Atari Portfolio

The frst PDA?

Resources
I got my Portfolio shortly before christmas of 1997, and I have to admit I never thought it would be so bloody useful! I carried it around constantly, tracking my, my girlfriend's, and my dad's christmas lists on it. Shopping lists, Miscellaneous project notes, and various ideas all followed soon after.

It's really a neat machine, and eminently useful. A slightly better text editor would be nice, but I've used worse. I am surprised these didn't fly off the shelves in '89, but given Atari's general marketing strategy ("I know nothINK!") I guess it's believable. Still, given the recent popularity of wince machines I think Atari had the right idea.

Of course, it's contemporary, the Poquet PC, didn't do so hot either, but that was an expensive machine at the time. I would definitely like to get one of those to compare the two (hint, hint.)

Another item I'd like to get my hands on is a ramcard drive for a desktop PC. I suspect this would make transfering articles, web pages, and miscellaneous files back and forth between my main laptop and the Portfolio much easier.

Alternatively, I could shell out for the german Zip drive interface for the Portfolio, but I think I'll wait until the guy has the Linux port ready...



All text and images are copyright © 1998-2002 Roger Sinasohn
Unauthorized use or duplication is strictly prohibited.
Atari Portfolio, Closed
Closed, ready for action

Atari Portfolio, Open
Open for business

Atari 128K RAM card
Detail of the 128K RAM card

Mfr: Atari Corp.
Location: CA, USA
Model: Portfolio
Processor: i80C88
Speed: 4.9mhz
Op. Sys: DIP-DOS 2.11
Bits:
Internal: 16
Data: 8
RAM:
Min: 128K
Max: 512K
ROM:
Input: 63-key "chiclet" keyboard
Display: 8x40 LCD
Storage:
Cassette:
Floppy Disk:
Hard Disk:
Ports:
Serial: Optional
Parallel: Optional
Keyboard:
Joystick:
Other: Non-standard Memory Card, Expansion Port
Expansion: RAM Cards, Serial and Parallel ports
Introduced:
Discontinued:
Cost:
Physical:
Size: 7.8"x4"x.6" (197x103x29mm)
Weight:
Power:
Voltage:
Connector:
Polarity:
Peripherals:
Notes:

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