Within the context of Darwinian evolution, colour plays an interesting role in the mating of species. Within the context of laptop computing colour may yet have an interesting role to play but nobody has discovered what it is. Nevertheless, Hitachi has got the technology to provide an eight colour screen for a laptop and so the world (well Europe at the moment, but the us an offering from the NEC Corp) now has a laptop with colour screen The thin-film transistor technology that makes this possible is derived from small (5) TV screens. Desribed as an active matrix screen, Hitachi’s colour screen has 384,000 pixels with a transistor controlling each one. Priced at UKP4,000, the HL400C is a 80C286 machine with a tiny 6.33 screen stuck in the middle of a normal size laptop (16.6 by 13.2 by 3.7) lid. It has 1Mb of memory, expanable to 2Mb, a 20 Mb hard disk, 1.44Mb 3.5 floppy disk drive, built-in rechargeable battery (life expectancy one to three hours) and AC power adaptor. It features two expansion slots (one 8-bit, one 16-bit) along with one parallel and two serial ports. Costing UKP2,650, Hitachi’s HL400 offering has the same specifications as its colour sibling but comes with an 11 blue backlit supertwist LCD screen – both weigh in at approximately 15 lbs. These machines are manufactured in Taiwan. Despite the fact that thin-film transistor technology is still awaiting useful applications, Hitachi is in negotiation with a major Japanese competitor to which it may license the technology. Large computer manufacturers are evidently convinced that backlit supertwist LCD screen – both weigh in at approximately 15 lbs. These machines are manufactured in Taiwan. Despite the fact that thin-film transistor technology is still awaiting useful applications, Hitachi is in negotiation with a major Japanese competitor to which it may license the technology. Large computer manufacturers are evidently convinced that colour screens are required on laptops, so who is actually demanding them? Well, it turns out that the product has novelty value among business and financial circles. To my mind the novelty will be shortlived unless whizz kids are happy to wear glasses as thick as bottle ends. For the screen is so small that after squinting at pygmy-sized word processing for five minutes one feels a headache coming on. Still boys will be boys and the one-upmanship involved in owning a piece of new technology whether it be useful or not is a gift to salespeople. Hitachi’s other laptop launch last week, the HL500 is made in Japan and is an 80386SX machine and is being marketed in direct competition with Toshiba’s 3200SX. Having a standard 1Mb of memory, 1.44Mb floppy disk drive, 40Mb hard disk drive, and two internal expansion slots (one 8-bit, one 16-bit), the HL500, priced at UKP3,800, costs UKP200 less than the Toshiba machine, but weighs 18 lbs, which is about a pound more than the 3200SX, and has a slower hard disk drive average seek time. In other words colour screens appear to provide the only edge Hitachi has in the laptop market at the moment, so pointless or not, the market is likely to see a myriad of rival offerings over the next 12 months. – Katy Ring
