From its US base in Austin, Texas, Cambridge-headquartered Tadpole Technology Plc yesterday introduced the Sparcbook 3 family of upgradable workstation-class notebook computers. Powered by a 50MHz Texas Instruments Inc microSparc processor delivering 59.1 MIPs, and weighing 2 lbs less than the company’s earlier Sparcbook models, the new family consists of the Sparckbook 3 with colour thin film transistor screen, removable 2.5 disk drive, PCMCIA slots for two Type I/II devices or one Type III device, 2Mb frame buffer, 16-bit audio, and on-board ISDN capabilities; and the Sparcbook 3LC, a lower cost version with mono passive display, removable 2.5 drive, PCMCIA slots, 1Mb frame buffer, and 8-bit audio capability. They come pre-loaded with SunSoft Inc Solaris 1 or 2 and Version 2.0 of Tadpole’s Nomadic Computing Environment. The system board, memory and disk drives can be upgraded. With SunSoft’s WABI or Insignia Solution Ltd’s SoftWindows, the Sparcbook 3 can run any Windows or MS-DOS software. The come with on-board Weitek P9000 graphics accelerator; IBM Corp Thinkpad keyboard with an integrated Pointing Stick and internal 12V Nickel Metal Hydride or external 12V Nickel Cadmium battery pack; the Sparcbook 3 costs $10,950, the 3LC costs $7,500, and they arrive next month.
