Data General-One

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Data General's introduction of the Data General-One (DG-1) in 1984 represented one of the few cases of a minicomputer company introducing a truly breakthrough personal computer product.

[edit] The context

The 1983 Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 was a truly battery-operated, portable, and operable computer resting in one's lap—but had an 8-line text-only screen, a proprietary OS, and no floppy. IBM's 1984 Portable PC was comparable in capability with desktops. It was not a laptop, however, but an AC-powered luggable like the earlier Compaq (Compaq would not introduce a true laptop until 1988).

[edit] Enter the DG-1

In contrast, the nine-pound battery-powered 1984 Data General One ran MS-DOS, had dual 3½" diskettes, 79-key full-stroke keyboard, 128K to 512K of RAM, and a monochrome LCD screen capable of either the standard 80×25 characters or full CGA graphics (640×200). In other words, it was a true laptop that was truly comparable in capabilities to desktops of the era. For the first time, it was actually possible to travel with a battery-powered portable that provided a software environment similar to the one on a typical IBM compatible desktop. Apple Computer had released a similar Apple IIc portable system 6 months earlier featuring an optional LCD display, though it was compatible only with ProDOS, it otherwise suffered from many of the same complaints.

[edit] Drawbacks

The DG-1 was, however, only a modest success. One problem was the use of 3½" diskettes, which were slightly ahead of their time; popular software titles were not available in 3½" format and this was a serious issue because then-common diskette copy-protection schemes made it difficult to for users to copy the software into that format. Although Creative Computing termed the price of US$2895 "competitive," it was a very expensive system and usually-needed additions such as more RAM and an external 5¼" drive drove the price higher yet. But the Achilles heel was the LCD display itself, which was not backlit, had low contrast, and was frequently accused of serving better as a mirror than as a screen.