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Data General-One

Data General-One
Data General One Laptop Computer Austin Calhoon Photograph.jpg
A Data General-One laptop computer
Manufacturer Data General
Type personal computer
Release date 1984; 33 years ago (1984)
Introductory price US$2895
Operating system MS-DOS
CPU CMOS 8086 @ 4.0 MHz
Memory 128K RAM (expandable to 512K)
Storage 2 x 3½" diskettes
Display Monochrome LCD 80×25 characters
Graphics Or full CGA graphics (640×200)
Input 79-key full-stroke keyboard
Weight 9 pound

The Data General-One (DG-1) was a portable personal computer introduced in 1984 by minicomputer company Data General.

The nine-pound battery-powered 1984 Data General-One ran MS-DOS and had dual 3½" diskettes, a 79-key full-stroke keyboard, 128K to 512K of RAM, and a monochrome LCD screen capable of either the standard 80×25 characters or full CGA graphics (640×200). It was a laptop comparable in capabilities to desktops of the era.

The Data General-One offered several features in comparison with contemporary portable computers. For instance, the popular 1983 Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100, a non-PC-compatible machine, was comparably sized. It was a small battery-operated computer resting in one's lap, but had an 32x8 character (240x64 pixel) screen, a rudimentary ROM-based menu in lieu of a full OS, and no built-in floppy. IBM's 1984 Portable PC was comparable in capability with desktops, but was not battery operable and, being much larger and heavier, was by no means a laptop.

The DG-1 was only a modest success. One problem was its use of 3½" diskettes. Popular software titles were thus not widely available (5.25" being still the standard), a serious issue since then-common diskette copy-protection schemes made it difficult for users to copy software into that format.

The CPU was a CMOS version of the 8086, compatible with the IBM PC's 8088 except it ran slightly slower, at 4.0 MHz instead of the standard 4.77 MHz.

Unlike the Portable PC, the DG-1 laptop could not take regular PC/XT expansion cards.

RS232 serial ports were built-in, but the CMOS (low battery consumption) serial I-O chip available at design time, a CMOS version of the Intel 8251, was register incompatible with the 8250 serial IC standard for the IBM PC. As a result, software written for the PC serial ports would not run correctly. This required the use of software written using the relatively slower and less flexible BIOS interrupt call (014h), or software written exclusively for the DG-1.


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