***NOTE*** This has now been sold and is NOT available
Straight from the Dinosaur Attic is an excellent representative from the “Classic Computing” era of the 1990’s. This is a circa 1994 IBM 730T pen computing slate.
Slate computers predate what we now call tablets and notebooks and this one is complete with the IBM 730T computer itself, wireless pen stylus, both internal battery packs, 105mb PCMCIA HDD, soft cover case, AC adapter/power supply and the docking station.
Dinosaur Attic is a non-smoking environment, so there is no “Joe Camel” effect on electronics (or anything else) where they smell like an ashtray, but after a quick clean-up with a mostly damp cloth and some alcohol cleaner I was ready to check it out.
The batteries did not hold a charge but no surprise there. I did not test, but assume that this would not power on with the AC adapter unless at least one of the batteries was inserted (the computer has two batteries in the two slots). The computer displays: (c) IBM corporation 1983, 1993 all rights reserved 07808KB ok
So it does boot, the PCMCIA hard drive does work and there is 8mb of memory installed. The contrast, back-light, and invert color controls all work so the monochrome screen functions. I could not test the stylus as the O/S, while it boots up and flashes windows 95, only boots to DOS so there is no “pen os” to power and test the stylus operation. More on this below. The raw specs on this are: Intel 486SX 33MHz CPU VGA Monochrome 9.5" STN (Wacom VGA) display with 640x480 resolution 8MB memory standard (2) Type II PCMCIA slots - one of which has the 105MB PCMCIA HDD
Initial Boot The 730T did boot up, flashed a “Windows 95” screen and then dropped to DOS. At this point it’s pretty much non-functional as no useable appplication has been loaded for the stylus to work. I connected the docking station, PC keyboard and mouse (PS/2 connectors) which turns this into an all-in-one computer and rebooted,
Now from the DOS prompt, a quick directory listing made it apparent that the OS had been partially replaced with a linux environment (which was probably me - it’s been awhile since I played with this). Unfortunately typing linux at the prompt did start the linux boot but that failed in a kernel panic. The hardware is working but the disk needs to be re-formatted and a new OS loaded. This test does prove that the docking station is working and also feeds AC power through to the 730T :-).
Operating systems The 730 ran a few operating systems, including PenDOS, Pen for OS/2 Warp and Windows for Pen Computing. I know PenDos and Windows for Pen Computing are available on the net to download but that’s a project for whoever becomes the next owner.
The Hardware The 730T unit measures 10.6 x 8.3 x 1.4 inches and with stylus and carrying case weighs 5.2 pounds The Docking Sation clocks in at 8.4 pounds Power supply weighs about 1.2 pounds. This is a **solid* device theres no “flimsy feel” the entire bottom case is made of solid magnesium and the docking station feels like steel.
Screen The screen contrast is marginal (way it was made NOT a defect) but the somewhat edged surface gives it a nice feel. The backlight can be turned on and off through touch controls on the left side of the screen along with volume, brightness, and sleep mode. LEDs indicate battery status, disk activity, and power status.
Ports and expansion The 730T kit includes a docking station that adds a number of ports including serial, parallel, SVGA, floppy, power, and PS/2 style keyboard ports. The 730T also has room for either two PCMCIA Type II cards or three Type II cards. The included PCMCIA hard drive takes up one sloti so there is room for either one or two other cards in the remaining slot.
Pricing The original price for the 730T ranged from $2,849 for the 8MB diskless base unit to about $3200 for the kit as configured with a 105mb hard drive and the docking station. Perfect for the hard-charging Type A executive of the era who lived in “Lotus Notes”.
https://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28039
http://ibm-pc.org/drivers/pen/pen.htm (apparently pen drivers for the 730T and windows for pen computing (installs on top of windows 3.x) software)
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