Compaq Computer Corp yesterday duly launched its two new ranges of portable personal computers, the 8086-based LTE and the LTE/286. The portable computers, with detachable CGA-compatible liquid crystal display measure 8.5 by 11, are less than 2 thick and weigh just over 6 lb. According to Compaq, these dimensions were achieved by using fixed and floppy drives drives 0.75 high. The systems have 80-key standard size and spaced keyboard, an embedded numeric keypad and an optional 2400-baud modem. Both are powered by a removable Internal Enhanced NiCad Battery Pack, with over 3.5 hours of continuous use, and can be recharged in eight to 10 hours with the battery left installed, or 90 minutes using an optional AC Adaptor. Both include the Adapt Advanced Display Attribute Programming Tool, which enables users to adjust shades of grey on the screen, and have a Power-On Password facility. The LTE, with 640Kb 9.54MHz, designed for word processing, electronic mail and accessing databases, comes with 3.5, 1.44Mb floppy at UKP1,500; with a 20Mb 29mS access disk added, it’s UKP2,000. The LTE/286 replaces the 8086 with a 12MHz 80286, is designed for applications such as spreadsheets, cost analyses and account profiles, is UKP2,450 with the floppy, UKP2,850 with 20mB and UKP3,250 with 40Mb disk. Compaq claims that the LTE and LTE/286 have the edge on similar products from others such as Toshiba Corp and Zenith Data Systems in that they offer more functionality than anything else of the same size and weight, and they are fully MS-DOS-compatible.
