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Vintage Laptop w/ ISA Slots?

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Shadow Lord

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I am wondering if such a beast ever existed. I am thinking of a real laptop (vs. a "luggable") maybe a 286/386 or even a 486 that could take an ISA add-in card. Anyone ever seen such a thing? TIA!
 
Well if you think of a laptop like a "classic" IBM thinkpad or so then the answer is "no". However the definition of laptop and luggable is overlapping sometimes. The Toshiba T Series (T3100, T3200 and so on) was already closer to the form factor of a "bulky laptop without batteries" and still had 2 ISA slots (One full one half size). But if you think of a "small laptop" you gotta ask yourself where the ISA card should go? If you look at the modern 14 inch laptops an ISA card would take up like a third of the space, so just not possible.

A notable exception would be the fieldworks FW7500 laptop - BATTERY Pack as an option(!!!), color screen and CD-ROm drive and the lovely ISA-slot. But yeah, it is kinda "luggable" from the weight (Like over 12 Kg with the battery). But looks nearly like a "normal" laptop, just a bit bulkier.
 
krebizfan said:
How about Toshiba T3200? http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/4435/Toshiba-T3200/

Not the only one but most companies chose to move the slots to a docking station so the laptop was a bit easier to carry. The T3300 lost the slots and about half the weight.
Click to expand...

Looks like Toshiba is the company to look at. A docking statin would sort of defeat my need (portable) unless the docking station could also go w/ the laptop...
 
kyodai said:
Well if you think of a laptop like a "classic" IBM thinkpad or so then the answer is "no". However the definition of laptop and luggable is overlapping sometimes. The Toshiba T Series (T3100, T3200 and so on) was already closer to the form factor of a "bulky laptop without batteries" and still had 2 ISA slots (One full one half size). But if you think of a "small laptop" you gotta ask yourself where the ISA card should go? If you look at the modern 14 inch laptops an ISA card would take up like a third of the space, so just not possible.
Click to expand...

Bulky laptop is fine. I am not looking for a mac book air or even a ThinkPad. My definition of luggable is the IBM 5155 or the Compaq "portables". The Toshiba T series may work out just fine.
 
I guess then the Fieldworks FW7500 (If you need battery power) or the Toshiba T Series (Battery is for wimps!) are your machine.

The Fieldworks is kinda rare, but the weird design (CD-ROM hidden under keyboard, either 6 x ISA or 3x ISA plus 3 x PCI) makes it a cool machine. if you have ever held one in your hands (and at that weight it means BOTH hands) you get what i mean.

the Toshiba T-Series is also pretty cool. I love the ones with a monochrome gas plasma screen, these are sooooo lovely. If you have ever seen one with your own eyes you know what makes a gas plasma so special. But yeah they also had ordinary TFT models, especially the later ones. The T6400 featured a color TFT, one ISA slot and an option to change the 3.5 inch FDD with a cool and useless single size (mini) CD-ROM (There were no commercially available programs on that form factor CD-ROM back in the days, doh!!!).
 
All AC powered, but T3200SX, T5200 Toshiba's as mentioned. The earlier models like the T3100 etc had proprietary connectors from memory.
Downside to the Toshiba's is they often use proprietary RAM, so try and get one that's already loaded up. I love my T5200/100 (386DX20, VGA, 2xISA, 4MB).

My Compaq 486C actually has EISA slots. It's an IBM 5155 design with a 486DX2/50 and color LCD inside. These were quite commonly used for network diagnostics etc.
 
I'll throw another one in there - 486 Thinkpad with a Dock I. AC only, but gives you an ISA slot, reasonable speed/memory, CD drive and some speakers. It even has a carry handle.


 
I scrapped the T6600C I had at least 10 years ago. I still have the two memory expansion cards for it around here somewhere. They look similar to PCMCIA cards but are something proprietary. I think they are 16MB each to max out the T6600C at 40MB with its built in 8MB. They might be compatible with a few Toshiba models.

If someone picks up or already has a T6600C or compatible model the memory expansion cards I have aren't doing me any good anymore...

[edit] I found the two memory cards I still have. They are 16MB each and are labeled for the T4400SX, SXC but they were compatible with the T6600C that I was using them in. One has a Toshiba label, the other Simple Technology Corp.
 
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gslick said:
I scrapped the T6600C I had at least 10 years ago. I still have the two memory expansion cards for it around here somewhere. They look similar to PCMCIA cards but are something proprietary. I think they are 16MB each to max out the T6600C at 40MB with its built in 8MB. They might be compatible with a few Toshiba models.

If someone picks up or already has a T6600C or compatible model the memory expansion cards I have aren't doing me any good anymore...

[edit] I found the two memory cards I still have. They are 16MB each and are labeled for the T4400SX, SXC but they were compatible with the T6600C that I was using them in. One has a Toshiba label, the other Simple Technology Corp.
Click to expand...

I'd be interested if I can get my hands on T6600C or another Toshiba. Anyone have one for sale? ;)
 
kyodai said:
I guess then the Fieldworks FW7500 (If you need battery power) or the Toshiba T Series (Battery is for wimps!) are your machine.

The Fieldworks is kinda rare, but the weird design (CD-ROM hidden under keyboard, either 6 x ISA or 3x ISA plus 3 x PCI) makes it a cool machine. if you have ever held one in your hands (and at that weight it means BOTH hands) you get what i mean.
Click to expand...

Well a quick search around the web doesn't find one for sale. ePay has a few listed for over a $1K plus shipping for outside the USA. So I think I will pass for now ;)


kyodai said:
the Toshiba T-Series is also pretty cool. I love the ones with a monochrome gas plasma screen, these are sooooo lovely. If you have ever seen one with your own eyes you know what makes a gas plasma so special. But yeah they also had ordinary TFT models, especially the later ones. The T6400 featured a color TFT, one ISA slot and an option to change the 3.5 inch FDD with a cool and useless single size (mini) CD-ROM (There were no commercially available programs on that form factor CD-ROM back in the days, doh!!!).
Click to expand...

Is there any enthusiast sites devoted to the Toshiba T-Series? It looks like some of them did not have the ISA slot. Plasma screen would be cool. Specially as this will be text based/dos based system but I can live with TFT if I had to as well. The sacrifices :).... Now just to find a working cheap one for sale...
 
Panasonic Executive Partner had two ISA slots (only one exposed). It had an integrated screen, printer, but no battery. So it's more of a lug'able. It was among the first machines to resemble a laptop form factor with it's pop-up plasma screen and integrated keyboard. However it was incredibly huge. It basically had a traditional full motherboard and three ISA cards inside.

PanasonicExecutivePartnerFT70.Gif


As a few previous posters have alluded to, I suspect the power requirements per spec for an ISA card were too much for typical battery operation.
 
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bjt said:
I'll throw another one in there - 486 Thinkpad with a Dock I. AC only, but gives you an ISA slot, reasonable speed/memory, CD drive and some speakers. It even has a carry handle.
Click to expand...

Hi,

Is the ISA slot in the dock or the computer?
 
kyodai said:
I guess then the Fieldworks FW7500 (If you need battery power)... The Fieldworks is kinda rare...
Click to expand...

Fieldworks was bought by Dolch who made a lot of portable computers with terrific option card expand-ability through the 21 century. However most were also portables and not laptops and required AC power.
 
The Visual Commuter didn't have any built-in ISA slots, but it could be directly connected to an IBM Expansion Unit.

commuter-1.jpg


The DAK catalog removed the ungainly non-backlit 80x16 LCD and sold it bundled with a CRT monitor and printer as a desktop PC.

1986computer_r2_c2.jpg
 
vwestlife said:
The Visual Commuter didn't have any built-in ISA slots, but it could be directly connected to an IBM Expansion Unit.

commuter-1.jpg


The DAK catalog removed the ungainly non-backlit 80x16 LCD and sold it bundled with a CRT monitor and printer as a desktop PC.

1986computer_r2_c2.jpg
Click to expand...

Not to Hijack this thread, but I haven't seen DAK mentioned in quite a while. Back in my 'audio' (80's something) days I used to buy their metal cassette tapes, and I still have most of them (Blue Oyster Cult, etc.).
 
Shadow Lord said:
Hi,

Is the ISA slot in the dock or the computer?
Click to expand...

In the dock, the blanking plate is accessible under the left speaker.
The slot is reasonably long, not sure about full length but I haven't had any issues.
 
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