The History of the Notebook    (outlines of an article in PC World)                                                                 HistNoteb-test                                                  

   
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THE CLAMSHELLS.
The IBM ThinkPad 701C, which arrived in March 1995, included the new thin-film-transistor display, a 486DX2 processor running at 50 MHz, and a 14.4Kbps fax/modem while weighing in at 4.3 pounds. Other clamshells of note include the 1996 HP OmniBook 800 notebook,  which proved that less is more. It had a 10.4-inch active-matrix screen, 16MB of RAM, a 1.44GB hard drive, a PCI bus, a 133-MHz Pentium processor and it weighed only 3.75 pounds.  At the same time Toshiba's T-3100 series was the company's first U.S. laptop line.  

THE POWERBOOKS.
Arriving to the party a bit late, the PowerBook was such a leap forward that it has become popular even in non-Apple circles. The "all-in-one" PowerBook line of the 100, 140, and 170, was a big step forward for Apple, introducing the clamshell design and weighing approximately 5 pounds. The 140 and 170 would become the big hits to boost Apple to innovator status in the portables department. Recent generations of PowerBooks - including the latest Platinum - continue to lead the portables market in speed and design.  

THE HANDHELDS, PALMTOPS.
Released in 1996, the Compaq PC Companion was the first of the next-generation portables running Windows CE, complete with a wide screen and a keyboard. The PC Companion weighed less than 1 pound, at 7 inches wide and 3.5 inches deep. Running on batteries that supposedly lasted as long as 20 hours, the PC Companion (for the 2MB RAM version) cost only $499.  But Compaq wasn't the first out of the gate with a palmtop/handheld device: In 1991 HP released its HP 95LX palmtop PC, weighing in at 11 ounces and running Lotus 1-2-3 software with calculation features and data-communication capabilities.

 

  Questions on the Text
 

1. Decide if the following statements are true, false or "not in the text"

 

true

false

 n.i.txt

1.        The first TFT screens emerged in the middle of the     1990s.

 

 

 

2.        Data transfer to other companies was not possible with      the Thinkpad 701C.

 

 

 

3.        IBM’s best portable PC was called PowerBook.

 

 

 

4.        The OmniBook 800 was quite heavy.

 

 

 

5.        Handhelds came out about ten years ago.

 

 

 

6.        The PC companion cost less than $500.

 

 

 

7.        The latest Apple notebooks have lost their leading       position

 

 

 

8.        Even users of IBM/Windows computers liked the      Powerbooks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Answer in very short but complete sentences!

a. What features are Apple's Notebooks known for?

 

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b. What is the big advantage of Palmtops?

 

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c. What OS do/did many handhelds have?

 

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3. Translate into English

a. Apple produziert seit όber zehn Jahren sehr gute tragbare Computer

 

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b. 1992 hat IBM den ersten PC auf den Markt gebracht, der erfolgreich war.

 

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4.  Translate ll. 18 – 20 (...deep)