This would be a good PORTABLE Mame PC

[Thenasty]

I think it would be cool to have one ot this.

Replace the Keyboard thou with Joysticks.

It's like a suitcase, LCD built in and its got a handle for carry on.

[Samstag]

Reminds me of when I had to lug around one of these in the 80's:


But nowadays I have a portable emulation machine that I can just plug into a TV.

I can't believe that thing is 5 years old now.  It also powers my MAME cabinet when I'm home.

[Thenasty]

I still have one this myself, the IBM 5150 lugable portable weight a TON IBM PC with a whopping 384k of RAM and 20MB MFM HD. 

[BobA]

Hi Thenasty

I just threw on of those in the trash can. The one I had from what I can see had the same screen which I used for my Galaga Bartop.  I cannot see the other side of the unit you pictured but mine had bays for scsi drives and was a ---smurfette--- to get working.  Also weighs more than that IBM portable. It was not a good choice for anything PORTABLE.  They were built for remote terminals in police or government vehicles.

[Gray_Area]

  They were built for remote terminals in police or government vehicles.

God, why? Laptops have been around for-ever.

[BobA]

No these are from before laptop days.  Also most laptops do not us scsi drives and do not have the security features these boat anchors had.

[SavannahLion]

No these are from before laptop days.  Also most laptops do not us scsi drives and do not have the security features these boat anchors had.

King of weird to think they had laptops before LCD monitors.

But I digress, didn't rat shack sell a "laptop" of sorts? I think it came in a "futuristic" briefcase of sorts. I think I still have that catalogue somewhere.

[Vigo]

No these are from before laptop days.  Also most laptops do not us scsi drives and do not have the security features these boat anchors had.

How old are these things? I once had an old powerbook 520, circa 1994. I'm pretty sure that had a SCSI. Not considering the computing disadvantage that laptops had back in the day, but I would hope that they didn't stick with those awkward machines mounted to their dashboards for too long.

Oh, and by security features, do you mean too large and heavy to easily run away with? Or maybe the security feature that any potential thief would take one look at it and go, "WTF is that?" and keep walking. 

Overall, I think it would be kinda cool having some sort of PC like that for a LAN party, as long as the PC is up to date.

[SavannahLion]

I believe the Atari museum has some scanned sketches of a prototype laptop from back in the day. Let me see if I can remember the url.

[SavannahLion]

I thought it made it to prototype stage but I guess not. It's just sketches. Anyhow here it is: http://www.atarimuseum.com/computers/concepts/laptopconcepts.html

Given that these are mid 80's I think it isn't a stretch to figure it wasn't long afterwards laptops appeared on the market.