Atari Portfolio

Summary

The Portfolio is a portable IBM-compatible 16-bit PC introduced by Atari in May 1989 and launched in January 1990. The operating system is a MS-DOS clone called DIP-DOS, the processor a power-saving Intel 80C88 at 4.92 MHz. Built-in are calculators, calendars, word processing, spreadsheets and address management.

New software can be copied to the portfolio, but compatibility is limited, because 40 characters in 8 lines are outside the usual 80 columns/25 row format. The monochrome liquid crystal screen has a resolution of 240 × 64 pixels. The keyboard is small with good tactile feedback. The portfolio has little memory, but it’s static, so it’s retained when it’s switched off, so users can continue where they left off. A card slot accepts memory cards with capacities from 32 KiB to 128 KiB. A special cable connects portfolio with the PC and data exchange is possible.

The Portfolio, nicknamed Pofo, comes in six models: HPC-004, HPC-005, HPC-006, HPC-009, HPC-010 and HPC-011. Its most famous user is the fictional John Connor, who uses it to break into an ATM and a safe in Terminator 2 – Judgment Day. Atari discontinued the range in December 1993. Weighing only 500 grams, this small computer is regarded as a predecessor of the later PDA.