188:. Besides the RAM drive, the Athena 1 also contains 512 KB of RAM, originally 64 KB. The unit contains spare room internally for expansion circuit boards that would have connected to the existing motherboard via an expansion bus socket. Mitchell had eyed a 16-bit processor upgrade as one such circuit board in the early days of the laptop's development.
220:
which featured an 8-line LCD panel. Mitchell expressed wanting to upgrade the Athena 1's LCD panel to that of the PC-8201 before it released to market. The Athena 1 was ultimately released with the 4-line display in 1983, although
Mitchell hinted at a retrofit upgrade kit featuring a 16-line LCD for
191:
Mitchell designed the Athena 1 with no internal floppy drive, as was common for portables at the time, to keep the laptop relatively lightweight at 15 pounds (6.8 kg). His company offered an external 5.25-inch floppy drive as an optional peripheral. Some of the laptop's weight comes from the
275:. As well, the kit came packaged with a copy of MS-DOS itself. The kit in practice made the computer a tri-processor machine based on two platforms, CP/M and MS-DOS. According to computer journalist Michael Nadeau, this kit was the first use of a CMOS version of the 8086 in a laptop.
291:"for the discriminating ", delivering a prototype of his computer to the press just eight months after incorporating his company, in February 1983. Named the Athena 1 (or Athena I), the laptop was one of the first to incorporate
196:, which has a maximum rated capacity of two hours. The laptop measures 14.5 by 11 by 3.375 inches (36.83 by 27.94 by 8.57 cm) and sports an off-white plastic outer shell. Mitchell commissioned the
221:
release in
November 1983. This never came to pass, however, and instead Mitchell promised an upgraded version of the Athena 1 with an 16-line display, as well as the kit, for 1984.
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programming language, instead opting for JRT Pascal, as he felt the latter was so ubiquitous that most purchasers of his laptop would already have it. The Athena 1's
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designed for minimal power draw. As these chips were somewhat more expensive, Athena resorted to using RAM chips fabricated using the more power-hungry
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204:, to design and manufacture the laptop's grey and black keyboard. He meanwhile purchased the laptop's display panels from
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287:, founded Athena Computer & Electronic Systems in June 1982. Mitchell set out the company to design a high-end
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of between 128 KB and 1 MB, depending on the configuration ordered, made up of 16 KB dynamic
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microprocessor. This kit gave the laptop the ability to run application software programmed for
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Athena
Computer & Electronic Systems dissolved in 1987, having only released the Athena 1.
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In the first quarter of 1984, Athena released an upgrade kit for the laptop which housed a
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chips. The Athena 1 features dual NCS-800 microprocessors; the NCS-800 was a second-source
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supports connecting up to 15 other machines together using the laptop's built-in dual-
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capable of displaying 80 columns and 4 fours. Athena was beaten to market by
685:. Schiffer Book for Collectors (Illustrated ed.). Schiffer Publishing.
169:
157:
28:
712:(2). McPheters, Wolfe & Jones: 132 – via the Internet Archive.
729:(10). Gernsback Publications: 75–176 – via the Internet Archive.
232:
interpreter, Chang Labs' Profit Plan spreadsheet application, and the
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140:, an American computer company active from 1982 to 1987 and based in
133:
59:
264:
241:
233:
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623:(9). Hayden Publishing: 102–110 – via the Internet Archive.
606:(3). Hayden Publishing: 167–174 – via the Internet Archive.
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text editor are all included on the laptop's internal 12 KB
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chip. Mitchell eschewed from shipping the Athena 1 with the
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144:. The Athena 1 was one of the first laptops to make use of
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14.5 by 11 by 3.375 inches (36.83 by 27.94 by 8.57 cm)
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369:
367:
339:
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788:(4). McGraw-Hill: 32–35 – via the Internet Archive.
771:(4). McGraw-Hill: 48–51 – via the Internet Archive.
746:(5). McGraw-Hill: 91–92 – via the Internet Archive.
674:(5). McGraw-Hill: 32–40 – via the Internet Archive.
657:(20). CW Communications: 14, 16 – via Google Books.
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640:(12). CW Communications: 1, 4 – via Google Books.
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596:"Portables get a lift with new upgrades, new entries"
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as its primary means of operation and data storage.
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579:(1985 ed.). R. R. Booker Company. 1984.
576:Bowker's Complete Sourcebook of Personal Computing
27:"Athena 1" redirects here. For the rocket, see
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630:"Portable Athena I uses solid-state storage"
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34:
647:"Start-up tries to keep up with technology"
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563:"Athena Computer & Electronic Systems"
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252:serial ports; the laptops also house one
184:, while the other serves as the laptop's
662:Hildebrand, J. D. (November 1983).
138:Athena Computer & Electronic Systems
51:Athena Computer & Electronic Systems
43:Athena Computer & Electronic Systems
18:Athena Computer & Electronic Systems
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358:
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803:Computer-related introductions in 1983
613:"Portable PCs: The race for smallness"
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565:. OpenCorporates. n.d. Archived from
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7:
628:Freiburger, Paul (March 21, 1983a).
759:Grzanka, Leonard G. (April 1984).
645:Freiburger, Paul (May 16, 1983b).
25:
611:Feldman, Steve (September 1983).
589:– via the Internet Archive.
156:The Athena1 contains an internal
736:"Otrona, Athena go for Big Blue"
734:Staff writer (November 1983b).
700:Staff writer (February 1983a).
664:"Computers Fit for a Briefcase"
285:San Juan Capistrano, California
148:as its primary storage medium.
142:San Juan Capistrano, California
776:Fleig, Clare P. (April 1984).
180:. One of the NCS-800s handles
1:
761:"From Ticker Tape to Bubbles"
594:Feldman, Steve (March 1984).
136:computer released in 1983 by
778:"Battery Packs Cut the Cord"
717:Stern, Marc (October 1983).
71:; 41 years ago
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702:"Battery-powered portable"
682:Collectible Microcomputers
172:processor manufactured by
26:
695:– via Google Books.
679:Nadeau, Michael (2002).
228:2.2 operating system, a
279:Development and release
186:central processing unit
617:Systems & Software
600:Systems & Software
308:MicroOffice RoadRunner
263:, the CMOS version of
174:National Semiconductor
146:solid-state technology
101:National Semiconductor
254:parallel printer port
569:on January 30, 2023.
214:NEC Home Electronics
719:"Your Own Computer"
542:OpenCorporates n.d.
293:solid-state storage
202:Spokane, Washington
36:
782:Portable Computers
765:Portable Computers
740:Portable Computers
668:Portable Computers
518:Staff writer 1983a
502:Staff writer 1983b
487:Staff writer 1983b
432:Staff writer 1983a
404:Staff writer 1983a
283:David Mitchell of
69:February 1983
723:Radio Electronics
546:R. R. Booker 1984
289:portable computer
194:lead–acid battery
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152:Specifications
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392:Feldman 1984
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359:Feldman 1983
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261:Harris 80C86
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182:input/output
178:NMOS process
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103:NCS-800 (Ă—2)
66:Release date
48:Manufacturer
329:Nadeau 2002
218:NEC PC-8201
111:16 KB
88:Solid-state
797:Categories
586:0835219313
555:References
530:Stern 1983
230:JRT Pascal
198:Key Tronic
119:Dimensions
651:InfoWorld
634:InfoWorld
314:Citations
234:MiniVEDIT
192:internal
170:Zilog Z80
158:RAM drive
40:Developer
302:See also
130:Athena 1
35:Athena 1
29:Athena I
76:1983-02
74: (
689:
583:
273:MS-DOS
250:RS-232
134:laptop
108:Memory
60:Laptop
265:Intel
242:BASIC
206:Epson
90:media
84:Media
687:ISBN
581:ISBN
269:8086
246:BIOS
226:CP/M
224:The
210:LCDs
166:CMOS
128:The
56:Type
267:'s
238:ROM
162:RAM
113:RAM
96:CPU
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