Portable computers also provide for more disk storage by using standard disk drives and provide for multiple drives. This allows mission specific cards such as test, A/D, or communication protocol (IEEE-488, 1553) to be installed. A portable computer in this usage, versus a laptop or other mobile computing device, have a standard motherboard or backplane providing plug-in slots for add-in cards. Portable computers, more narrowly defined, are distinct from desktop replacement computers in that they usually were constructed from full-specification desktop components, and often do not incorporate features associated with laptops or mobile devices. In Japan they were often called 'Bentocom'. They are also called 'Portable Workstations' or 'Portable PCs'. Larger portable computers were commonly known as 'Lunchbox' or 'Luggable' computers. Portable computers, by their nature, are generally microcomputers. The 2010s introduced wearable computers such as smartwatches. Laptops were followed by lighter models, so that in the 2000s mobile devices and by 2007 smartphones made the term almost meaningless. These 'luggable' computers lacked the next technological development, not requiring an external power source that feature was introduced by the laptop. The next major portables were Osborne's 24-pound (11 kg) CP/M-based Osborne 1 (1981) and Compaq's 28-pound (13 kg), advertised as 100% IBM PC compatible Compaq Portable (1983). The first commercially sold portable was the 50-pound (23 kg) IBM 5100, introduced 1975. The MIT Suitcase Computer, MIT Digital Systems Laboratory, 1975Ī portable computer is a computer designed to be easily moved from one place to another and included a display and keyboard together, with a single plug, much like later desktop computers called all-in-ones (AIO), that integrate the system's internal components into the same case as the display.

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