History of Laptops - NEC UltraLite

NEC UltraLite

The NEC UltraLite, released in mid-1989, was perhaps the first notebook computer, weighing just over 2 kg (4.4 lbs). In lieu of a floppy or hard drive, it contained a 2 megabyte RAM drive, but this reduced its utility as well as its size. Although portable computers with clamshell LCD screens already existed before it, the Ultralite was the first computer in a notebook form-factor. It was significantly smaller than all portable computers that came before it. People can actually carry-it like a notebook and fold its clamshell LCD like a book cover over the rest of its body.