TravelMate LT 286/12             Notebook-sized 286/12 w/ HDD
A Notebook With Desktop Punch
 
Microbytes Daily News Service
Copyright (c) 1989, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Texas Instruments introduced today a feature-packed 6.7-pound
12-MHz 80286 with CGA graphics, the TravelMate LT 286/12. It will
be available November 15.
 
Within its 12 by 8 by 3-inch dimensions, the TravelMate LT 286/12
includes a 20-megabyte 15-millisecond hard disk drive, a 10-inch
CGA backlit LCD monitor (with a programmable power-saver), 1
megabyte of RAM that's expandable to 4 megabytes, an 84-key full-
stroke keyboard, a socket for an 80287 coprocessor, and a NiCad
battery that's rated at two- to three hours.
 
Optional equipment includes a snap-on external 3 1/2-inch 1.44-
megabyte floppy disk drive that's as deep and almost as thick as
its host, an internal 2400 bit per second modem, and SRAM memory
cards the size of credit cards in 128K or 256K byte
configurations. Texas Instruments promises a 5 1/4-inch floppy
disk drive during the first quarter of 1990.
 
Another feature is in memory: the base 1 megabyte of RAM contains
384K bytes of extended memory and 640K bytes of base memory, TI
says. You can use the user-installable 1 megabyte of LIM memory
in conjunction with the 384K bytes of extended memory to provide
a system with both LIM and extended memory.
 
You can configure both the 1 megabyte and 2 megabyte LIM options
to be two logical RAM disks, without the use of separate drivers
that can use up memory. Then either logical RAM  drive can be
bootable. But unlike RAM that needs device drivers to retain
memory during reboot, the Model 12 RAM drives retain the data by
incorporating a ROM and RAM disk driver within ROM BIOS.
 
Price: $4199; external 3.5-inch floppy disk drive, $399.
 
 
A Laptop With Desktop Punch
Texas Instruments also introduced today a 12-MHz 14-pound laptop
system that includes VGA graphics on a backlit LCD screen. It's
also slated for production-quantity shipment on November 15.
 
The TravelMate LT 286/25 and 286/45 are 20- and 40-megabyte hard
disk drive versions, respectively. Standard equipment on the
TravelMate LT 286s includes a 79-key keyboard, an 80287 socket, a
3.5-inch 1.44-megabyte floppy disk drive, and RAM that's
upgradable from 1 to 4 megabytes.
 
Price: 20-megabyte, $4999; 40-megabyte, $5599.
 
Contact: Texas Instruments, Inc., Information Technology Group,
P.O. Box 202230, ITG-001, Austin, TX 78720-2230, (800) 527-3500.
 
                              --- Roger K. Adams
 
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