Digital HiNote

The Digital HiNote was a series of laptop computers manufactured by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) from 1994 until 1998 and by Compaq from 1998 until 2002. It was generally positively reviewed by technology journalists. The series consisted of the VP and Ultra models which were based on the i486, Pentium, Pentium MMX and Pentium II. After Digital was acquired by Compaq in 1998, the series was phased out.

Digital HiNote

Digital HiNote Ultra CS450
Developer	Digital Equipment Corporation
Manufacturer	Compal Electronics
Type	Laptop subnotebook
Release date	November 1994
Discontinued	January 2002
CPU	Intel 80486 Intel Pentium Intel Pentium II
Predecessor	DECpc 433SE Color
Website	pc.digital.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 1999-01-16)

History

Digital introduced the HiNote brand of laptops in November 1994 as a successor to their x86 laptops marketed under their DECpc brand. The HiNote was introduced simultaneously with the Venturis brand of desktop and towers, which similarly replaced those form factors of x86 computers that bore the DECpc name.^[1] The initial lineup comprised a full-sized laptop simply named the HiNote and a subnotebook named the HiNote Ultra; Digital later separated the two sub-brands by designating the former as VP units. Digital offered the initial lineup with either monochrome or color passive-matrix LCDs or color active-matrix LCDs, 33 MHz Intel 486SXs to 50 MHz 486DX2s, and a hard drive capacity between 120 and 340 MB. The standard HiNote included a built-in 3.5 inch floppy drive which could be removed and fitted with a second lithium-ion battery pack in its place, while the drive for the Ultra was external only. Both the original HiNotes proper and Ultras included built-in trackballs as its pointing device of choice.^[2]

External videos
1995 commercial for the Digital HiNote Ultra on YouTube

Technology journalists singled out the HiNote Ultra for its sleek industrial design and modularity, which attached the lithium-ion battery to the back of the laptop with a latching mechanism instead of being inserted in the bottom case as was customary for laptop designs.^[3] This battery could be rotated to prop up the Ultra at a position more comfortable for typing for long periods of time and allowed it to accommodate the external 3.5-inch floppy disk drive underneath it when placed on a desk. It weighed 4 lb (1,8 kg) and measured only an inch (2,54 cm) high.^[4][5] Digital advertised on television the Ultra's thin and light stature by pulling it out of a manila envelope—an approach replicated by Apple nearly 15 years later, when it advertised its MacBook Air in 2008.^[6]

When Compaq acquired Digital in June 1998 for $9.6 billion,^[7][8] they left the design intact but changed the name to Armada 6500. The HiNote-based series was phased out in 2002. Technology writer Brooke Crothers wrote on CNET that its discontinuation was ironic considering that the HiNote received high industry accolades and was "one of the best notebook designs ever and one of the technological gems that Compaq inherited from Digital Equipment."^[9]

Models

Line	Model no.	Processor	Clock speed (MHz)	Max. memory	LCD technology	LCD size and resolution	Date
baseline	433	486SX	33	20	Monochrome passive	9.5 in, VGA	November 1994 (1994-11)[10]
baseline	CS433				Color passive		November 1994 (1994-11)[10]
baseline	CS450	486DX2	50				November 1994 (1994-11)[10]
baseline	CT450		50	24	Color active		November 1994 (1994-11)[10]
baseline	CT475	486DX4	75				November 1994 (1994-11)[11]
baseline	CS475				Color passive		August 1995 (1995-08)[11]
Ultra	433	486SX	33	20	Monochrome passive		November 1994 (1994-11)[10]
Ultra	CS433				Color passive		November 1994 (1994-11)[10]
Ultra	CS450	486DX2	50				November 1994 (1994-11)[10]
Ultra	CT450			24	Color active		November 1994 (1994-11)[10]
Ultra	CT475	486DX4	75				November 1994 (1994-11)[10]
Ultra	CS475				Color passive		June 1995 (1995-06)[12]
Ultra II	CTE5100	Pentium	100	40	Color active	10.4 in, VGA	March 1996 (1996-03)[13]
Ultra II	CTS5100					10.4 in, SVGA	March 1996 (1996-03)[13]
Ultra II	CTS5120		120				March 1996 (1996-03)[13][14]
Ultra II	CTS5133		133				March 1996 (1996-03)[13]
Ultra II	5150		150			11.3 in, SVGA	August 1996 (1996-08)[13]
VP	575		75		Color passive		March 1996 (1996-03)[13]
VP	CSS5100		100				March 1996 (1996-03)[13][14]
VP	CTS5100				Color active		March 1996 (1996-03)[13][14]
VP	LSS5100						September 1996 (1996-09)[15]
VP	520		120		Color passive		September 1996 (1996-09)[16]
VP	525				Color active		September 1996 (1996-09)[16]
VP	535		133			11.3 in, SVGA	September 1996 (1996-09)[16]
VP	VSS5120		120	80	Color passive	12.1 in, SVGA	March 1997 (1997-03)[17]
VP	VSS5133		133				March 1997 (1997-03)[17]
VP	VTS5150 (545[18])		150		Color active		March 1997 (1997-03)[17]
VP	VTS5166	Pentium MMX	166				March 1997 (1997-03)[17]
Ultra 2000	VTS 5166M			144			April 1997 (1997-04)[19][20]
Ultra 2000	GTX 5166M					14.1 in, XVGA	May 1997 (1997-05)[20]
Ultra 2000	VTX 5166M					12.1 in, XVGA	April 1997 (1997-04)[19]
Ultra 2000	GTX 5233M		233			14.1 in, XVGA	January 1998 (1998-01)[21]
Ultra 2000	GTX 5266M		266				January 1998 (1998-01)[21]
VP	703		166		Color passive	13 in, XVGA	January 1998 (1998-01)[22]
VP	717		200		Color active	12.1 in, SVGA	January 1998 (1998-01)[22]
VP	725					13.3 in, XVGA	January 1998 (1998-01)[22]
VP	745		266				January 1998 (1998-01)[22]
VP	710		166		Color passive (high-performance addressing)		1998 (1998)[22]
VP	715				Color active		1998 (1998)[22]
VP	735		233				November 1997 (1997-11)[23]
VP	765	Pentium II	266				April 1998 (1998-04)[22][24]