FYI: IBM's New Notebook Computer Has Larger Screen, Keyboard>IBM

[Ken Yee/UB Networks <Ken_Yee@UB.com>]

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Date: 02/23/95 08:35:37 PM
Subject: IBM's New Notebook Computer Has Larger Screen, Keyboard>IBM

NEW YORK -AP- International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) next month
will begin selling a small portable computer with a large screen and a
unique keyboard that slides to full size when the machine is opened.
The machine, called the ThinkPad 701C, solves two major complaints
- tiny screens and cramped keys - about devices known as subnotebook
computers.
The product is strategically important to IBM since its PC
operation has been mired in difficulties. IBM, which had led the
industry in PC sales since the mid-1980s, fell behind three other
companies last year and, some analysts estimate, lost $1 billion in
that business.
Notebook computers have been profitable for the company but, until
recently, IBM had trouble meeting demand for them.
Subnotebooks are defined as computers that weigh less than four
pounds. To reach that size, computer makers previously have shrunk the
keys and kept screens tiny.
But on the new IBM computer, an 11.5-inch keyboard has been made to
fit on a machine that is only 9.5 inches long.
When the lid is lifted, a series of levers and arms slide the left
half of the keyboard to the left and the right half down and to the
right until they fit together.
''If you're someone who likes watching the gears of a watch turn,
you'll love this thing,'' said Brian Nadel, senior editor of PC
Magazine, which put the machine on the cover of its current issue.
The new IBM machine also has a screen with a 10.4-inch diagonal
measurement, compared with a 7-inch screen on earlier models.
IBM has priced the machine at a premium, however. A ThinkPad 701C
with a 486 chip running at 50 MHz and a 540 megabyte hard drive is
expected to cost $5,000 when it goes on sale March 7.
IBM today declined to confirm details about the product or release
photos of it, despite the coverage in PC Magazine and other industry
publications. Spokesman Mike Corrado said IBM executives do not want to
ruin splashy rollout plans for March 7.
3:10 PM




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