This Strange Retro Laptop Isn't What It Seems

Consumer demand for laptops was growing dramatically in the late 90s, but some were becoming tired of lugging around a large, heavy computer. In 1998 Microsoft hatched a plan to help drive inexpensive, lightweight notebooks -- and Sharp delivered quite a unique model.

Sources:
"Jupiter enters PC orbit," InfoWorld, January 12, 1998.
"Sharp Mobilon TriPad and Vadem Clio," PC Magazine, December 1, 1998.
"Vadem Clio," Maximum PC, March 1999.
"Three Looks, One Notebook," Popular Science, January 1999.
"Lag in apps holds back sexy Clio," InfoWorld, November 9, 1998.
"IBM's Winning Jupiter H/PC," PC Magazine, June 8, 1999.
"Smaller Isn't Better for Some Handheld Users," Computerworld, August 2, 1999.

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[voneschenbachmusic]

These Windows CE devices were actually very useful back in the day - the were instant on, the battery lasted for several hours and were great for taking notes, drafting documents, etc. I got a used NEC MobilePro 780 and later MobilePro 900 for taking notes in class and it was much more convenient than lugging a heavy laptop and much less expensive. I got a PCMCIA card with wifi and was able to get files on and off fairly easily.

[christophernugent]

A product ahead of its time by about 14 - 16 years

[therealgaragegirls]

I'd forgotten just how clean those PC magazines looked. The perfect amount of whitespace. I never read them these days. But back in the 90s, I was always had a pile of them on my desk.

[MichaelEilers]

Former Windows CE developer here - on an ARM chip. It was a dog, could address very limited RAM and storage, but in some ways CE was a remarkable OS. The developer tools allowed you to literally “roll your own” version of the OS by checking some boxes and choosing options from drop-downs so you could pick and choose exactly the features you wanted, to help you slim down the OS to the storage and RAM footprint you were stuck with. Ugly, slow, but still for embedded systems it was good at the time, and always better than Java, which never really materialized as a consumer ready platform despite decades of hype.

[spectersalmon]

The Jupiter project was a fail back then, but it did come eventually. We have devices now like the Surface laptops, iPads, Galaxy Tab tablets, and Chromebooks. So, we did get it as a regular line of devices, but not as soon as Microsoft was really hoping for.

[drcybr]

This design was used by the Dell XPS 12 too. Sadly most of the screens had their glue melting including mine, so there are only a few fully working ones left.

[percentyt]

I got some brandless laptop with Windows CE on it for my birthday once, but I couldn't tell my parents that it wasn't a real computer or even remotely usable because it was a gift (I mean the 'manual' says not to block the fan on the bottom of the unit. There is no fan)... It had no transient storage (and no backup battery to keep the ramdisk!), and booted off the read only rom every boot. And being before tech was generally allowed in school, I couldn't even use it for its notepad. Getting a CE netbook in the late 2000's was like getting a laptop in 2015 or so only to find out it runs Windows RT: Basically no software for it... At that point, it was only prey for malicious sellers to make a quick buck on people that don't know about these deep shortcomings.

[That_Son_Ofa_Itch]

Found this channel yesterday. Fell in love and haven’t stopped watching it since.

Thanks for bringing this obscure tech to light bro!

[JoeWithTheGlasses]

Wow that looks so small and compact, I'm surprised they managed to make something like that back then. I honestly wouldn't be opposed to owning something like that nowadays for art or note taking.

[JohnHuebbe]

I had an IBM Z50 back in the day. They went on clearance at CompUSA really cheap and I got one. I think maybe $200. It worked well enough to type up notes in college and do basic word processing for reports. The build quality and battery life was great but the performance wasn't worth the original MSRP. Also, I once gave a powerpoint presentation using it for a college class I had. The video output barely worked with the projector. The professor would have given me an F if it didn't work (luckily it did) as she said "if this was in the business world and your equipment failed, you'd lose the job".

[JohnDoe-wqeu]

I'm still always having to remind myself just how far we've come in these last two decades. When I graduated back in 99 the world was a very, very different place.
The idea that computers were coming out that didn't even have 56k modems at that time blows my mind still.

[JoeSteele]

I used to love these devices, but I definitely agree about the software shortfalls and the sketchy touchscreen. I have a Sharp Tri-pad and a Vadem Clio and I found them very capable for text work. I liked the keyboard especially compared to most of what was available in the form factor. I had a 4GB CF card inside and a Wifi card in the PCCard slot, so connectivity and storage were never issues for me. But the killer was Microsoft just not updating the OS much. I eventually managed to get NetBSD running on it and that was fun but not super practical since the device support was _very_ limited.

[elturner]

I was fortunate enough to have owned several Sharp Mobilons including the TriPad, it was really special and way ahead of its time. The compact size, lightness, large keyboard, MS Office compatibility, solid state memory, stylus and a battery that seemed to never run out, made me the envy of all of my college classmates and the businesspeople who spent thousands for big bulky laptops of that time. The TriPad is what I used to shred through my college assignments at book stores, coffee shops, and libraries. People would always ask me about it and assumed that I had paid some ridiculous amount for it. I bought my TrPad used from Ebay in 2000 for only $200. This was one of the best productivity devices I've ever purchased. I'd like to see an updated version of this or the Surface Neo.

[SomePeopleCallMeWulfman]

The Vadem Clio was on the top of my wishlist all through the early 2000s. Had to make do with a Jornada 720 in the end.

[alphaderago]

I had a techie for a parent, and I grew up with devices like this, and Palm Pilots, at the very very tail end/past the point of which they actually died. Gotta say, It definitely makes me have an appreciation for the level of sophistication we have in our portables now. I remembering being like, 7, and reading book after book on my hand me down Palm 7 and playing random bit games like Rogue on our Clio.

[nickthaskater]

I'd love to see a video on that z50. The keyboard looks legit and it looks far more usable overall. I'd also love to see your take on the more contemporary (read: new) Planet Computers Astro Slide if you can get your hands on one (seems they're only out in Japan so far).

[RocketboyX]

I loved my CE device. It was one of the folding 'palmtop' types, but man could I type up a storm on that tiny chicklet keyboard. Got me through two years of college when laptops were still expensive and bulky.

[chronoso]

I loved my Vadem Clio. Had a Xircom wireless card in mine, felt like the future. We're so spoiled by tablets with wifi built in now, but I would buy something of this exact form factor immediately if it came back.

[ProtoMario]

Definitely a precursor to the Toughbook.

[jackmacdonald]

Wow that thing is the Microsoft surface of its time. Im surprised how thin it is considering it is from 1998