Data General-One

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

History

The 1983 Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 was a truly battery-operated, portable, and operable computer resting in one's lap—but had an 32x8 character (240x64 pixel) screen, a rudimentary ROM-based menu in lieu of a true OS, and no built-in floppy. IBM's 1984 Portable PC was comparable in capability with desktops. It was not a laptop, however, but an AC-powered luggable like the earlier Compaq (Compaq would not introduce a true laptop until 1988). Apple Computer's Apple IIc could be used with an LC display but was not battery powered.

Description

The nine-pound battery-powered 1984 Data General One ran MS-DOS, had dual 3½" diskettes, 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.

Drawbacks

The DG-1 was only a modest success. One problem was its use of 3½" diskettes—popular software titles were not available in this format, a serious issue since then-common diskette copy-protection schemes made it difficult for users to copy the software into that format.

Although Creative Computing termed the price of US$2895 "competitive," it was a very expensive system and usually-needed additions such as more RAM and an external 5¼" drive drove the price higher yet. But the Achilles heel was the LC display itself, which was not backlit, had low contrast which was slightly enhanced by blue characters on a yellow background, and was frequently accused of serving better as a mirror than as a screen.