Ford GT

Twice. Another notable computer was the Cambridge Z88, designed by Clive Sinclair, introduced in 1988. However, he subsequently bought the car back. These also introduced the now-standard "resume" feature to DOS-based machines; the computer could be paused between sessions, without having to be restarted each time. However, as documented on Top Gear, his GT was delivered late, and ongoing problems with its anti-theft alarm led him to return it to Ford in June 2005. Although limited floppy-based DOS machines (the operating system was stored in ROM), the Toshiba machines were small and light enough to be carried in a backpack, and could be run off lead-acid batteries. Jeremy Clarkson was one of the first 28 GT owners in the UK. Among the first commercial IBM-compatible laptops were the IBM PC Convertible, introduced 1986, and the Toshiba T1000 and T1200, introduced 1987.

An obvious clone of the GT also appears in GTA: San Andreas, under the name "Bullet". Initial specs included 8 kb of RAM (expandable to 24 kb) and a 3 MHz processor. A heavily modified racing version appears both on the cover, and the FMV Intro. It weighed less than 2 kg (4 lb) with dimensions of 30 x 21.5 x 4.5 cm (12 x 8.5 x 1.75 inches). Gran Turismo 4 uses a GT as its display car for the game. Due to its portability, good battery life (and ease of replacement), reliability (it had no moving parts), and low price (as little as US $300), the model was highly regarded, becoming a favorite among journalists. With its internal modem, it was a highly portable communications terminal.

The computer was not a clamshell, but provided a tiltable 8×40-character LCD screen above a full-travel keyboard. The Tandy's internal programs, including a BASIC interpreter, a text editor, and a terminal program, were supplied by Microsoft, and are thought to have been written in part by Bill Gates himself. The machines ran on standard AA batteries. Although it was at first a slow seller in Japan, it was quickly licensed by Tandy Corporation, Olivetti, and NEC, who saw its potential and marketed it as the Olivetti M-10, NEC PC-8201, and [1] Radio Shack TRS-80_Model_100_line or Tandy 100.

1983 also saw the launch of what was probably the biggest-selling early laptop, the Kyocera Kyotronic 85. Both had LCD displays, and had optional printers that attached to their cases. Like the GriD Compass, the Gavilan and the Sharp were housed in clamshell cases, but they were partly IBM-compatible, although primarily running their own system software. The Gavilan was notably the first computer to be marketed as a "laptop." It was also equipped with a pioneering touchpad-like pointing device, installed on a panel above the keyboard.

Two other noteworthy early laptops were the Sharp PC-5000 (1983) and the Gavilan SC, announced in 1983 but first sold in 1984. GRiD Systems Corp was later bought by Tandy (RadioShack). The GRiD company subsequently earned significant returns on its patent rights as its innovations became commonplace. military, and was used on the Space Shuttle during the 1980s.

However, it was used heavily by the U.S. It was not IBM-compatible, and its high price (US$ 10,000) meant that it was limited to specialized applications. The computer could be run from batteries, and was equipped with a 320×200-pixel plasma display and 384-kilobyte bubble memory. Enclosed in a magnesium case, it introduced the now familiar clamshell design, in which the flat display folded shut against the keyboard.

However, arguably the first true laptop was the GRiD Compass 1101, designed by Bill Moggridge in 1979, and released in 1982. While it was made to be used upon one's lap, it weighed 150 pounds, and therefore could not be deemed truly portable. Another claim to be the "first laptop" was made by a novice programmer Thomas Kelly in 1982. (IBM's own later Portable Computer, which arrived in 1984, was notably less IBM-compatible than the Compaq.).

Although scarcely more portable than the Osborne machines, and also requiring AC power to run, it ran MS-DOS and was the first true IBM clone. A more enduring success was the Compaq Portable, the first product from Compaq, introduced in 1983, by which time the IBM Personal Computer had become the standard platform. However, it was not possible to run the Osborne on batteries; it had to be plugged in. The Osborne was about the size of a portable sewing machine, and importantly could be carried on a commercial aircraft.

This and other "luggables" were inspired by what was probably the first portable computer, the Xerox NoteTaker, developed at Xerox PARC in 1976; however, only ten prototypes were built. Although it was large and heavy compared to today's laptops, with a tiny CRT monitor, it had a near-revolutionary impact on business, as professionals were able to take their computer and data with them for the first time. The first commercially available portable computer was the Osborne 1 in 1981, which used the CP/M operating system. Before laptop computers were technically feasible, similar ideas had been proposed, most notably Alan Kay's Dynabook concept, developed at Xerox PARC in the early 1970s.

. In addition to a built-in keyboard, they may utilize a touchpad (also known as a trackpad) or a pointing stick for input, though an external mouse or keyboard can usually be attached. Laptops usually have liquid crystal displays and use SO-DIMM (Small Outline DIMM) modules (rather than the larger DIMMs used in desktop computers) for their RAM. Laptops contain components that are similar to those in their desktop counterparts and perform the same functions but are miniaturized and optimized for mobile use and efficient power consumption.

Laptops are capable of many of the same tasks that desktop computers perform, although they are typically less powerful for the same price. Laptops usually run on batteries, but also from adapters which also charge the battery using mains electricity. Terms for subtypes of notebooks (and related computer types) include:. A laptop computer (also known as notebook computer) is a small mobile personal computer, usually weighing from 1 to 3 kilograms (2 to 7 pounds).

Zyrex. Winbook. Voodoo PC - Envy. Rock Direct.

Relion. Toshiba - Dynabook, Portege, Tecra, Satellite, Qosmio, Libretto. Tadpole - SPARCbook. Sager - NP series.

Sony - VAIO. Samsung - Sens. Panasonic - Toughbook. Packard Bell - EasyNote.

NEC - VERSA. Medion. Linuxcertified - Linux laptop. LG - XNOTE.

Lenovo - IBM ThinkPad. iQon - Qompanion. Hypersonic. Hewlett Packard - HP Pavilion and HP Omnibook.

Gericom. Gateway. Fujitsu Siemens - Lifebook. ECS.

Dell - Inspiron and Latitude. Compaq - EVO, Armada, LTE, and Presario. Clevo. Bacoc.

Averatec. ASUS. Apple Computer - iBook, PowerBook and MacBook Pro. Alienware - Area 51m, Sentia and Aurora m series.

Acer - TravelMate and Aspire. These devices weigh about 500 g (about 1 lb) and often take the name "power brick.". Most laptops are powered or recharged from an external AC converter that usually takes the form of a plain black rectangular box. Docking stations may be used for expanding connectors and quickly connecting many components to the laptop, although they are falling out of favour as laptops' integral capabilities increase and USB allows several peripherals to be connected through one plug.

Batteries gradually degrade over time and eventually need to be replaced, depending on the charging and discharging pattern, from one to five years. Typical battery life for most laptops is two to five hours with light-duty use, but may drop to as little as one hour with intensive use. Current models use lithium ion batteries, which have largely replaced the older nickel metal-hydride technology. At one point, the Pismo G3, at up to 500 MHz, was faster than the fastest desktop G3 (then the B&W G3), which ran at 450 MHz.

However, the PowerPC G3 and G4 processor generations have been able to offer almost the same performance as their desktop versions, limited mostly by lower performance in other parts of the system bus bandwidth and peripheral units) in Apple's notebooks; recently, though, with the introduction of the G5s, they have been far outstripped. Generally, notebook processors are less powerful than their desktop counterparts, owing to the need to conserve electricity and reduce heat output. Motorola and IBM develop and manufacture the PowerPC chips for Apple notebooks. Notebook processor: There are a wide range of notebook processors available from Intel (Pentium M (with Centrino technology), Celeron, Intel Core Duo and Centrino Duo) and from AMD (Athlon, Turion 64, and Sempron).

Modern laptops can often handle sophisticated games, but tend to be limited by their fixed screen resolution and display adapter type. Display adapters and sound cards are integrated. Internal hard disks are smaller—2.5 inch (64 mm) compared to the standard desktop 3.5 inch (90 mm) drive—and usually have lower performance and power consumption. Most modern laptops use an active matrix display with resolutions of 1024 by 768 pixels (XGA) and above, screen sizes 10 inch (250 mm) or larger, and have a PC-Card expansion bay for expansion cards, formerly called PCMCIA.

Internal modems and standard serial, parallel, and PS/2 ports on IBM PC-compatible laptops made it easier to work away from home; the addition of Ethernet networking ports and, from 1997, USB, and from 1999, Wi-Fi, made laptops as easy to use with peripherals as a desktop computer. Improved interconnectivity. As thin, high-capacity hard disk drives with higher reliability and shock resistance and lower power consumption became available, users could store their work on laptop computers and take it with them. Early laptops had only floppy disk drives.

Improved hard disk technology. Improvements in production technology meant displays became larger, sharper, had higher display resolution, and could display color with great accuracy, making them an acceptable substitute for a traditional CRT monitor. Early laptop screens were black and white or grayscale passive-matrix LCD displays prone to heavy shadows and blurry movement (some portable computer screens were sharper monochrome plasma displays, but these drew too much current to be powered by batteries). Improved liquid crystal display design, in particular active-matrix display technology, and increasingly, color screens.

While laptops in 1991 were limited to the slower 80286 processor because of the energy demands of the more powerful 80386, the introduction of the Intel 386SX processor, designed for the specific power needs of laptops, marked the point at which laptop needs were included in processor design. Power-saving processors. The heavy lead-acid batteries were replaced with lighter and more efficient technologies, first nickel metal hydride (NiMH) and then lithium ion and lithium polymer. Improved battery technology.

Computers larger than PDAs but smaller than notebooks are also sometimes a called palmtops. Powerful laptops (often heavy) designed to compete with the computing power offered by a typical desktop are sometimes known as desktop replacements. Notebooks weighing around 5 kg are sometimes termed desknotes (desktop/notebook). Notebooks smaller than a A4 sheet of paper and weighing around 1 kg are sometimes called sub-notebooks or subnotebooks.