IBM PC Convertible

Introduced to consumers in 1986, the IBM PC Convertible is IBM’s first laptop computer. This revolutionary computer weighed less than 13 pounds and cost consumers approximately $2000. The convertible system was light enough to be carried around but could also function as a primary desktop machine, with a detachable monochrome LCD screen. With no internal operating system, the computer runs off of operating disks in the floppy drive and was introduced with 265K of RAM and memory, and dual 720K 3.5” floppy drives. While the computer did not fair well in the market, many of the components first introduced in this model became standard in future models, including the dual 3.5” floppy drive, the “resume” feature which allowed the computer to sleep rather than be turned off completely, and the option to run the computer with batteries.