7.14Mhz 8086 | 128Kb RAM, 1 FDD |
| Model 2 | $2995 | 4.77-7.14Mhz 8086 | 256Kb RAM, 2 FDD |
| Model 3 | $4995 | 4.77-7.14Mhz 8086 | 256Kb RAM, 1 FDD, 10Mb HDD |
| Model 4 | $7195 | 4.77-7.14Mhz 8086 | 640Kb RAM, 1 FDD, 10Mb HDD, 10Mb Tape Drive |
COMPAQ DeskPro 286
Released in 1985 at the same time as the COMPAQ Portable 286.
Reviewed in InfoWorld, May 20, 1985: "Compaq Edges Past AT Speed and Memory: New Products Use Intel 80286 Processor For 30 Percent Speed Boost".
Updated to 12Mhz in 1987. From InfoWorld, June 1987: "Compaq Brings 12-Mhz Machine to 286 Market"
COMPAQ Portable 286
Introduced in 1985.
| Model | Price | CPU | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8Mhz 80286 | Up to 2.6Mb RAM, 1.2Mb FDD, 20Mb HDD, 10Mb Tape Drive | ||
See this COMPAQ Advertisement.
On July 8, 1985, the Los Angeles Times reported:
It's not cheap and it's not for everyone. Equipped as described, the portable lists for $10,378 and contains about $3,000 worth of extra RAM memory that cannot be utilized by any application software programs now on the market. (It can be used to simulate a disk drive to speed up programs, however.)
A standard Compaq Deskpro 286 with 512 kilobytes of RAM memory, a 30-megabyte hard disk and a monitor is priced at $6,254, compared to IBM's similarly equipped enhanced PC AT that offers only a 20-megabyte hard disk. The Portable 286 with 512K of memory and 20-megabyte hard disk lists for $6,299.
COMPAQ Portable II
The COMPAQ Portable II ("slimmed-down version of the Portable 286", as described in Byte Magazine, Oct 1986) was released on February 20, 1986. For use with MS-DOS 3.10.
| Model | Price | CPU | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Model 1 | $3499 | 6-8Mhz 80286 | 256Kb RAM, 1 FDD |
| Model 2 | $3599 | 6-8Mhz 80286 | 256Kb RAM, 2 FDD |
| Model 3 | $4799 | 6-8Mhz 80286 | 640Kb RAM, 1 FDD, 10Mb HDD |
| Model 4 | $4999 | 6-8Mhz 80286 | 640Kb RAM, 1 FDD, 20Mb HDD |
Also see Wikipedia.
COMPAQ DeskPro 386
Released in late 1986.
PCjs has detailed information about the DeskPro 386 ROMs and system boards.
I also have the hard-to-find COMPAQ Technical Reference Guide for the DeskPro 386/25 (Vol. 1), which I'll post at a later date.
COMPAQ Portable III
Reportedly intended to be an 80386-based machine, the Portable III was first released in 1987 as a 12Mhz 80286-based system.
PCjs also has information about COMPAQ Portable III ROMs.
| Model | Price | CPU | Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5000+ | 12Mhz 80286 | 640Kb RAM, 1 FDD, 20-40Mb HDD | |
COMPAQ Portable 386
[TBD]
COMPAQ 386/20e
Released in late 1988. For use with MS-DOS 3.31.
COMPAQ SLT Series
From Wikipedia: "The COMPAQ SLT/286 debuted in October 1988, being the first battery-powered laptop to support an internal hard disk drive and a VGA compatible LCD screen. It weighed 14 lbs."
COMPAQ LTE Series
First model in 1989.
Also see Wikipedia.
COMPAQ LTE 286
Various models, such as the Model 40.
COMPAQ LTE 386
@jeffpar
February 24, 2016