Running Laps

The laptop PC market is still heating up. Texas Instruments has just introduced the TravelMate 2000, a notebook-sized computer weighing 4.4 pounds that's only 1.4 inches thick and measures 8½ × 11 inches. Featuring an 80286 microprocessor and a 20MB hard disk, the new PC retails for $3,999 with a nickel-cadmium battery. Optional battery packs are also available.

Compaq is now shipping the Compaq SLT 386s/20. According to the company, the new PC is the first 20-MHz Intel 386SX with a cache memory design to be used in a laptop. Compaq's new laptop weighs considerably more than the TravelMate (14 pounds), but will process information up to 50 percent faster than 16 MHz 386SX-based systems. It comes with 2MB of enhanced page memory, a VGA/EGA/CGA—compatible nonglare backlit LCD screen, and a battery that provides more than three hours of continuous use. The new Compaq laptop is available in two models. The Model 120 comes with a 120MB hard disk and retails for $7,499. The Model 60 comes with a 60MB hard disk and retails for $6,799.

GRiD Systems has its sights on another first for laptops. The new GRiD 1810 is, according to the company, the first notebook-sized laptop computer with a removable hard disk. It's a full-featured six-pound PC that allows users to easily exchange data between laptops by simply exchanging hard disks. GRiD has also introduced a Desktop Receiver that allows the user to insert the removable hard disk directly into a GRiD or Tandy desktop computer where it operates like any standard internal storage device. The Desktop Receiver can be adapted for use in any standard MS-DOS PC. With a ten-inch diagonal EGA display, 1MB of RAM, and a 20MB removable hard disk drive, the new laptop will retail for $2,895.

Texas Instruments, P.O. Box 202230, ITG-107, Austin, TX 78720; Compaq Computer, 20555 FM 149, Houston, TX 77070; GRiD Systems, 47211 Lakeview Blvd., Fremont, CA 94538