Atari Portfolio

The Atari Portfolio was the world's first handheld portable and affordable IBM compatible computer.  It can interface to your desktop computer, whether it's an ST, a PC, or a Macintosh.  Transfer files back and forth. Work on spreadsheets on the road.  The Portfolio is also great for data collection and custom programs.  It can run most any DOS program just like your desktop PC.  The Portfolio is a complete solution!  About the size of a VHS Videocassette.  Weighs less than one pound!

The Portfolio was based on the Intel 80C88 processor running at approximately 5MHz.  The system had 128k of RAM, and MS-DOS 2.11 was built into ROM.  Several applications were also built into ROM as well.   Those applications include a text editor, a Lotus 1-2-3 compatible spreadsheet, a calendar/appointment book, calculator, and address book.

The display was an 40 column by 8 row monochrome LCD.  

The photo above shows the Portfolio Data Card Reader for IBM PC's.  It consisted of the reader itself, and a expansion card that would reside inside a desktop PC.  The Card Reader would allow you to exchange information from a Portfolio to a PC, and back again via a Data Card.   The Data Cards are shown in the photo at the top of this page, and were roughly the same size as the PCMCIA cards of today on PC Compatible laptops.  They worked using a rewritable FLASH technology.

Other peripherals for this device included a Parallel interface for printing, and a serial interface for data transfer.

Because of the unique design of the Portfolio, not all programs designed for a PC will run it.  There are a number of reasons.   The most common is that a program directly address the hardware.  Much of the Portfolio's hardware is slightly different and this will cause a conflict.