The Compaq Portable II is the fourth product in the Compaq Portable series to be brought out by Compaq Computer Corporation. Released in 1986 at a price of US$3499, the Portable II much improved upon its predecessor, the Compaq 286, which had been Compaq's version of the PC AT in the original Compaq Portable chassis;[5] Portable 286 came equipped with 6/8-MHz 286 and a high-speed 20-MB hard drive, while the Portable II included an 8 MHz processor, and was lighter and smaller than the previous Compaq Portables. There were four models of the Compaq Portable II. The basic Model 1 shipped one 5.25" floppy drive and 256 KB of RAM.[3] The Model 2 added a second 5.25" floppy drive and sold for $3599.[3] The Model 3 shipped with a 10MB hard disk in addition to one 5.25" floppy drive and 640 KB of RAM for $4799 at launch.[2][3] The Model 4 would upgrade the Model 3 with a 20MB hard drive and sold for $4999.[3] There also may have been a 4.1 MB hard drive included at one point.[6] The Compaq Portable II was significantly lighter than its predecessors, the Model 1 weighed just 23.6 pounds compared to the 30.5 pounds the Compaq Portable 286 weighed.[3] Compaq only shipped the system with a small demo disk, MS-DOS 3.1 had to be purchased separately.[3]
Compaq Portable II
A Compaq Portable II with an aftermarket 3.5" floppy drive replacing the 5.25" floppy drive and cover over the drive it came with.
There are at least two reported cases of improperly serviced computers exploding when the non-rechargeable lithium battery on the motherboard was connected to the power supply.[7] There were no recorded injuries. The Compaq Portable II was succeeded by the Compaq Portable III in 1987.
Hardwareedit
The Compaq Portable II had room for additional after market upgrades. Compaq manufactured four memory expansion boards, 512 KB and 2048 KB ISA memory cards and 512 KB and 1536 KB memory boards that attached to the back of the motherboard.[4] With 640 KB installed on the motherboard and both the ISA card and the expansion board, the computer could be upgraded with up to a maximum of 4.2MB of RAM.[2][4] The motherboard also had space for an optional 80287 math coprocessor.[4] There were two revisions of the motherboard, they were functionally identical although the earlier version was larger. The motherboard had four ISA slots for expansion cards, two 8-bit and two 16-bit. However, the first 16-bit ISA slot was occupied by a Multi I/O board with serial, parallel, PATA and Floppy interfaces, and the second 8-bit ISA slot was used by the CGA graphics card, leaving two available slots. The keyboard is hardwired in, but it uses standard PS/2 signaling, so a DIN or PS/2 socket can be retrofitted to allow use of common PS/2 keyboards (but not USB ones).
Referencesedit
^Longeway, Barbara (21 Feb 1986). "Compaq makes Fortune 500, offers new line". Houston Chronicle. pp. Business 1.
^ abcdefgLombardi, John (21 April 1986). InfoWorld. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. pp. 58–59. ISSN 0199-6649. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
^ abcdefgMiastkowski, Stan (October 1986). "The Compaq Portable II". Byte Magazine. pp. 239–241. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
^ abcdCompaq Computer Corporation (1990). Compaq Portable II Personal Computer Maintenance and Service Guide (2 ed.). USA.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Inc, InfoWorld Media Group (1986-04-21). InfoWorld. InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
^CompaqVet (2006-10-18), "Portable 2 Compared to This Fish" - JOHN CLEESE Compaq Ad, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2018-10-22
^Mercury News Wire Services (21 Dec 1986). "Exploding portables spur compaq to set up toll-free line". San Jose Mercury News. pp. 2F.
External linksedit
oldcomputers.net - Compaq II Portable computer
January 01, 1970
compaq, portable, fourth, product, compaq, portable, series, brought, compaq, computer, corporation, released, 1986, price, 3499, portable, much, improved, upon, predecessor, compaq, which, been, compaq, version, original, compaq, portable, chassis, portable, . The Compaq Portable II is the fourth product in the Compaq Portable series to be brought out by Compaq Computer Corporation Released in 1986 at a price of US 3499 the Portable II much improved upon its predecessor the Compaq 286 which had been Compaq s version of the PC AT in the original Compaq Portable chassis 5 Portable 286 came equipped with 6 8 MHz 286 and a high speed 20 MB hard drive while the Portable II included an 8 MHz processor and was lighter and smaller than the previous Compaq Portables There were four models of the Compaq Portable II The basic Model 1 shipped one 5 25 floppy drive and 256 KB of RAM 3 The Model 2 added a second 5 25 floppy drive and sold for 3599 3 The Model 3 shipped with a 10MB hard disk in addition to one 5 25 floppy drive and 640 KB of RAM for 4799 at launch 2 3 The Model 4 would upgrade the Model 3 with a 20MB hard drive and sold for 4999 3 There also may have been a 4 1 MB hard drive included at one point 6 The Compaq Portable II was significantly lighter than its predecessors the Model 1 weighed just 23 6 pounds compared to the 30 5 pounds the Compaq Portable 286 weighed 3 Compaq only shipped the system with a small demo disk MS DOS 3 1 had to be purchased separately 3 Compaq Portable IIA Compaq Portable II with an aftermarket 3 5 floppy drive replacing the 5 25 floppy drive and cover over the drive it came with ManufacturerCompaq Computer Corporation United StatesTypePortable computerRelease dateFebruary 20 1986 38 years ago 1986 02 20 1 Introductory priceUS 3 499 equivalent to 9 730 in 2023 2 Operating systemMS DOS 3 1 2 CPUIntel 80286 6 or 8MHz dual speed 2 Memory256 KB 640 KB 2 Storage360 KB 5 25 floppy driveoptional 10MB hard driveDisplay9 Monochrome monitorGraphics720 350 text mode 640 200 graphics mode SoundPC speakerInputSerial mouse 84 key keyboard light pen 3 ConnectivityCGA composite serial parallelDimensions7 5 13 9 17 7 10cm 35 3cm 45cm 4 Mass23 6 lbs 10 7 kg 2 PredecessorCompaq Portable 286SuccessorCompaq Portable III There are at least two reported cases of improperly serviced computers exploding when the non rechargeable lithium battery on the motherboard was connected to the power supply 7 There were no recorded injuries The Compaq Portable II was succeeded by the Compaq Portable III in 1987 Hardware editThe Compaq Portable II had room for additional after market upgrades Compaq manufactured four memory expansion boards 512 KB and 2048 KB ISA memory cards and 512 KB and 1536 KB memory boards that attached to the back of the motherboard 4 With 640 KB installed on the motherboard and both the ISA card and the expansion board the computer could be upgraded with up to a maximum of 4 2MB of RAM 2 4 The motherboard also had space for an optional 80287 math coprocessor 4 There were two revisions of the motherboard they were functionally identical although the earlier version was larger The motherboard had four ISA slots for expansion cards two 8 bit and two 16 bit However the first 16 bit ISA slot was occupied by a Multi I O board with serial parallel PATA and Floppy interfaces and the second 8 bit ISA slot was used by the CGA graphics card leaving two available slots The keyboard is hardwired in but it uses standard PS 2 signaling so a DIN or PS 2 socket can be retrofitted to allow use of common PS 2 keyboards but not USB ones References edit Longeway Barbara 21 Feb 1986 Compaq makes Fortune 500 offers new line Houston Chronicle pp Business 1 a b c d e f g Lombardi John 21 April 1986 InfoWorld InfoWorld Media Group Inc pp 58 59 ISSN 0199 6649 Retrieved 6 November 2012 a b c d e f g Miastkowski Stan October 1986 The Compaq Portable II Byte Magazine pp 239 241 Retrieved November 29 2012 a b c d Compaq Computer Corporation 1990 Compaq Portable II Personal Computer Maintenance and Service Guide 2 ed USA a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Inc InfoWorld Media Group 1986 04 21 InfoWorld InfoWorld Media Group Inc a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a last has generic name help CompaqVet 2006 10 18 Portable 2 Compared to This Fish JOHN CLEESE Compaq Ad archived from the original on 2021 12 21 retrieved 2018 10 22 Mercury News Wire Services 21 Dec 1986 Exploding portables spur compaq to set up toll free line San Jose Mercury News pp 2F External links editoldcomputers net Compaq II Portable computer Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Compaq Portable II amp oldid 1169236349, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
