Atari Portfolio
The Atari Portfolio is a IBM PC-compatible palmtop PC, and was released by Atari Corporation in June 1989, making it the world's first palmtop computer. Atari did not develop the Portfolio itself, but instead acquired the licencing rights to the design from Guildford, Surrey, UK-based DIP Research Ltd., (who released the DIP Portfolio in February 1989 at a UK computer show). 1
Specs:
- CPU: Intel 80C88A CPU @ 4.9152 MHZ (8 bit data bus)
- RAM: 128 KB memory, shared with C:\ RAMDISK (max 104 KB available to user) 2
- Display: 240x64 non-backlit monochrome LCD, exact hardware unknown (software adjustable contrast)
- Sound: Signetics PCD3311/12 DTFM Generator 3
- Storage: Bee memory cards, 32/64/128kb size; battery powered to persist data 4
- OS: DIP-DOS, which is a partial implementation of DOS 5
- Bus expansion for hardware expansions, such as Parallel, Serial adapters and Memory Expansion (up to total of 640KB).
- Powered by 3x AA batteries
Its dimensions are around 20 cm x 10.5 cm x 2.5 cm; and sported a DIP DOS 2.11, DOS-compatible OS.
The DIP DOS provided a system specific but familiar BIOS compatibility layer around the actual hardware.
However, due to hardware restrictions like having a non typical display, and lack of timers; DOS compatibility is limited. 2 The Atari Portfolio has a single timer that can be observed, which can be set to 1 or 128 second granularity.
Different Atari Portfolio versions were produced, mostly with distinct ROM versions and/or localized keyboard layout. 6
In ROM several productivity software programs were contained such as:
- Text editor
- Calculator
- Calendar with Alarms
- Address Book
- Lotus 1-2-3 Compatible Spread Sheet
The Bee card format currently still sees use in the synthesizer community. However, most of these available bee keys have a slightly larger profile, such that they do not fit in the Atari Portfolio.
The Atari Portfolio is emulated by recent versions of MAME. 7
Most information captured about the Atari Portfolio can be found on its wiki.
On moment of writing, the Atari Porfolio still finds some enthusiasts doing hardware tinkering on this.
