Forum Rules - Formats - Spotlights  -  Home - Library - New Additions

What old laptop was this that I had?

db2db2
edited July 2017 in Hardware
I had an old Zenith laptop around the mid '90s, but I can't remember what model it was. Some things I remember about it:

- 486, around 50 MHz
- Can't remember how much RAM, but I think it was 8 MB at the most
- Black case
- 640x480 color screen (passive matrix, I believe)
- Small trackball with two buttons located in front of the space bar
- Single module bay that could be used either for an internal floppy drive, or the rechargeable battery
- Could run on 8 AA batteries
- Power transformer was internal, i.e. it was just a simple two-pin cable connecting it to the wall, with no external brick
- PCMCIA slot (I think it had just one)

Anybody know what model that might have been?

Comments

  • nikkigreg1974nikkigreg1974
    this is the only zenith laptop i found that ran on AA batteries here the link http://vintage-laptops.com/?page_id=182&lang=en and other link here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZP-150 I hope this helps.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User]
    A laptop running on 8 AA batteries? Those were the days...

    It would be pretty cool to somehow run a recent laptop off of AA's.
  • BigCJBigCJ
    Erito17 wrote:
    It would be pretty cool to somehow run a recent laptop off of AA's.
    It would be pretty heavy, considering most modern laptops need ~19v to run, and a standard AA only does 1.5v. Also, not sure about the amp/hours you could squeeze out, so uptime on AAs alone would be very limited.
  • yourepicfailureyourepicfailure
    There were some laptops which ran off of AA batteries, such as the Norhtec edubook running on 8, don't know where you can find one now.

    Some low power laptops, such as Arm netbooks, could be designed to run on aa batteries.
    I had a Sylvannia netbook which I charged with some 9v block batteries as its input was 9v 1amp.
  • db2db2
    yourepicfailure wrote:
    As for x86, there were some laptops which ran off of AA batteries, such as the Norhtec edubook running on 8, don't know where you can find one now.

    There's also the HP OmniBook 300/425/430, which run on 4 AAs. I still use a 300 fairly often for DataPerfect and whatnot.

    I'm thinking the Zenith I used to have may have been some kind of Z-Star, but I haven't been able to confirm that.
Sign In or Register to comment.