Compaq Portable I Details
The first commercially successful portable computer that helped establish the PC-compatible market
Download Experience GuideThis 28-pound "luggable" computer featured a built-in 9-inch green monochrome monitor and ran MS-DOS, making it 100% IBM PC compatible. The Compaq Portable I was revolutionary in establishing the PC-compatible market and proving that companies other than IBM could create successful personal computers.
Revolutionary "luggable" design at 28 pounds, making computing truly portable for the first time.
100% IBM PC compatible, establishing the foundation for the PC-compatible market.
First commercially successful portable computer that changed the computing industry forever.
Step-by-step pamphlet for hands-on demonstration
Want to interact with this legendary machine? Download our exclusive Experience Guide—a carefully crafted pamphlet that walks you through using the Compaq Portable I just as users did in 1983.
Released in March 1983, the Compaq Portable I was the first product from Compaq Computer Corporation, a company founded just one year earlier in 1982. This groundbreaking machine became the first commercially successful IBM PC compatible computer, selling 53,000 units in its first year and generating $111 million in revenue—an unprecedented achievement for a startup.
The Compaq Portable's success proved that the IBM PC architecture could be legally cloned through clean-room reverse engineering, establishing the foundation for the entire PC-compatible industry that would dominate personal computing for decades to come.
While weighing 28 pounds and roughly the size of a portable sewing machine, the Compaq Portable I was revolutionary for its time. It featured a unique suitcase design with a removable keyboard that doubled as a protective cover during transport. The integrated 9-inch monitor, dual floppy drives, and optional battery pack made it truly self-contained.
This portability, combined with complete IBM compatibility, made it invaluable for business professionals, consultants, and traveling salespeople who needed to demonstrate software or access data on the go—a market segment that had never before existed.
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