Morrow Pivot II

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The Morrow Pivot II, circa 1985, was an early laptop alternative computer manufactured by Morrow Designs.

Back in the 1980s, laptops normally came with 3-1/2" floppy drives which were a difficult to work with because they were virtually non-existent on contemporary desktop machines. This required one to carry an external 5-1/4" drive to transfer data.

The Morrow Pivot II included one or two 5-1/4" floppy drives. Unlike the typical laptop, this machine was in a vertical configuration with a fold down keyboard. The only external component was a single AC adapter, and it was a little top heavy for lap top use but worked well on a desk or airplane tray table. There were two versions, the first of which did not have a full 25 line display. This was also sold as the Zenith Z-171 and the Osborne 3 appears to have a similar design.

While modern laptops don't share its design, it was arguably the most practical machine until desktops embraced 3-1/2" floppies. The vertical configuration is still used by lunchbox computers, however. Lunchbox machines normally have a vertical configuration, tilt out LCD or plasma display, standard motherboard, standard hard drive/floppy/CD/DVD/tape drive bays, built in power supply, no battery, detachable keyboard, and full length ISA or PCI expansion slots. These are modern equivalents of the Osborne one or other luggable computers but with flat panel displays and standard components.