[RockyMcNuts]

The TRS-80 model 100 had a bit of a following of the 1983 crop as I recall. Journalists could write a story and file it by modem. The luggable Compaq had some use cases but I think was sort of a novelty. The others of that generation didn't really take off. The Toshiba T1100, might have been announced in 1985 but I think came out later. I remember them as a new thing after I started my first job in late '86. So I could see laptops as something that had been hyped in '83 and by '85 still not ready for mainstream adoption. Those later Toshibas were usable for Lotus 1-2-3 and text-mode MS-Word. First Mac portable around '90 was still not ready for prime time.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_100

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compaq_Portable

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba_T1100

[RogerL]

Yes, I used that TRS-80 model while haunting the stacks at the Library of Congress in the 80s. A lot of people would ask me about it. It was great for basic text entry, and made life so much easier. It was a fantastic tool for the time.

[zabuni]

Here's a story that came out when all the doom and gloom was around Radio Shack, about a sportswriter and his love of the model 100.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/291145401.html

[digi_owl]

Wonder if he would get a kick out of the Hemingwrite.

https://hemingwrite.com/

[bane]

I always wondered how useful things like the Poqet PC and HP 95LX actually were. I remember seeing them in electronics stores and trade magazines, but they were really compromised in terms of resolution and memory.

[Wildgoose]

I had an HP200LX (still have actually) and it was fabulously useful - a full CGA DOS computer that ran on 2 AA batteries for 40 hours and fitted in your pocket.

It had XIP (Execute-in-Place) applications built into the ROM which ran instantly, including Lotus 1-2-3.

I kept all my finances on the (built-in) Pocket Quicken and organised my Calendar, Address Books, Writing, you name it. Even printing was a doddle - I just pointed its Infra-Red port at the Office Laser Printer and it printed quite happily.

I used it as an e-reader, turning it on its side like a book, before e-readers even existed.

It was so fabulously useful I find it hard to believe that they weren't more widely used!

[Diederich]

I keep my Model 100 handy at work, just in case:

http://www.realms.org/pics/IMG_20150406_080041.jpg