IBM PC Convertible 5140

In 1986, IBM shed the light on the IBM PC convertible. Lighter and smaller than the IBM PC portable, this new device set the tone for generations to come, and is in fact IBMs first ever laptop computer.

Compaq Contura Aero 4/33C

Thirteen years before the worls saw the first Netbook, Compaq hit the market with Contura Aero, one of the earliest Subnotebook computers.

Sony Vaio VGN-UX280P UMPC

It’s small, it’s light, and it had a starring role in a Bond movie: The Sony Vaio UMPC.

TI TravelMate 4000M

Before selling it’s computer business off to Acer in 1997, Texas Instruments, famously known for their line of table calculators, also produced computers. Here’s the TravelMate 4000M, a 486-class Notebook of the early 90s.

TI TravelMate 5200

Before selling it’s computer business off to Acer in 1997, Texas Instruments, famously known for their line of table calculators, also produced computers. Here’s the TravelMate 5200, a Pentium-class Notebook of the mid-90s.

Halikan LA5040

Chaplet Systems offered the LA5040, a 386-based portable in around 1989. While in many aspects similar to the Toshiba  T5100, this device originally offered something the Toshiba didn’t have: A built-in battery.

Bondwell Model 8

In the early 80s, Bondwell Computers was known for producing luggable computers. With model 8 they released the first laptop style computer in 1985.

Highscreen Colani BlueNote

In 1993, german retailer VOBIS hired designer Luigi Colani to give their computer lineup a more appealing and distinct look. One result of these efforts was the Colani BlueNote. As VW said years later: Blue makes happy.

Highscreen Notebook 386SX-25 (Halikan NBA386SX-25)

German Retailer VOBIS was once popular, with some 800 branches accross Europe, pushing the HIGHSCREEN brand into many households. Here’s a HIGHSCREEN notebook which brought an appealing design to the clunky world of notebooks.

Compaq LTE Elite 4/75CX

With the LTE line, Compaq was among the first to offer portable computers with the base dimension of a paper sheet, coining the new term “Notebook” to describe smaller, less bulkier Laptops.