Microcomputers: A Compaq Portable Computer

In November 1982, Compaq Portables were introduced to American people who wanted another way to run their business. They bought the personal computer because it can easily be carried from place to place, and it can run any business even though they are not in the office. However, Compaq Company did not release them yet. They used that time to collect feed back from the comments of their products.

One year later, in March 1983, Compaq released their portables to the market with a high price of is $3590. It also provided a smaller portable than the other competitor companies. Compaq Portable used an Intel 8088, 4.77 MHz which is the faster processor than the IBM Company. Compaq also used 128K, and 640K max for their portable RAM, with a 9" monochrome monitor built-in with size 80 x 25 texts, and color graphic card. The 12.5 kg portables of Compaq were made up into a luggable case the size of a portable sewing machine. These portables had basically the same hardware as an IBM PC with Compaq's custom BIOS instead of IBM's. They use an MS-DOS operating system and BASIC licensed from Microsoft.

Although most people know that Compaq portable had many function and software abilities resemble the IBM PC, it is actually quite different in several respects. The Compaq's keys don't have the hardwired click but they have a softer touch instead. The other advantage was that we can choose our own level of audible feedback for keystrokes by simultaneously pressing the ALT key and the + or - keys to raise or lower the volume from no click to a loud one. Finally, the benefits and capabilities that Compaq provided over its competitor company are design, compatibility, portability, and price. However the most significant between the two is price. For example, all of the options of the Compaq are less expensive than the IBM PC such as a 64 K-byte memory board costs $195 for the Compaq versus $350 for the IBM. However, the only thing that is possible to act as an obstacle to Compaq faces is the IBM itself because IBM has a longstanding reputation for designing hardware and software. To solve this problem Compaq tried to come up with introducing a comparatively low-cost and portable alternative to their competitor.

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