LGR - The IBM PC110 from 1995

Mike Lee

Goodness, that is a *beautiful* device!

LGR

Not an entire shelf's worth, but I do enjoy picking up a few milliliters of Namiki every so often :)

LGR

That's the same Kevin who loaned me the PC110 for the video :)

Matthew Holder

Someone has been working on a TFT panel mod for this machine that looks awesome https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y34uRHTCeRk

Hugo Cardozo

Aha! Slowly getting back the "Czar LGR" look, I see. And pretty nifty little laptop-phone, too 😂

Michael Kerpan

Did I spot a Pilot Metropolitan in a shot? Is LGR a secret member of Pen Addict tribe? Is he hiding a shelf full of fancy Japanese inks to go along with his fancy Japanese laptops? Questions must be answered!

LGR

Certainly more useful when it comes to performing its core functions. The PC110 feels like a technological dead end in a way, where Palms connect more directly to the smart devices we have now.

LGR

Happy to hear it 😄

LGR

I think it's illegal *not* to display that number when recording footage of an old phone.

LGR

Thanks! Pretty surreal to see.

LGR

After seeing his video, yep!

Murk17

Finally got around to watching this. Love the VU Meter. Did you grab that one yourself or through Techmoan's recommendation?

Paul Han

haha nice quote in the NYT clint!

Andy

Devices like this make me really appreciate the Palm Pilot devices more. At the time, I lusted after all these super compact computers, but In retrospect it's obvious that these sorts of things were pushing too hard to cram everything in, and wound up with a sort of usability disaster. I'm pretty sure my Palm III was genuinely more useful.

Valora Inverse

Oh, that's ridiculously fascinating, never would have thought a PC of this size for that time period would exist, but here we are - and with the not-unexpected, but still surprised they happened compromises. On top of that, very good goofs. The delivery on the Persona one especially got me groaning.

Tktagmedia

This thing is just so incredibly modern-feeling, too cool! To know that tech like this existed back then would have blown my young mind!

Patrick Worsham

8675309, nice!

Seth C

Thank you LGR!

LGR

It varies based on the battery you're using since these camera batteries have quite a range in how much of a charge they hold. But reportedly it's between two and four hours with a newer, higher-capacity battery and one to three hours on the originals.

Maybe I didn't catch it in the video but how is the battery life on this literal baby? Great video, Clint!

G3rn0ti

All the good used to come from Japan.

LGR

Seriously though, heh. This was more capable than my Packard Bell back then, other than the lack of floppy drives. Had no idea such a compact solution like this existed at the time.

LGR

Good comment, good times 👍

LGR

Nice, I love those earlier Vaio machines. Not the most reliable long-term in my experience, as some of the more physical components tend to fail by now, but their design is mighty appealing.

LGR

Quite welcome! It's a mind-opener of a device, and really shifts what I thought was feasible with mini PCs in the Win95 era.

LGR

ALREADY DID, haha. Currently in the process of importing the only complete, working unit I could find.

LGR

I wish you luck! Unfortunately, I'm betting that these are about to get even more unobtainable for a time.

Carey Brown

Wow!! I never knew this existed! It's amazing how advanced this was compared to what we had in 95.

LGR

Price combined all the concessions made for size, no doubt. The market really would've benefited from an upgraded successor.

Grunk

Good call. Good video.

Sb129

I love it, I like small things and old tech like this, someday I'll have something like this (I'll settle for a Libretto). I do have a Win-ME Vaio from early 2001 though (PCG-SR27)

Alyxx the Rat

Woah, thank you so much for this video. This is the coolest littlest sub-notebook I've seen.

Evan B

Wow! that's super neat.. I can see why it's so collectible.. Thanks, Japan! ^_^ Do you think you'll try to buy one of your own, Clint?

Eric Siegel

Well, time to start searching Yahoo Auctions Japan for one of these :-P

Frederick G.

The taco phone skits reminded me of Save by the Bell.

DarkBlue

I did not know that this device existed. It probably didn't catch on because of the price. Too bad actually, a real magic box! Thanks for your review

LGR

Thanks! Yeah I wish I had some easy way to do that. Not having a phone line and such.

Jan-Marten de Boer

Good stuff! I really enjoyed the phone call bits. Was kinda hoping you would let it ring once, but that must be non-trivial to do. Hope you enjoyed your time off.

LGR

Indeed! I was blown away by monochrome palmtops back then, this is just silly.

LGR

The small keyboard is ludicrous when typing normally! Not all bad as a wideboi Blackberry of sorts though.

LGR

Aye, I imagine it would've found a foothold outside of Japan with the right marketing. Perhaps then it would've gotten a better version with a TFT and 486DX/Pentium!

LGR

On loan, yeah! Although I may have... kinda bought my own the other day. It's too cool.

LGR

It's the setup program from Tyrian, music by Alexander Brandon 👍

LGR

It really doesn't feel real even in person. The size, capability, and time it comes from all seem at odds.

LGR

That about sums it up, heh. Tolerable in short stints but by no means a true workstation without adding tons of peripherals.

LGR

No kidding, this thing is *still* capable of blowing a mind or two :)

LGR

I hope it delivered on said excitement!

LGR

Thank you. Enjoy the crabbiness :)

DFawlt Uzr

Dang talk about the jack of all trades for a machine! How awesome!

Zachary Outen

That's pretty damn impressive, as big as the laptops of this era were it's amazing how much power this little thing has

The Enforcer

Aw, it's adorable. I do love the all metal finish and the fact it's trying to do ALL the things. But typing on that small keyboard... I see hand cramps for days. D8

Jim Leonard

That's a very expensive system, I hope it was donated rather than you trying to pay for it :-) I look forward to the video.

Rob Caporetto

What an amazing bit of kit - I think like a bunch of other folk, had it gotten an international release back then… I know my jaw would have dropped, even with the limitations of the screen and the slower hardware.

Pietro Gagliardi

What program is at 17:00?

yyzkevin

Absolutely love these little machines!

John Piscopo

You had me at "it plays Doom in full color" you could have made a 20 minute video of you playing Doom on it and I would have been satisfied...LOL damn that thing is amazing for it's size, so small it dosen't even look real...I love the little DOS icons in the Personaware, amazing that at that time you could those things just running DOS...that blows my mind

TroyTakesPhotos

I would have absolutely loved having one of these. I would have absolutely hated using it.

moosemaimer

Teenage me would've lost his damn mind over this thing back in the day.

Becka Pitts

Haven't even watched and I'm already so happy about this... MUCH EXCITE!

Mya Crosbie-Styles

I really needed this clint. Your work and creators like you have been so important to me in this time. Thank you. I wish I was able to support you more. Also just got my cool crab sticker today for my old compaq armada