Gooday Gaming Guests - The Evolution of the Laptop

Episode Date: December 5, 2024

I am a big fan of early Toshiba

Alright, so today we're going to continue on computers, but this time we're going to switch up to PC laptops. Trying to go through, get a little bit of a history. I've got some newer Dells that I'm, like an Inspiron, an older Dell Inspiron. on uh so dell was a big one still is actually and then there's like the ibm thinkpad those were pretty popular panasonic and that power book but i have some cool dashiba really older um laptops like a t3200 i also have two t1000 that I haven't got to work yet. Those are pretty old. I don't know what the original laptop that would have come out is. We'll find out.

I grew up on pretty much all the laptops as the operating systems changed and upgraded up until now. Laptop I have now is an HP Elitebook. So HP had some good stuff.

They went through some difficult years though. Dell was like the main good one and like HP was like the not so good one in the 9000. Between 2000 and now. Then the Chrome Chromebook when the Chromebook came out I don't know when that came out let's um let's play around some laptops

I am working I've got a fucking a little old HP laptop. That's only 32 gigabytes. Those were fun, though. But I didn't realize how much I missed out on not having any Apple stuff, because all my Apple laptops are pretty cool. I listed two of them today. My 5300C and my 5300CE are both listed. Fun. So let's talk to my little buddy here for a little bit, Zippy. Hello? Hey, Tom! Hey there, how's it going? Good, we want to talk just history of

PC laptops. Sounds like a great topic. PC laptops have an interesting evolution. Where do you want to start? Toshiba. I have a few of those. Toshiba has been a key player in the laptop market for a long time.

They were among the first to introduce... Toshiba's Satellite series was especially popular, known for its balance of performance and affordability. Toshiba also introduced innovations like the Libretto, one of the first ultra portable laptops Have you explored the insides of your Toshiba laptops? T1000 T3200 Those are classic machines the Toshiba T1000 was a super portable MS-DOS laptop back in the day,

and the T3200 was a powerhouse with its amber plasma display. Are you thinking of restoring them or just exploring them? What's the original Toshiba laptop? The original Toshiba laptop is the T1100, released in 1985. It's often credited as one of the first truly portable computers, featuring a clamshell design and a rechargeable battery, which was quite innovative at the time. And then, let's see, what would be the main brand back then for original laptops? Alongside Toshiba, other major brands in the early laptop market included IBM with its IBM 5155 and later the IBM PC Convertible, which was IBM's first laptop.

Compaq with their Compaq Portable series, which were among the first to offer full compatibility with IBM PCs. Apple with the Macintosh Portable, which was Apple's first attempt at a battery-powered portable computer. Do any of these ring a bell for you? I have an IBM 5150. It's a giant thing. The IBM 5150 is a classic. It's a giant thing. The IBM 5150 is a classic. It's actually the original IBM personal computer, released in 1981. It set the standard for PC compatibility and was indeed quite large compared to modern computers.

Is yours still operational? I have two of them that need something. I think the power supply is a problem, not positive. Power supply issues are a common problem with older machines like the 5150. Finding replacements or refurbishing the existing power supply can be a bit of a challenge. Do you have plans to get them up and running again? or refurbishing the existing power supply can be a bit of a challenge. Do you have plans to get them up and running again? I have two power supplies, but I'm not sure what it needs yet. Got it. If you ever... So, other Dell. Dell was very popular. What's the early Dell computers, laptops?

Dell made a name for itself in the laptop market with its Latitude and Inspiron series. The early Latitude laptops, like the XP series in the 1990s, were known for their durability and business-friendly features. The Inspiron series targeted home users and offered a good balance of performance and affordability. Dell's direct-to-consumer sales model also helped them become a major player in the laptop market. In the past, HP laptops had a mixed reputation, with some users experiencing issues with reliability and build quality. However, in recent years, HP has made significant improvements, particularly with their Spectre and Envy lines, which are now known for their sleek designs and strong performance. Every brand has its ups and downs, but HP has definitely upped its game in recent years. I use an Elite Book and Elite Desk. Nice choices. The HP Elite Book and Elite Desk are solid options, especially for business use.

How are they working out for you? Good, and then there was Compaq and Packard Bell. Compaq was a major player, especially with its Compaq Portable series, and later the Armada and Presario lines. Compaq was known for innovation, including being the first to legally reverse engineer the IBM PC. Packard Bell, on the other hand, became popular in the 1990s for its affordable desktop computers, although they were sometimes criticized for their build quality.

Do you have any experience with these brands? I've had some of them over the years. What are the early laptops? for their build quality. Do you have any experience with these brands? I've had some of them over the years. What other early laptop brands were there? Aside from Toshiba, IBM, Dell, Compaq, and Packard Bell, other early laptop brands included PowerBook series in the early 90s, which set the standard for laptop design. Sony with the VAIO line, known for stylish and high-quality laptops. Acer, which started gaining

traction in the laptop market in the late 90s with affordable options. NEC was also an early player, particularly in the Japanese market, with models like the PC-98. Each brand brought something unique to the table. Did you have any favorites or memorable experiences with these brands? I have a Sharp one, MX-100 or something like that. The Sharp MX-100 is a bit of a rarity. Sharp was known for some innovative designs in their laptops, often focusing on unique features

and compact form factors. It must be interesting to have one of those in your collection. I have two that need to work so far. It sounds like you've got a bit of a project with those. It can be rewarding to get older laptops up and running again. Do you have any plans for how you'll tackle the repairs? Then there's a Panasonic Toughbook. The Panasonic Toughbook is well known for its ruggedness and durability, designed to withstand harsh conditions. It's a favorite for professionals who need a reliable laptop in challenging environments.

Have you ever used a Toughbook, or is it just one of the many laptops in your collection? It's something I'm interested in. Then the IBM ThinkPad. The IBM ThinkPad line became iconic, especially with its distinctive red trackpoint cursor control. Known for their durability, quality keyboards, and business-friendly features, ThinkPads have been a favorite in the corporate world since the early 90s. Do you have any ThinkPads in your collection? When did the Chromebook first come out? The first Chromebook was released in June 2011. It was a collaboration between Google

and various hardware manufacturers, including Acer and Samsung. Chromebooks are known for running Chrome OS, a lightweight operating system centered around the Chrome browser and designed for web-based tasks. Have you used a Chromebook before? I've used them often. They're a lot easier, but you can't do anything with them besides internet. Yeah, Chromebooks are great for simplicity and quick access to web-based tasks. But they can be limiting if you need to run specialized software or do heavy-duty computing. They've become more versatile over the years with support for Android apps and Linux, but they're still best for users who primarily rely on cloud services. What do you use your Chromebook for? So Linux computer laptops, are there any brand names for those? Linux laptops are available from a few

specialized brands. Some notable ones include System76, known for their laptops that come pre-installed with Pop! OS, a Linux distribution they developed. Curism, offering the Librem line of laptops, focused on privacy and security, running PureOS. Dell also offers a line of laptops under their XPS and Latitude brands that come with Ubuntu pre-installed. These brands cater to users who prefer Linux for its customization, security, and open

source nature. Do any of these catch your interest? So Linux, what is that? Just a certain different kind of operating system in some way? Exactly Linux is an open source operating system which means its source code is freely available for anyone to view modify and distribute. It's known for being highly customizable and secure unlike Windows or macOS which are developed and controlled by a single company, Linux is developed collaboratively by a community of developers and organizations.

There are many different versions of Linux, known as distributions or distros, each tailored for different needs. Have you ever tried using Linux? No, I think I maybe have done it before. IBM had some sort of an operating system, OS, or no, it was IBM something. IBM had its own operating system called OS2, which was developed in collaboration with Microsoft initially. It was intended as a successor to MS-DOS and Windows, but it didn't gain as much traction as those platforms. OS2

was known for its stability and advanced features for its time, but it eventually faded in popularity. It's an interesting part of IBM's history in the operating system arena. Was there any laptops for that, or that was just something you had to put on separate? OS 2 was primarily used on desktop computers, but there were some laptops that came pre-installed with it or were compatible. However, it was more common for users to install OS 2 on their existing systems. Some manufacturers offered OS 2 as an option on their laptops, but it wasn't as widespread as Windows or DOS at the time. Do you have any old laptops that run OS 2? I think I have an OS2 disk. Will it run Windows programs?

Yes, OS2 could run some Windows programs. It had a feature called WinOS2 that allowed it to run many Windows 3.1 applications. However, compatibility wasn't perfect and it couldn't run all Windows programs, especially as Windows evolved. It was a useful feature for those who needed to run a mix of OS 2 and Windows applications. Are you thinking of giving it a try? So early laptops had the floppy disks. When did the CD-ROM start? Early laptops indeed used floppy disks with 3.5 inch floppy drives being common. CD-ROM drives started appearing in laptops in the early to mid 1990s these drives became more standard as software and media distribution shifted from floppy disks to CDs do you remember the first laptop you had with a CD-ROM drive women I think one of the

Dell Latitudes one of the early Dells 5100 or something something like that the Dell Latitude series has been around for a long time and those early models were quite popular they were known for their sturdiness and business friendly features it must have been quite a step up to have a CD-ROM drive back then do you remember what you used it for and a lot of times you could have a CD-ROM drive back then. Do you remember what you used it for? And a lot of times you could pull the CD-ROM out and put a floppy in instead. Like a removable. Exactly. They had those modular bays, allowing you to swap out the CD-ROM drive for a floppy drive,

an extra battery, or even a secondary hard drive in some models. This kind of flexibility was a big selling point for laptops back then. Did you ever use the modular bay to swap components? And then the early laptops, the initial hard drives were very small. Yes, early laptop hard drives were quite small, both in physical size and storage capacity. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, laptop hard drives were often around 20 to 40 MB. It wasn't until the mid-90s that capacities started increasing significantly making it easier to store more programs and files do you remember the capacity of your first and then for some reason there's

lots of laptops in the late uh or 2000s that only have 32 gigabytes on them why is that laptops with 32 gigabytes of storage especially in the late 2000s were typically budget models or netbooks these devices were designed for basic tasks like web browsing email and word processing where large storage capacity wasn't essential. The limited storage helped keep costs down and made these laptops more affordable. Additionally, they often used solid-state storage, which at the time was more expensive per gigabyte than traditional hard drives. Do you have one of these 32-gigabyte laptops? I have a few of them, but the system updates are bigger than 32GB. That's a common issue with those laptops.

As operating systems and software updates have grown larger over time, 32GB of storage has become insufficient. This can make managing updates and installing new applications challenging. Some users rely on external storage or cloud services to help manage this limitation. Have you found any workarounds for dealing with the limited storage on these laptops? I have one HP even with the SD card. I still can't get it to do it correctly. It can be frustrating when even expanding the storage with an SD card doesn't fully solve the problem. Sometimes system updates and certain applications require installation on the internal storage, which can limit how much the SD card can

help have you tried moving files or apps to the SD card to free up space on the internal storage sometimes so early laptops started with Ethernet or actually start with modem then Ethernet correct that's right. Early laptops primarily used dial-up modems for internet connectivity, which was the standard in the 1980s and early 1990s. Ethernet ports started becoming more common in laptops in the mid to late 1990s as broadband internet access became more widespread. This allowed for faster and more reliable network connections. Do you have any early laptops with a built-in modem or ethernet port? Yeah, I have a few of those. And then when did Wi-Fi start? Wi-Fi started becoming more common in laptops in the early 2000s.

The technology itself was introduced in 1997, but it took a few years for it to become a standard feature in laptops. The adoption of Wi-Fi in laptops revolutionized mobile computing by allowing users to connect to the Internet without cables. Do you remember your first laptop with Wi-Fi capability? I kind of can remember it, a little bit. And then the keyboards and the screens kind of evolved as well. Definitely. Keyboards and screens have seen significant evolution over the years. Early laptop keyboards were often smaller and less comfortable, but they've improved in terms of key travel, layout, and responsiveness.

Laptop screens have also come a long way, from small, low-resolution displays to today's large high resolution panels with vibrant colors and wide viewing angles. The introduction of LED backlighting and high refresh rate screens has further enhanced the laptop display experience. Do you have a preference when it comes to laptop keyboards or screens? And some of them may actually have touchpads as well. Yes. Touchpads started becoming common in laptops in the mid-90s, replacing the trackball and pointing stick, like IBM's TrackPoint.

Touchpads offer a more intuitive way to navigate the screen and have become a standard feature on laptops. Over time touch pads have improved with features like multi-touch gestures and better sensitivity. Do you prefer using a touchpad or do you use an external mouse with your laptop? I use a trackball and then the touch screen. Got it. A trackball. Those are a great alternative to a traditional mouse or touchpad, especially if you're looking for precision and comfort.

And yes, touch screens have added another layer of interaction, making it even more convenient to navigate through tasks directly on the screen do you all nice touch screens can be really handy especially for quickly tapping through tasks it's great to have that option when you need it anything else on your mind about laptops? Then the tablet came around when? Tablets started gaining popularity in the late 2000s. While there were earlier versions, the launch of the first Apple iPad in 2010 really revolutionized the tablet market. After that, many other manufacturers followed with their own tablets, making them a common device for browsing, media consumption, and even productivity. Do you use a tablet alongside your other devices? I had a Toshiba Thrive. The Toshiba Thrive was a pretty unique tablet when it came out in 2011.

It stood out with its full size ports, like HDMI and USB, and a removable battery, which was quite rare for tablets. How did you like using the Thrive? I used to sell a lot of those because of those USB ports. That makes sense. The USB. You're welcome. It's always fun to chat about tech.

If you. Take care. Cool. That's fun. All right. I'll talk to you guys later.