An Amstrad NC100 has a new purpose in life
We're used to laptops with flip-up screens; this article is written on one and you are likely to read it on another. But there's another laptop form factor that's won legions of fans since the days of the TRS-80 Model 100, the hingeless flat panel and both keyboard and screen on its top surface. It surfaced most recently in the DevTerm, which inspired [0x17] to try building its own. Instead of starting from scratch, he chose to use the hull of an Amstrad NC100 from the 1990s.
This series of Amstrad laptops followed the company's proven course of repackaging decade-old technology for the consumer market, and were Z80-based machines that shared much with the word processor PCW series office desk. Replaced LCD, motherboard and character keyboard with modern LCD, Raspberry PI and custom ergonomic layout keyboard with all associated modules and cables.
The result is unmistakably a slim, neat laptop we could see ourselves using. There may be questions regarding repurposing a retro computer when the same result could have been achieved with a bit of CAD work and a 3D printer, but perhaps the machine should speak for itself about it.
While this isn't the first Amstrad laptop we've seen recently, the company also made some unusually shaped PCs in the 1990s.
We're used to laptops with flip-up screens; this article is written on one and you are likely to read it on another. But there's another laptop form factor that's won legions of fans since the days of the TRS-80 Model 100, the hingeless flat panel and both keyboard and screen on its top surface. It surfaced most recently in the DevTerm, which inspired [0x17] to try building its own. Instead of starting from scratch, he chose to use the hull of an Amstrad NC100 from the 1990s.
This series of Amstrad laptops followed the company's proven course of repackaging decade-old technology for the consumer market, and were Z80-based machines that shared much with the word processor PCW series office desk. Replaced LCD, motherboard and character keyboard with modern LCD, Raspberry PI and custom ergonomic layout keyboard with all associated modules and cables.
The result is unmistakably a slim, neat laptop we could see ourselves using. There may be questions regarding repurposing a retro computer when the same result could have been achieved with a bit of CAD work and a 3D printer, but perhaps the machine should speak for itself about it.
While this isn't the first Amstrad laptop we've seen recently, the company also made some unusually shaped PCs in the 1990s.
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