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Remember the first time you saw someone using a portable computer? Maybe it was in an airport terminal or a hotel lobby during a business trip. Perhaps it was a live demonstration at a trade show or the local office-products outlet. Chances are, wherever you were, you marveled at the notion of a computer reduced to notebook size that was fully operational without cables or plugs. However, once you saw the price, you may have decided a portable computer was an extravagant, nonessential capital investment. Well, take another look. Portable computing is not only affordable, it's also a practical way to do business in the '90s.
Since their debut in the early 1980s, portable computers have become remarkably faster, lighter and less expensive. Today's models are packed with features that complement traditional desktop systems and, in some cases, are suitable as primary systems. Companies, large and small, are using portables for a variety of purposes such as sales tools, animated presentations and word processing. Whenever someone is away from the office, but needs his computer, portable computing is a viable solution.
The market
When first introduced, portable computers weren't so portable. These early models, called laptops, weighed as much as 15 pounds and had limited features. The earliest models weren't even battery operated, but required AC power. The latest generation of portables are sleeker and power packed, with some weighing less than 4 pounds.
Notebooks and subnotebooks (also called ultra notebooks) are the two primary categories of portables currently on the market. Notebooks weigh from 4-1/2 pounds to 8 pounds; subnotebooks weigh 4-1/2 pounds or less and generally don't come with an integrated floppy disk drive. According to Dataquest, Inc., a San Jose, Calif., research firm that tracks the portable computing market, approximately 2.8 million notebooks and 480,000 subnotebooks were shipped worldwide in 1994. The firm projects that those numbers will climb in the next 5 years to 3.8 million notebooks and 4 million subnotebooks.
Dataquest analyst Mike McGuire contends that more small and midsize companies will help boost the portable market during the rest of the decade. "The small and medium-size business is a small part of the market, but as prices go down, this portion will grow," says McGuire. "Some manufacturers are...