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Data General-One Portable Computer

National Museum of American History

Object Details

Data General Corporation
Description
Data General was primarily a mini-computer company. But in 1984, it introduced the Data General/One (DG-1), a breakthrough personal computer laptop. The Data General/One weighed nine pounds, ran MS-DOS, had dual 3 ½" diskettes, a 79-key full stroke keyboard, 128 KB to 512 KB of RAM, and a monochrome LCD screen. It ran on a CMOS 80C88 processor. Unlike other "luggable" computers of the era, the DG-1 was light enough to carry on travel, but also powerful enough to emulate a desktop.
The DG-1 enjoyed only mediocre success. Its 3 ½" diskettes were slightly ahead of their time, and much popular software was not available in 3 ½" format. Adding to the problem, software copyright protection made copying into the 3 ½" format difficult. In addition, the DG-1 base price was relatively high at $2,895, and the real cost tended to be even higher, because users generally needed both more RAM and an external 5 ¼" drive to run disks from their desktop machines.
This example is a Model No. 2203 with serial number Q0026418.
The carrying case for the Data General/One (1995.0069.02) is divided into two sections. One contains the laptop-sized computer and a part for the floppy drive. the other contains:
1. two power cords
2. a modem cable
3. three 3 1/2" diskettes in a plastic fox. The diskettes all have a paper label that reads: Data General. One has no further marks. A second is marked: DATA GENERAL/ONE PERSONAL SYSTEM (/) MS-DOS REV 2.11 (/) DATA GENERAL CORPORATION (/) 1984 (/) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED (/) MICROSOFT CORPORATION (/) 1981 1982 1983 (/) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. A third is marked: DATA GENERAL / ONE PERSONAL SYSTEM (/) HOW TO USE YOUR DATA GENERAL/ONE. It is copyrighted 1984
4. a spiral-bound Data General One Owner's Manual, Dated September, 1984. The manual contains a loose sheet and a sheet and an owner's manual for the carrying case.
5. six miscellaneous documents on the computer in an envelope marked: Limited Warranty and Service Booklet
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
June E. Mallory
1984
ID Number
1995.0069.01
accession number
1995.0069
catalog number
1995.0069.01
Object Name
microcomputer
Physical Description
plastic (overall material)
glass (overall material)
metal (overall material)
rubber (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 7.5 cm x 30 cm x 34.5 cm; 2 15/16 in x 11 13/16 in x 13 9/16 in
place made
United States: Massachusetts, Westborough
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Computers
Work
Computers & Business Machines
National Museum of American History
Record ID
nmah_743637
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-7fc4-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
Data General DG-1 with peripherals
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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