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You are here: Home / History of portable computers with a rugged bias / Osborne Vixen rugged luggable

Osborne Vixen rugged luggable

The Osborne Vixen or Osborne 4

Osborne4 Osborne Vixen

Successor to the Osbourne 1

Released after the Osborne corporation had declared bankruptcy the Osborne Vixen was (along with the desktop Tatung Einstein which I wrote my project papers at university on) one of the last computers to launch running CP/M 2.2.  MSDOS based IBM PC compatibles were by now the de-facto standard.  Even though it was supplied with a number of software packages, like Wordstar, Supercalc and “desolation”  the Vixen was too little, too late to save Osbourne.

 Osbourne advertising – refreshingly honest

“The company that introduced the first portable business computer is back.
We’ve learned that building a $100 million corporation in a year can have its risks.
This is the computer we were going to introduce before you-know-what happened. One year later, it’s still ahead of its time.”

Osbourne Vixen advert admits bankruptcy

Osborne 4 Page advertising

Osborne Vixen main board

 

The Vixen was one of the first portable computers to be offered with an external hard disk drive.  This was attached via a ‘Shugart Associates System Interface’ – which was renamed SCSI later.  Like the Dolch PAC64, the Vixen was loved by users for its excellent keyboard.

Links

Obsolete Computer Museum

Old Computers.net

Wikipedia

Review from 1985

Video Review

Interview with Adam Osborne where he claims building microcomputers is like building washing machines, and there is no innovation left.  The market is owned by IBM and AT&T are coming. “There never will be an IBM in software”

<<1984 IBM Portable 5155 – 1985 – Compaq Portable-III 1987>>

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Previous posts:

  • Contact
  • First Garfield comic strip
  • History of portable computers with a rugged bias
    • AGS MilPAC-III C4ISR Portable with 3 x 17.3″ displays
    • AGS-MRPC-4 – Lunchbox Computer – 2011
    • Compaq Portable III lunchbox computer
    • Dolch FlexPAC
    • Fieldworks FW7500 – 1994
    • Getac A320 Rugged Notebook
    • Getac B300
    • Getac Z710 – Rugged Android Tablet
    • GRiD Compass – 1982
    • IBM Convertible PC
    • IBM Portable 5155 – questionably rugged, questionably portable
    • IBM Portable PC 5110
    • IBM ThinkPad 700
    • iTronix GoBook XR-1 (General Dynamics)
    • Kontron IN-Lite
    • Kontron IP-Lite
    • Kookaburra PC / Dulmont Magnum 1983
    • Osborne 1 – The first portable PC
    • Osborne Vixen rugged luggable
    • Panasonic CF19
    • Panasonic Toughbook CF-25
    • PSION Series 5
    • Sharp PC-1211
    • TRS-80 Model 100 (Radio Shack)
    • TRS-80 Tandy/Radio Shack
  • Rugged Handheld Computers

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