█ Vintage Computing Museum
← Back to The IBM PC arrives
1983

Compaq Portable

Compaq Computer Corporation

Compaq Portable
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Specifications

CPU
Intel 8088 @ 4.77 MHz
Memory
128 KB standard, up to 640 KB
Storage
Two 5.25" 360 KB floppies
Display
Built-in 9" amber monitor
OS
MS-DOS 1.x / 2.x
Intro price
$2,995

The machine

A 28-pound 'luggable' that ran the same software as the IBM PC, in a sewing-machine-style case with a fold-down keyboard. Compaq's clean-room reverse engineering of the IBM BIOS made it the first 100% IBM-compatible clone.

Why it matters

Proved the clone strategy worked. Compaq became the fastest company in history to reach $100M in revenue, and the IBM-compatible PC market exploded behind them.