Hosted by the University of Plymouth
Hosted by the University of Plymouth
Released by Osborne Computer Corporation, the OCC 1 (to give it's proper model number) was the first commercially successful portable computer. Powered by a 4Mhz Z80 processor, alongside 64K of RAM and two 5 1/4" drives, the system ran the popular CP/M operating system. One of its notable selling points was that it came bundled with a range of popular applications (including Wordstar, SuperCalc and dBASE II) then worth around $1,500 (representing good value, given that the system itself sold for $1,795). Situated in the middle of the unit, the 5" monochrome screen displays 52x24 characters (and it was considered small even back in 1981). Weighing 10.7kg, the device was in no sense a laptop, but in its day would still qualify as airline carry-on luggage.
In addition to being a convenient place to store disks, the slots under the disk drives could be used to house peripherals (e.g. a modem unit), which could then plug into the associated socket at the front of the machine.
This model is from the second release of the system, and has a slightly different case and styling to the original
Osborne Computer Corporation, 1981
Donated/on loan from: Centre for Security, Communications and Network Research (CSCAN), Plymouth University