Compaq Portable 386

The Compaq Portable 386 was a computer released by Compaq Computer Corporation in 1987.[1] Its street price upon its release was US$12,000–14,000 for a model equipped with an 20 MHz Intel 80386 CPU, 2 MB RAM, 16 kB ROM, 1.2 MB 5¼-inch floppy, 40 or 100 MB hard disk, priced at US$7,999 or US$9,999 respectively,[1][2] and a 10" amber colored gas-plasma display.[1] Power is supplied using a mains electricity outlet, a battery exists however just stores the BIOS configuration.[3] Option for Intel 80387 (FPU). An expansion box for two IBM-AT ISA card slots available.[1] The built-in gas plasma display supported MDA & CGA display modes that could be controlled via jumper settings on the system board. [4]

Compaq Portable 386
ManufacturerCompaq Computer Corporation, United States
TypePortable computer
Release date1987 (1987)[1]
Operating systemMS-DOS 3.3, Upgradable to 6.1. Also supports Windows 3.1
CPUIntel 80386 @ 20 MHz, Intel 80387 (FPU) option
Memory1 – 10 MB RAM[1]
Display10" amber colored gas-plasma display
Graphics640 × 400 resolution CGA, 80/40 × 25 text
SoundPIT using a mini speaker
ConnectivityCGA, serial, parallel, ISA expansion bus[1]
Dimensions41 (width) x 19.2 (depth) x 24.8 (height) cm
Mass11 kg
PredecessorCompaq Portable III
SuccessorCompaq Portable 486

Its RAM is expandable to 10MB via a 32Bit expansion card which also allows the addition of a Modem or additional RS232 Port[3] The expansion card can then accept memory expansion boards for a total of an extra 8MB alongside the four onboard slots that support up to 2MB (4x512KB) SIMMs. The Portable 386 supports one hard disk with up to 504MB of space, which can be configured by the Compaq SETUP disk (BIOS is NOT saved on its EPROMs directly)

Early versions of the Compaq Portable 386 were sold with the Compaq Portable III case and badges. A differing screen bezel stating "386/20" was the only externally visible change.

References
  1. "museum ~ Compaq Portable 386". old-computers.com. Archived from the original on 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  2. admin (2018-12-19). "Gas Plasma Screen - Compaq Portable 386". Retropaq. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  3. "Compaq Portable 386 Maintenance Manual". Manualslib.com. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  4. admin (2018-12-19). "Gas Plasma Screen - Compaq Portable 386". Retropaq. Retrieved 2019-09-26.


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