Atari Portfolio - The $400 Palmtop PC from 1989

Ғылым және технология

Likely the world's first palmtop, the Atari Portfolio is a computer packing a 4.92MHz Intel 80C88A CPU, 128 whole kilobytes of RAM, and a proper DOS operating system capable of running (some) PC software alongside its built-in applications. And according to Terminator 2 it even acts as a quick ATM hacking tool! To quote young John Connor: "Easy money."
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#LGR #Retro #Computers

Пікірлер: 1 200

  • @lostxj
    @lostxj2 жыл бұрын

    The moment he said "you aren't going to play doom on it" I heard almost a dozen crazy programmers cry out in a loud voice "challenge accepted"

  • @LGR

    @LGR

    2 жыл бұрын

    Gosh I hope so

  • @Blackadder75

    @Blackadder75

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@LGR if it (sorta) runs on that calculator you did a video about, this surely must be more capable.. Still it would only be a very limited pseudo doom obviously

  • @ironhead2008

    @ironhead2008

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Blackadder75 Now I'm curious as to how the capabilities of the TI-84's Z80 compares to the 80C88 of the Portfolio. If they're similar, it might just be possible.

  • @theeccentrictripper3863

    @theeccentrictripper3863

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Blackadder75 I bet a barebones version would run decently well, it'd mostly be wireframe ala the first version of Wolfenstein but that screen format is the real mountain to climb, playing with that would be pretty janky

  • @vascomanteigas9433

    @vascomanteigas9433

    2 жыл бұрын

    The Ti-Nspire Run the original Doom (a port of Linux's ZDoom actually based on SDL actually), since it uses a 200 MHz 32-bit ARM CPU and had 64 MB of Storage and 32 MB of RAM.

  • @Henchman1977
    @Henchman19772 жыл бұрын

    "You're not gonna run Doom on here...." Them's fightin words!

  • @Toonrick12

    @Toonrick12

    2 жыл бұрын

    Sorry mate, Doom needs at least a 386 or 486 to play decently. Edit: On DOS machines at least.

  • @singletona082

    @singletona082

    2 жыл бұрын

    *YOU DARE CHALLENGE ME MORTAL?!*

  • @ColtGColtG

    @ColtGColtG

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Toonrick12 tell that to the VIC-20 :p

  • @ThyPandora

    @ThyPandora

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Toonrick12 Tell that to people who gotten it to run on calculators. :P

  • @BrknSoul

    @BrknSoul

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@ThyPandora Tell that to people who gotten it to run on pregnancy test sticks!

  • @elsombero1747
    @elsombero17472 жыл бұрын

    Actually, that Portfolio was used in my local hospital. The doctors were using it for writing down patient reports and then printing it with an old dot matrix printer. Fun fact. They used those little Atari machines till 2008 and then they upgraded to Windows Vista machines XD

  • @pepe6666

    @pepe6666

    10 ай бұрын

    that is incredible

  • @gyrobyte626

    @gyrobyte626

    9 ай бұрын

    *downgraded

  • @ShortHax
    @ShortHax2 жыл бұрын

    One small showcase for man, one giant leap for LGR’s T2 John Connor cosplay

  • @thecunninlynguist

    @thecunninlynguist

    2 жыл бұрын

    Easy money

  • @DrumWild

    @DrumWild

    2 жыл бұрын

    You're not my real dad, TODD!

  • @Pretender6

    @Pretender6

    2 жыл бұрын

    At 3:55 the portrait mode sharp thingy, reminds me of the communicators in kids tvshow "Mission Top Secret/Achtung Streng Geheim'

  • @potterj09

    @potterj09

    2 жыл бұрын

    We got Google by the balls now, don't we.

  • @fnjesusfreak

    @fnjesusfreak

    2 жыл бұрын

    Public Enemy still sells the shirt John wore in the movie.

  • @AyeThatsHandsomePete
    @AyeThatsHandsomePete2 жыл бұрын

    I couldn’t figure out why this was so familiar, until you said “hacking ATM’s” and it hit me like a ton of bricks where I knew this from.

  • @Tfor2show

    @Tfor2show

    2 жыл бұрын

    Eeeeeeasy money. 😎

  • @Engel990
    @Engel9902 жыл бұрын

    *You're not gonna play doom on here* Somewhere someone in the DooM community: *Hold my beer*

  • @markhaus

    @markhaus

    2 жыл бұрын

    The doom community won’t stop till it runs on literally anything with a transistor and display. Including a pregnancy test by the way

  • @Dong_Harvey

    @Dong_Harvey

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@AspynDotZip 'Your baby is a cacodemon!'

  • @KiraSlith

    @KiraSlith

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@AspynDotZip The problem is that it's not actuallly running ON the tester. It's just being used as an awful display. Doing the same here wouldn't be too hard with the dot matrix display, but you"d need some more RAM as a kind of display buffer and the serial adapter for data I/O.

  • @ShyTentacle

    @ShyTentacle

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@Dong_Harvey Aren't they all

  • @pacman10182

    @pacman10182

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@AspynDotZip it's not, nobody seems to be able to read past the headline

  • @AtomicShrimp
    @AtomicShrimp2 жыл бұрын

    The appearance and style of this thing has aged very well, I think. It doesn't look so dated as many of its peers

  • @grootsyt

    @grootsyt

    2 жыл бұрын

    Hey, nice to see you here! Love the videos

  • @WebeloZappBrannigan

    @WebeloZappBrannigan

    2 жыл бұрын

    It has a name and I think you could show a little more respect and call it Clint.

  • @jazzlover10000

    @jazzlover10000

    2 жыл бұрын

    It was a piece of junk, even at the time it came out. We were all soooo disappointed.

  • @MyPhobo

    @MyPhobo

    2 жыл бұрын

    It would be cool to have a case like this that you could throw a raspberry pi and lcd screen into.

  • @Pasi123

    @Pasi123

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@MyPhobo PinePhone keyboard case is a bit like that, except instead of a raspberry pi and LCD it uses the PinePhone

  • @philtkaswahl2124
    @philtkaswahl21242 жыл бұрын

    "You're not gonna run Doom on here...." What fresh heresy is this?

  • @Dan-cm9ow
    @Dan-cm9ow2 жыл бұрын

    You know the hardware is truly limited when there's no DOOM port for the platform.

  • @jazzlover10000

    @jazzlover10000

    2 жыл бұрын

    Petsci Robots, _maybe_

  • @aaronbasham6554

    @aaronbasham6554

    2 жыл бұрын

    Someone get on that!

  • @hazelnotxyz

    @hazelnotxyz

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yet

  • @Dankcatvacs

    @Dankcatvacs

    2 жыл бұрын

    its possible if doom can be played on a ti86 then it can be done

  • @FlameRat_YehLon

    @FlameRat_YehLon

    2 жыл бұрын

    Giving that this thing has a parallel port, maybe that can be used to stream some very crappy video in? Cloud gaming on a primitive handheld, sounds about right.

  • @lorensims4846
    @lorensims48462 жыл бұрын

    As a die-hard Atari Computer fan I was intrigued with this little machine. It was clearly not an Atari design but it did seem like it might be useful, especially as a supplemental machine for a PC user. I never cared for the IBM PC or its ilk, but they were all on DOS 3.3 at the time and DOS 2.11 felt like a deal breaker. Everyone was comparing its size to a VHS tape. We were Beta. But it did appreciate that it ran on AA batteries, my coin of the realm at the time. I was into low-level programming so I was wailing for an assembler. I was also waiting for the price to drop to $199 which felt more appropriate to me. Of course "PC compatibility" was promised much more than it was delivered an awful lot in those days. You're generally better off writing your own software to pass data to a real PC. I still think John Connor demonstrated the most practical use of this machine.

  • @K.D.H.
    @K.D.H.2 жыл бұрын

    Shout out to LGR for his superb filming, editing, and writing. Each episode truly immortalizes the technology LGR presents. Such dedication to preservation deserves commendation.

  • @LGR

    @LGR

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thank you!

  • @IFinishedAVideoGame
    @IFinishedAVideoGame2 жыл бұрын

    I totally get that technology moves forward but there is just such a charm around devices like this. I'd love to do some proper dedicated writing on one and just feel like I'm stepping back in time haha

  • @r.l.royalljr.3905

    @r.l.royalljr.3905

    2 жыл бұрын

    With that screen and keyboard, I'd give the average nostalgia-glasses wearer about half an hour before they finally get sick of it and go back to a standard form factor PC. As interesting as the concept is, there's a reason why devices like this died.

  • @BasedPureblood

    @BasedPureblood

    2 жыл бұрын

    Wait until we move backwards.

  • @mercster

    @mercster

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@r.l.royalljr.3905 Haha I was gonna say the same thing... your time travel experience will probably last about 5 minutes.

  • @poeticsilence047

    @poeticsilence047

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@mercster wait so I guess smartphones should be dying pretty soon too

  • @mercster

    @mercster

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@poeticsilence047 Hmm?

  • @MichaelEilers
    @MichaelEilers2 жыл бұрын

    It seems inevitable that “netbooks” will soon be old enough to be worth considering as an LGR topic. I have an early Samsung in a fetching blue color that I would be willing to donate.

  • @andygozzo72

    @andygozzo72

    2 жыл бұрын

    is it a model NF110 ?

  • @MichaelEilers

    @MichaelEilers

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@andygozzo72 nope, NC10 from 2006-2007

  • @lancelnce

    @lancelnce

    2 жыл бұрын

    Gimme

  • @andygozzo72

    @andygozzo72

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@MichaelEilers just googled it, the design is very similar to others i've seen, maybe a cross between an acer aspire one and asus eeepc 4g, i have one each of those, plus the samsung nf110 .

  • @robcohen7678

    @robcohen7678

    Жыл бұрын

    Was just thinking about that, I've got an Asus eeePC with a Celeron900 that still works which I never use for anything.

  • @6581punk
    @6581punk2 жыл бұрын

    0:39 I like how the OS is DIP and John Connor says "You calling moi a dipshit".

  • @Chris.Davies
    @Chris.Davies2 жыл бұрын

    Unbelievably, my Dad had two of these! He had some great software for them, too. I've got a photo hanging up of me using one, taken in 1991. I seem to remember he had some games you could play across a cable, connecting the two machines. Do I remember battaleships? and Pong? Awesome days.

  • @KevinRay_man
    @KevinRay_man2 жыл бұрын

    LGR videos are definitely one of the few that, no matter how long, could never be long enough. This video could be three and a half days long and I'd still be like aww damn it's not four days? Clints voice is next level soothing fr fr lol.

  • @mikcnmvedmsfonoteka

    @mikcnmvedmsfonoteka

    2 жыл бұрын

    So true!

  • @Chaos89P

    @Chaos89P

    2 жыл бұрын

    And his choice of smooth jazz just helps makes the video move along faster in my opinion.

  • @joseph_b319

    @joseph_b319

    2 жыл бұрын

    Bob Ross art ASMR Clint retro software/hardware ASMR

  • @KevinRay_man

    @KevinRay_man

    2 жыл бұрын

    ^^^ All three of you hit the nail on the head! ^^^

  • @paulmuaddib451

    @paulmuaddib451

    2 жыл бұрын

    Agreed. Just love Clint and have been watching for a long time. It's so good to see him getting the audience that he worked so hard building over so many years.

  • @UncleMikeRetro
    @UncleMikeRetro2 жыл бұрын

    Who didn't want one of these things when they were in the JCPenney and Sears Christmas catalogues back in the day?

  • @oliverwalsh9614

    @oliverwalsh9614

    2 жыл бұрын

    Me. I wasn’t born until 1993

  • @UncleMikeRetro

    @UncleMikeRetro

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@oliverwalsh9614 there's always one! JK 😂

  • @hurricane567

    @hurricane567

    2 жыл бұрын

    I want to say I saw them first in a mid or late 90s close out electronics catalog. DAK, maybe?

  • @denvera1g1
    @denvera1g12 жыл бұрын

    If only DIP had been around long enough for the mini HDMI plug PCs, we might have been graced by the DipStick

  • @LGR

    @LGR

    2 жыл бұрын

    Heh.

  • @jeffb.6642
    @jeffb.66422 жыл бұрын

    Compromising usability for portability Literally nothing has changed lol

  • @Thornskade

    @Thornskade

    2 жыл бұрын

    I doubt we'll ever get to a point where portable devices aren't behind stationary ones, it's the nature of the thing

  • @MrDuncl

    @MrDuncl

    2 жыл бұрын

    Every Smartphone made in the last few years seems to compromise portability for usability. An original iPhone would fit in most pockets.

  • @kejiri3593

    @kejiri3593

    2 жыл бұрын

    Just like phone users today XD

  • @AgentTasmania

    @AgentTasmania

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@MrDuncl the bloated screensizes compromise both for marketing-approved bigness. I have average man hands and can just barely use my pixel 4a (picked specifically for being the only slightly smaller model available) comfortably, or at all one-handed

  • @mardus_ee

    @mardus_ee

    11 ай бұрын

    ​@@AgentTasmania Much depends, really. Bigger screen sizes allow for better typing on virtual keyboards, especially when in public transport (where it's safe to do so). I have a tiny 240×320px LG Optimus L3 II with Android 4.1.2; 3G only. Despite the age of the OS, the limited RAM and storage, I can still do many things with it, but its display is so tiny, that using the virtual keyboard is not as easy as with a device nearing phablet sizes.

  • @6581punk
    @6581punk2 жыл бұрын

    This takes me back to college, one of the tutors there had one (two years before T2). I thought it looked cool, but I had a Gameboy instead as I wanted to play games on the move. He also had a Yamaha SY77 synth workstation, I was jealous as they were top notch and expensive. I have two SY77s now (I bought a broken one to fix and failed, bought another then got both working) but no Portfolio, I don't think they're that useful. I did have a Nokia 9110 communicator in 2001 and that was an AMD 486 running DOS with Geos as the frontend.

  • @nemesis2264

    @nemesis2264

    2 жыл бұрын

    I also had a Nokia 9110 communicator and later the 9210 as well and both were excellent devices for their time. I literally wore out the 9110 and I actually dug out my 9210 a couple of months back while having a clear out but even after getting a new battery it is now sadly dead.😢

  • @Colt45hatchback

    @Colt45hatchback

    2 жыл бұрын

    I sooo wanted a 9110, i was a teen at the time. A computer tech had one in the block of factories my mum worked in, id go to his shop and we'd play pc games over the network when he wasnt busy. But that pc phone he had was where its at. I thought it was old as hell when i first saw it, tiny screen and buttons, massive phone, then he opened it and my jaw dropped haha

  • @logipilot

    @logipilot

    2 жыл бұрын

    As a Kid I was drooling over the yamaha catalog: sy55, sy77, sy99... today i got a mx49 fully general midi compatible and sounding awesome

  • @nemesis2264

    @nemesis2264

    2 жыл бұрын

    @Zaydan Naufal You can buy a brand new E90 for less than £200 on eBay but why bother other than for nostalgia.

  • @64jimboy
    @64jimboy2 жыл бұрын

    I literally dreamed about owning one of these! Unfortunately I ended up with a Casio telememo databank, that didn't stop me from thinking I could hack into an ATM though.

  • @marcellachine5718

    @marcellachine5718

    2 жыл бұрын

    Easy money.

  • @mokopa
    @mokopa2 жыл бұрын

    The more I watch this channel, the more I like this channel, and I've been watching for yeaaars. Good show, old chap!

  • @scottthemediahoarder
    @scottthemediahoarder2 жыл бұрын

    We had one of these on demo at the computer store I worked at back then. It was super impressive to anyone who handled it, but nobody could fathom doing anything useful with it. It was on display with the calculators and Sharp/Casio gimmicks.

  • @jb0nd38372
    @jb0nd383722 жыл бұрын

    Before even starting the video the T2 atm scene popped in my head.

  • @Tfor2show

    @Tfor2show

    2 жыл бұрын

    Eeeeeeasy money. 😎

  • @brick6347
    @brick63472 жыл бұрын

    I really wanted something like this... to play games in school! Nintendo understood me and released the Gameboy.

  • @volvo09

    @volvo09

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yeah, this is something i'd drool over as a kid, but would have been disappointed with since nothing i actually wanted to run would run.

  • @BenHeckHacks
    @BenHeckHacks2 жыл бұрын

    Disappointed I had to scroll 3 screens down to see a T2 reference. "Easy money!"

  • @jothain

    @jothain

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yeah. First thing I thought when I saw the title picture was that. Though apparently it wasn't that easy money for Atari 😊

  • @Dong_Harvey

    @Dong_Harvey

    2 жыл бұрын

    We were all sitting around, exuberantly sweating, with our thumb on the button waiting for you!

  • @ImmortanJoeCamel

    @ImmortanJoeCamel

    2 жыл бұрын

    Well I didn't get here earlier to say it!

  • @Yotsukaido

    @Yotsukaido

    2 жыл бұрын

    It was in the description.

  • @devmiles

    @devmiles

    2 жыл бұрын

    It was the very first thing i was looking for! easy comment, easy comment!

  • @stuwyatt
    @stuwyatt2 жыл бұрын

    I had one of these at uni in 92/93, and used it to type up lecture notes. They were great devices in their day :)

  • @frisbeepilot
    @frisbeepilot2 жыл бұрын

    This video contains easily one of the best Tommy Tutone references in the long history of LGR. Well done, sir.

  • @boheyo

    @boheyo

    2 жыл бұрын

    I'm a millennial so I just thought of the Less than Jake cover.

  • @xliquidflames
    @xliquidflames2 жыл бұрын

    I am always subconsciously listening for alliteration in LGR videos. "Handy Handful of helpful software," is a good one.

  • @rommix0

    @rommix0

    2 жыл бұрын

    Omg. There's a word for it.

  • @jessragan6714
    @jessragan67142 жыл бұрын

    I gotta admit, I would have been pretty pissed to find out that this wasn't a fully compatible DOS system, even if that wasn't a realistic expectation back in 1989. The widescreen display alone probably would have made that impossible. Still a nifty device regardless.

  • @mercster

    @mercster

    2 жыл бұрын

    Not sure what you'd get done in 128k and 4Mhz in DOS with that display, even in 1989.

  • @mercster

    @mercster

    2 жыл бұрын

    It was cool he found that old archive of software specific to the device though... that might make it slightly more capable than an unexpandable PDA.

  • @KiraSlith

    @KiraSlith

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yeah, it's so close and yet so far away from perfection. Especially maddening because the competition that followed it would usually give you more for your money and be fully compatible assuming programs fit in the RAM of course.

  • @kiddhkane

    @kiddhkane

    2 жыл бұрын

    It was a different era. Back then "some similar commands" meant "fully compatible". And "you can buy 2 cables, adapter and a device to connect it to a printer" meant "print directly".

  • @x86vet68

    @x86vet68

    2 жыл бұрын

    It was pretty DOS compatible. But not PC compatible. Any DOS program that tried to access standard PC I/O ports could struggle - especially if they bypassed the BIOS and tried to read keyboard characters directly from port 60h. Plus it only supported an MDA video RAM format while most games expected CGA. Text mode was fine.

  • @jrvf2000
    @jrvf20002 жыл бұрын

    My father worked for Atari Mexico, and he still actually has one of those with all the accessories!

  • @DrumWild
    @DrumWild2 жыл бұрын

    I loved my PSION II when I first got it in 1987. The EPROM programs were just too cool. And those cards were the coolest in my KORG DDD-1 drum machine from 1988.

  • @jazzlover10000

    @jazzlover10000

    2 жыл бұрын

    The Psion was quite neat. But I was buying NeXT machines at the time so didn't get much chance to play with them.

  • @Scoth3
    @Scoth32 жыл бұрын

    I've always wanted one of these. Wishing I'd grabbed one on eBay in the early 2000s when they could be had for $40-$60 all day.

  • @mayw6571
    @mayw65712 жыл бұрын

    That LCD contrast is *perfection*, its so sharp! As is your camera work! Pretty awesome little device, I wanted a palmtop so bad when I was little.

  • @travelwithoutmoving8842
    @travelwithoutmoving88422 жыл бұрын

    I bet it was a Dream Come True for some kids to have these in 1990

  • @danzamnit3008
    @danzamnit30082 жыл бұрын

    Man I wish you'd cover the Zaurus, I had so many memories as a kid messing with that thing!

  • @WillmobilePlus
    @WillmobilePlus2 жыл бұрын

    In a time when tech can do so much, effortlessly, I still smile like I did as a young person in the late 80s and 90s, seeing these old devices do cool stuff.

  • @bittertriumph2045
    @bittertriumph20452 жыл бұрын

    Someone needs to do a profile on Guildford. It's a small, unassuming town that has been balls deep in tech for decades now.

  • @olivercuenca4109

    @olivercuenca4109

    2 жыл бұрын

    Wouldn’t say “small” as it is a city and county town. But yeah it’s definitely overlooked far too often in tech history. I put it down to the amount of aerospace development that goes on in the area (also nearly in Farnborough).

  • @ryuhaneda
    @ryuhaneda2 жыл бұрын

    Palmtop computers of the 90s became the netbooks of the late 2000s - a platform of promise and supremely portable, but held back by tech limitations (and our own expectations). I still watch videos like this and might not be the only one swayed by the tech of the time. …Surface Duo, anyone?

  • @WildkatPhoto
    @WildkatPhoto2 жыл бұрын

    Man as a hardcore Atari guy I lusted after one of these so much!

  • @agumonkey
    @agumonkey2 жыл бұрын

    there's something so fun about this era's devices. the form factor, the simplicity. I'd love to revive the idea with an e-ink display, esp32 soc, and a slighlty nicer shell than dos

  • @michallabus96

    @michallabus96

    2 жыл бұрын

    Exactly my thoughts! That kind of form factor, maybe slightly better screen, Raspberry Pi Zero (maybe even the awesome new Zero 2) hardware and a CLI-only GNU/Linux with pimped out ZSH - oh my ZSH, power level 10k, whole 9 yards 😃 That’s all you need to be able to do semi-advanced shell-level stuff basically anywhere!

  • @VaporChase
    @VaporChase2 жыл бұрын

    I've had a few of these over the years, the first back in 1991. Loved that little thing. Fun fact: The breakout portion of the PC Card Drive is a repurposed shell for the Atari XM301 300 baud direct-connect modem for the Atari 8-bit computers.

  • @clubley2
    @clubley22 жыл бұрын

    Just an FYI, Guildford is pronounced without the "D". It's a fairly sensible pronunciation compared to some of our other place names, for example, Cholmondeley, it's pronounced Chum-lee.

  • @russianbot8576

    @russianbot8576

    2 жыл бұрын

    with such discrepancy, at some point one just shrugs at mispronunciation.

  • @Blarg
    @Blarg2 жыл бұрын

    Okay, the price the branding, service, compatibility and translation of this device has such a high quality for a device from 1989. It's unreal

  • @Mr.OCanada
    @Mr.OCanada2 жыл бұрын

    I wanted one of these when I was a kid. Wanted is an understatement. I could not save up enough for it and it was out of reach for my parents too at that time in our lives. I see it now on eBay etc and it is so tempting, but it's just nostalgia now and good enough watching you review it. Thank you!

  • @kingofcarrotflowers666
    @kingofcarrotflowers6662 жыл бұрын

    "Oh Atari, you tried" just about sums up the last 40 years of Atari

  • @Colt45hatchback
    @Colt45hatchback2 жыл бұрын

    Marvellous! Ive been waiting for an atari portfolio to be showcased on lgr since the early days 😁 thankyou

  • @Bacon8t0r
    @Bacon8t0r2 жыл бұрын

    Some friends dont get my fascination with old tech like this. I just think it's cool how people pulled stuff off like that (and it's a neat gadget, I bet it was fun to play with)

  • @drno-xc1yt
    @drno-xc1yt2 жыл бұрын

    Despite the DOS compatibility issues, this was a surprisingly capable device by 1989 standards, and if anything it was slightly ahead of its time.

  • @DrEisenhower
    @DrEisenhower2 жыл бұрын

    Man, this makes me appreciate my GDP Win Max WAY more.

  • @valgalder
    @valgalder2 жыл бұрын

    Great video. Really cool to see more in depth review of the Portfolio; being a huge fan of Atari since I was a kid, this thing was always pretty intriguing.

  • @SnakeVenom3000
    @SnakeVenom30002 жыл бұрын

    Love these videos. Keep them coming!

  • @malcontender6319
    @malcontender63192 жыл бұрын

    This is so much cooler than I thought It could have been! "LOCK-ON TECHNOLOGY!"

  • @guardiane
    @guardiane Жыл бұрын

    I never owned a Palmtop but I did own an Atari 800XL...my very first ever computer. The keyboard itself was the computer and you had to have a floppy drive to run anything. I used this thing to death...literally, I just kept using until the floppy died. My dad must have sent it in for repair 2 or 3 times before he gave up on it (and technology was advancing). I remember programs like "Koala Paint" where it would allow me to make printables for my bedroom door (dot-matrix style). And my dad must have gotten well over 100 games for me to play! Games like Kongo Bongo, Super Pac-Man, Gauntlet (not the Gauntlet you're thinking of), Air Support, Pit-Fall (1 and 2), Kids on Keys, Donkey Kong, Juno First, Miner 2049er, Apshai, the list goes on. I'll never forget that system and I play an emulated version to this day.

  • @CoreyDWillis
    @CoreyDWillis2 жыл бұрын

    Your videos always bring a smile to my face. 😁

  • @MartinAston00
    @MartinAston002 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for another one L.G.R ! 👍 Born in 85’ and always a tech nut, but so much of this old stuff you bring out was too expensive for me as a child, just had my Sega, Nintendo, GB, GG. So I’ve always just had to wonder… but then I found your channel ! 🙌🙌👏👏👏👍 Thank You for finding so many awesome relics and showing us in such great detail.

  • @microbuilder
    @microbuilder2 жыл бұрын

    I grew up with this older tech, so its got a place in my heart, but I'm also really glad these LCD screens went the way of the Dodo lol

  • @IainShepherd1
    @IainShepherd12 жыл бұрын

    02:46 I like the way you talk about the old country. Just Birmingham not "Birmingham England" or "Birmingham UK". It makes me (native of that region) feel included 😄

  • @TheNiteNinja19
    @TheNiteNinja192 жыл бұрын

    I still have one of those old Star dot matrix printers in the shed. It used to work the last time I used it, there was a broken bit of plastic that kept the auto paper feed from working so you just had to guide each page in until the rollers grab them.

  • @wboumans
    @wboumans2 жыл бұрын

    I had one as a kid, dont remember how i got it and where it went, but the fact it ran DOS was just awesome.

  • @kirbymarchbarcena
    @kirbymarchbarcena2 жыл бұрын

    This was just one of those that I wanted when I saw it in a newprint ads

  • @justinmohns8279
    @justinmohns82792 жыл бұрын

    So cool! I didn't know all those accessories existed. Amazing job of filming the LCD. Can you show us more of your 200LX? I got the OPL3LPT running on mine, and played a bit of Planet X3.

  • @daedelous7094
    @daedelous70942 жыл бұрын

    When you were talking about the machine's ability to produce dial tones I was getting the impression you were about to say "YEah you could this grey box into a blue box"

  • @LoftBits
    @LoftBits2 жыл бұрын

    I did own a Portfolio (actually, still do) and, around 1992, used it probably in the very way it was meant to be used: able to do my job (part time translator during my uni days - so, mainly using its tiny editor...) whilst on a backpaking trip with friends. I later switched to Psion 5MX and then Psion Netbook, but I'll always remember Portfolio as the first one that put me on the move. Thank you, Portfolio, you have a special place in my heart!

  • @LusRetroSource
    @LusRetroSource2 жыл бұрын

    The "Pofo"😂. It's OS really seems to limit it, but I can see this device being useful for light writing and note taking.

  • @blunderingfool

    @blunderingfool

    2 жыл бұрын

    I’ll stick with my Dell AT102W for that.

  • @mgjk

    @mgjk

    2 жыл бұрын

    I wanted one for programming and solving math problems with programs. Would MS Quick C run in 128k? hmm.

  • @LusRetroSource

    @LusRetroSource

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@mgjk Would love to see Quick C or Turbo C run on this thing.

  • @TSteffi

    @TSteffi

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@LusRetroSource None of those will work. I tried. But there is a compiler called Desmet C that works. The editor doesn't work because screen incompatibility, but you can just use the pofo integrated editor instead.

  • @LusRetroSource

    @LusRetroSource

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@TSteffi Thanks for the info! Do you know if Desmet C was widely used for homebrew or was homebrew mostly made on Atari's PowerBASIC?

  • @mrmii6596
    @mrmii65962 жыл бұрын

    I have one of these, really neat little device.

  • @TheBuefurd
    @TheBuefurd2 жыл бұрын

    I love retro tech. I love this era of PCs and components. I loved it as a kid and I love it now at 37. I feel like I can smell this channel.

  • @7mJoe
    @7mJoe2 жыл бұрын

    And as always, excellent video!!!

  • @devmas
    @devmas2 жыл бұрын

    Honestly, I'm really into its screen. I used to have an electronic dictionary with a similar screen, and it was very readable and easy on the eyes in a way that smartphones aren't as much, IMO.

  • @efficiencygaming3494
    @efficiencygaming34942 жыл бұрын

    I know we've come a long way, but I've always had a soft spot for quirky retro tech like this. There's a certain level of satisfaction that comes from devices like this that you can't get from a smartphone. This thing was way before my time. I'm sure it would've been cool to use one of these back in the day.

  • @DoctorBabby
    @DoctorBabby2 жыл бұрын

    A new video from LGR! The homebrew showcase at the end reminds me of the homebrew community of programs for TI calculators...

  • @YaztromoX
    @YaztromoX2 жыл бұрын

    My Portfolio is the only piece of computer equipment from the era I never sold or gave away. I still have it, a card, the serial and parallel adapters, and the memory expansion in safe keeping, and pop some batteries in and verify its still working every year or so. Believe it or not, I took lecture notes on it in my first year of University back in the early 90s. I even got some piece of scientific equipment that had a serial interface and which would output data to import into the Portfolio’s spreadsheet for analysis at one point. TBH, I always wondered about chaining the memory interfaces - I never got to try that (only owning one), so it was good to see it 30 years later. The only note I’d add to your otherwise excellent review is that once you had the memory expander installed, you couldn’t unplug it without resetting the Portfolio (losing anything in the memory-partitioned storage), so it could get unwieldy to use. You had to be careful carrying it around that way in a bag, as the clips didn’t handle pressure from either side very well, and could partially disconnect- causing you to lose everything in volatile storage.

  • @BlindingWulf
    @BlindingWulf2 жыл бұрын

    Oooo 80s handheld computer

  • @andresbravo2003
    @andresbravo20032 жыл бұрын

    16:23 I love this part that he was trapped on this computer for the love of god!

  • @stepheneyles2198
    @stepheneyles21982 жыл бұрын

    WoWWW!!! Love it! Have still got my DIP Pocket PC and last time I tried it was still working! I had the parallel and serial interfaces and something else which I can't quite remember at the moment - it's in my summer house so can't dig it out right now! Great channel by the way - came here from Techmoan video about cassette winders.

  • @nathanbush6781
    @nathanbush67812 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for sharing! Always love tech like this that was around when I was alive, but not aware of all the tech around me! I was about 5 when this came out.

  • @wimwiddershins
    @wimwiddershins2 жыл бұрын

    Almost bought one of these back in the day, with an Amiga compatible dock thing. Buuuuut even back then, it was very limited.

  • @DavidWonn
    @DavidWonn2 жыл бұрын

    10:02 Her number was conveniently found on the bathroom wall.

  • @mirage809
    @mirage8092 жыл бұрын

    I have one of these laying around! It belonged to my grandfather. No idea what he used it for, he put it in storage well before I was born and my grandmother and parents don't have a clue about what the thing was used for. Going theory is that he used it for his book binding business somehow. I never got it work sadly. The most it ever did was put a garbled output on the display. Also remember it from Terminator 2 of course. Nice to finally see one in action outside of a movie. Very neat piece of hardware for the time.

  • @davidpalmer9780
    @davidpalmer97802 жыл бұрын

    I purchased one of these devices so I could run my aviation flight planning programs on it I developed for the PC. I was taken in by the compatibility with the PC which was very disappointing. My next device to superceed the Portfolio was the NEC PC 8201. Thankings for making this video. It brought back great memories for me.

  • @me2olive
    @me2olive2 жыл бұрын

    9:58 The later Psions had this ability too. To my (slight) shame, I remember there was a "free" phone installed at my university without a keypad, it had pre-programmed buttons to call a few local places instead (a taxi, pizza place, that kind of thing). Thanks to my Psion, I had the ability to call other numbers too 😊

  • @eDoc2020

    @eDoc2020

    2 жыл бұрын

    Depending on how the phone was set up you could dial just by tapping the hookswitch, no computers needed.

  • @me2olive

    @me2olive

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@eDoc2020 I've heard that, but I never managed to successfully "tap out" the numbers on a pulse dialing phone manually.

  • @IsaacKuo
    @IsaacKuo2 жыл бұрын

    You're not gonna play Do--- someone ports Doom to it.

  • @jazzlover10000

    @jazzlover10000

    2 жыл бұрын

    Not gonna happen. It was slower than a Trs-80 Model III.

  • @g.k.2263
    @g.k.22632 жыл бұрын

    Had one of those when I was in my early teens....I spent endless hours programming text adventures in Basic, and created pixel graphics. I remember how expensive the 64K card was here in Austria..my only birthday present :-) Later I got a serial interface as well to connect it to my 486. However, I learned DOS commands on this device and a lot more about interfaces, data transfer and programming. Thanks Atari Portfolio :-)

  • @deenstratos9075
    @deenstratos90752 жыл бұрын

    There is nothing better than new LGR video and hot chocolate. Thanks Clint

  • @sbojan83
    @sbojan832 жыл бұрын

    At the 7:44 min. mark, it shows the date. Was this Y2K compliant? That's hilarious.

  • @coyoteartist
    @coyoteartist2 жыл бұрын

    The price of the memory cards reminds me of one Christmas when my daddy wanted to give the three of us kids USB flash drives which were just out. He asked which size we thought we could best use. I chose 256K as I was going to college. Go to Office Depot not long after Christmas and find out it was a 100 dollars. I still have it 22 years later.

  • @PG-gs5vb

    @PG-gs5vb

    2 жыл бұрын

    You mean 256M, right? USB flash drives started at 8M.

  • @KopperNeoman

    @KopperNeoman

    2 жыл бұрын

    How far we've come. I remember having a tiny little 512 MB drive (itself a vast improvement over what you were facing) - and some floppies and CD-RWs. Nowadays you can get tiny little cards with more storage than existed when this thing was out.

  • @coyoteartist

    @coyoteartist

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@PG-gs5vb No, this was when they first came out in 2000.

  • @coyoteartist

    @coyoteartist

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@KopperNeoman I know, it kinda scary but also cool.

  • @justbonfim
    @justbonfim2 жыл бұрын

    A fresh video from LGR,there is nothing better than this!

  • @loughkb
    @loughkb2 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for the history research. That was interesting! I remember playing around with the Atari in the computer store I worked at back in the 80's. I think I remember the battery life kind of sucking, but we did have fun logging into BBS with it.

  • @retroftw
    @retroftw2 жыл бұрын

    YES...LGR is BACK! Good thing Apple had their biggest launch in decades, or I would never have made it though that second week 😉

  • @The_Doby
    @The_Doby8 ай бұрын

    So can I hack ATMs?

  • @bunsenburner3424
    @bunsenburner34242 жыл бұрын

    Love these man, so chill .

  • @darioperezdario2638
    @darioperezdario26382 жыл бұрын

    Excellent video. I did not know the equipment. It amazes me that so many expansions have come out like the serial and parallel ports, the additional RAM memory and the memory card reader for transferring files with a PC.

  • @imdonkeykonga
    @imdonkeykonga2 жыл бұрын

    thats the coolest thing i have ever saw in here man! thank you!

  • @crithon
    @crithon2 жыл бұрын

    wow, I was always curious about this. Great video.

  • @bschwand
    @bschwand2 жыл бұрын

    such great memories. I loved that little guy, I still have mine tucked away in a closet. I also had the parallel port adapter and the technical reference manual which included schematics for example peripherals, assembly code examples for drivers and a list of the DOS interrupts and parameters. The expansion connector was actually connected to the CPU main bus, similar to the ISA bus.

  • @baskerwilNL
    @baskerwilNL2 жыл бұрын

    This was such a childhood dream. Great to see it reviewed/presented!

  • @ForgottenMachines
    @ForgottenMachines2 жыл бұрын

    I love this!!! So well done, as always! At 6:04 I had to rewind a few times, cuz something looked a bit off. Then I noticed that it looks like the cord has been swapped out with a "universal power supply" cord. It has the tell-tale reversible-polarity plug at the end, and then on my double take, I noticed the shrink tubing at the junction of the cord and the wall wart casing. Do I observe correctly, or do my eyes (and perceptions) deceive me?? Anyway, LOVE this coverage, so thorough and entertaining!

  • @kingsqueak2221
    @kingsqueak22212 жыл бұрын

    Oh the nostalgia is overwhelming. I wanted a Psion badly and a Sharp Wizard too back then. Fun video as always. I was at a hamfest (ham radio flea market) and mentioned LGR to a guy who had a Compaq 286 portable fired up and instantly had about six people saying they love LGR :-).

  • @bobowzki
    @bobowzki2 жыл бұрын

    Incredible timing! Was just interested in this device.

  • @jasonz7788
    @jasonz77882 жыл бұрын

    Great work Sir thank you

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