Description

Vintage Osborne Computer OCC1 - First commercial laptop – Z80-CP/M

This 40 years old Osborne computer from the very early 1980s is considered to be the first commercially successful “laptop”. It came bundled with software valued at as much as the computer! 

This is the rare, original, low serial number (19058), OCC1 model in the original case with keyboard tray clips on the side (not the more widely available, upgraded, OCC1a model with keyboard tray clips on the top).

Despite it being referred to as a “laptop”, it weighed 25 pounds(!), was as big as a sewing machine, it had a tiny 5” monochrome monitor, it had two FULL height, single-sided, single density, 5.25” floppy drives (able to store all of 90KB each! Kilo Bytes, yes!), it had to be used plugged-in (no internal built-in battery). It ran under the CP/M operating system and it had no mouse, no track pad, no trackball, no touch screen, no Ethernet and no built-in hard disk – everything was driven by user input commands on the keyboard and storage was provided by the built-in floppy drives! Communications were achieved through a 1200 Baud serial port.

Other than some light use marks on the case plastics, this unit is in excellent condition and fully functional. The laptop has been restored to full working condition. It was completely disassembled, serviced and cleaned, the RIFA capacitors on the power supply board have been replaced (these 40 years old RIFAs are notorious for blowing up with a bang and lots of brown and awful smelling lingering smoke). All electrolytic capacitors on the power supply have also been replaced - after many decades, these capacitors stop functioning as intended and cause the computer to malfunction. Both built-in floppy drives have been disassembled, cleaned, serviced and lubricated. The drives read/write heads have been cleaned. Both drives read, write and format disks as intended. The computer starts up with a beep and boots from either drive with no issues. The black & white screen is bright and sharp. The keyboard has been disassembled and cleaned; all keycaps have been pulled out and washed. All keyboard keys function as intended. The leather carrying handle on the back of the computer is the only item in poor condition - the 40 years old leather on these handles has a tendency of disintegrating, and this is one such victim of time.

Unlike many such models sold in "as is", "untested", "no disk to test", "recapped, but disk drives untested", "powers on" (to a garbled screen), etc..., this is a refurbished, restored, tested, functional and complete computer including many extras. It's ready for display and use. Unlike some units being sold which are heavily corroded from having been improperly stored in a damp environment, this unit exhibits barely any signs of corrosion.

This Osborne has been extensively tested: floppy drives, serial port, speaker (actually a buzzer), reset switch, brightness and contrast controls, etc…

The computer comes with the original software disks in their original cardboard box (including CP/M, Wordstar, CBasic/MBasic and SuperCalc), the original documentation (with some writing, highlights, etc..), and 3 (used) blank floppy disks. (Note: the original disks have not been tested, however, working copies of the original disks will be provided).

Considering its age, and despite it having been extensively tested, this IS a 40 years old vintage computer and is being sold as-is without any warranty for continued functioning.

This is an amazing, very rare, AND FULLY FUNCTIONAL decorative item and a unique conversation piece from the very early days of the personal computer. It is considered to be the first successful, commercially available, laptop!