Compaq Portable II

The Compaq Portable II was a smaller 80286 luggable with a built-in amber CRT, high-capacity floppy drive and internal hard-disk options. It reduced the bulk of Compaq’s earlier AT-class portable while keeping expansion-card compatibility.

Its more compact case showed the rapid refinement of luggable PCs immediately before battery-powered laptops became practical.

Notable Features

• More compact luggable case than the Portable 286
• 80286 processing with ISA expansion
• Built-in amber CRT and detachable keyboard

Historical Significance

• Its more compact case showed the rapid refinement of luggable PCs immediately before battery-powered laptops became practical.

Collector’s Notes

• The plasma-coloured CRT presentation is distinctive; hinges, keyboard cable, power supply and old hard disk deserve close inspection.
• Memory, storage, displays and expansion hardware should be documented because configurations often changed during a system’s working life.

Specifications

Technical Information
Name	Compaq Portable II
Manufacturer	Compaq
Launched	Saturday, February 1, 1986
Country	United States
CPU	Intel 80286
Units Sold
Form Factor	Compact luggable
Power	Mains AC
Networking	Via expansion card
Operating System	Compaq MS-DOS
Expansion / I/O	Two ISA expansion slots; serial, parallel and external display
Keyboard	Detachable keyboard forming the case front
Storage	1.2 MB 5.25-inch floppy; 20 MB hard disk on common configurations
Sound	PC speaker
Colours	Internal monochrome; external colour
Graphics	CGA-compatible colour output and monochrome internal display
Display	Built-in 9-inch amber CRT
ROM	Compaq BIOS
RAM	256 KB standard; expandable
CPU Speed	6 or 8 MHz