The Atari Portfolio (Atari PC Folio) is a “palmtop” personal computer that is compatible with the IBM PC computer. The Portfolio was released by Atari Corporation in June 1989. This makes it the world’s first palmtop computer.
The Portfolio runs a version of DOS called DIP DOS 2.11 – on a 4.92MHz Intel 80C88 processor. Aside from DOS 2.11, the Portfolio also has a simple ASCII text editor, a calculator, a diary with alarms, and an address book that can dial numbers on touch tone phones. Perhaps the most impressive built in application is a spreadsheet program that is compatible with Lotus 1-2-3.
The Portfolio has 128KB of memory on board, 32KB of which was reserved for data storage, however it has a card slot for extra storage or additional software. The slot used a roughly credit card-size design of card. When used for additional storage, the memory card also contained a battery. These were treated by the system as an additional disk, in this case as drive A in the same way as a floppy disk drive. ROM cards were also available containing a range of software.
the Portfolio was designed to operate on its own, independently of a desktop machine or other device. Since there was no floppy disk drive, data could be transferred to another computer via an optional serial or parallel port adapter.
The base unit, when folded, is about the size of a VHS tape.
The Portfolio’s display is a 40-character by eight-line LCD with a 240 x 64-pixel graphics mode, and is very easy to read, even in poor lighting. The unit has contrast adjustment built into keyboard. The 63 key keyboard is arranged in the standard QWERTY fashion, making it very easy to find the keys.
The unit is powered by three AA batteries, which which is said to last for up to six weeks.
The Atari Portfolio was discontinued in 1993.
Perhaps the most famous use of an Atari Portfolio was in the 1991 film Terminator 2, by the character John Connor to hack a cash machine (ATM).
Version – Atari Portfolio
Rating – Loose
Condition – Hardware – 7/10 (Age Related Wear)
Accessories – Memory Card, Memory Expander
Paid – £54.99 (Cash Converters Online)