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Sharp WideNote

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WideNote is a line of subnotebooks released by Sharp Corporation. The line comprises the W-100T and W-100D, both released in 1996, and the M4000, released in 2006. The W-100 series was the first laptop with a color widescreen LCD, with a roughly 16:9 aspect ratio. The W-100 series features a Pentium processor clocked at 133 MHz, while the M4000 features a Pentium M processor clocked at 1.73 GHz.

Specifications

W-100

The W-100 series WideNotes measure 295 by 197 by 40 millimetres (11.6 by 7.8 by 1.6 in) and weigh 1.9 kilograms (4.2 lb).[1] The color LCDs of the W-100 series WideNotes—custom designed by Sharp Corporation in Japan[2]—measures 9.5 by 5.6 inches, giving it a roughly 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. The laptop's display has a native resolution of 1024 by 600 pixels.[3] Sharp offered the laptop in two variations: the more-expensive W-100T, with an active-matrix LCD, and the less-expensive W-100D, with a dual-scan LCD of lower quality.[4] Both LCD panels have a maximum color depth of 8-bits (256 colors maximum).[5]

The W-100 series was the first line of laptops available on the market with color widescreen LCDs,[6][7]: 42 [8][9] bucking from the standard VGA 800 by 600 resolution used on all other laptops its contemporary.[3] While somewhat shorter than the average SVGA LCD measuring 10.2 inches diagonally, the LCD of the W-100 series is over an inch wider,[3] affording the user more real estate to the sides to, for example, multitask by having programs running side-by-side; display more cells in a spreadsheet; display 16:9 video content without letterboxing; and more.[3][7]: 42 [10] The use of widescreen displays was very uncommon even among desktop computers in the mid-1990s, making the WideNote stand apart from its competition.[11] Driving the LCD is S3's 86CM65 graphics accelerator chip. When plugged into an external monitor, the W-100 series WideNotes can display a virtual desktop up to 1024 by 768 pixels (XGA, 4:3 aspect ratio).[3]

The W-100 series is powered by the original Pentium processor clocked at 133 MHz. The laptops came shipped with 16 MB of EDO RAM, upgradable to 32 MB. Sharp used lithium-ion batteries for the W-100 series, with an average rated lifespan of around three hours per charge.[1] The laptops also feature a 16-bit, Sound Blaster–compatible audio chipset and stereo speakers and a microphone built inside the case; a jack for external speakers or headphones is located at the back of the machine.[3][12]: 42  Sharp included two PC Card slots, supporting two Type II cards or one Type III card, as well as an internal 22.8 kbps modem on the laptop's motherboard.[12] Neither a floppy disk drive nor a CD-ROM drive are internal to the machine. Instead, Sharp sold these as external units, plugged into the side of the machines, with only the floppy drive being included with the purchase of the laptop; both could not be used at once.[1] The laptop's 1.08 GB hard disk drive[5] is not easily removable from the outside, requiring full disassembly of the laptop in order to replace.[13]

For a pointing device, Sharp included a trackpoint below the full-sized keyboard. The laptops also feature infrared ports capable of transmitting data at a maximum rate of 4 Mbps. This allows the laptop to communicate with desktop computers that have a corresponding IR transceiver, as well as compatible printers, PDAs, and IR LANs.[14]

Development and release

Sharp released the W-100T and W-100D to market in the United States in October 1996.[15] The company supported the rollout of the laptops with a US$10-million print advertising campaign; it was the first time Sharp supported the release of any of their laptops with significant thrust.[4] Although the widescreen LCD panels used in these machines were custom designed, they were not much more expensive to manufacture on account of Sharp having complete ownership of several LCD factories.[2] In the summer of 1997, Sharp's largest rival Toshiba later released their own subnotebook with a near-identical widescreen LCD, the Portégé 300CT.[16]: 62  While slightly smaller than the LCD panel used in Sharp's WideNote, the 300CT was capable of display colors at a higher bit depth of 24-bits (16.8 million colors maximum).[17]

References

  1. ^ a b c Newsome, Clare (November 13, 1996). "Ultraportable with a New Screen Format". PC User (295). EMAP Media: 30 et seq. – via Gale.
  2. ^ a b Phillips, Tim (December 5, 1996). "Buy the book: Think thin if you are looking for a notebook computer". The Guardian: 14 – via ProQuest.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Poor, Alfred (December 3, 1996). "The WideBody Notebook". PC Magazine. 15 (21). Ziff-Davis: 60 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ a b Emigh, Jacqueline (September 18, 1996). "Sharp Rolls Out WideNote PCs, $10Mil Ad Campaign". Newsbytes (NEW09190042). The Washington Post Company – via Gale.
  5. ^ a b Wills, Danyll (October 27, 1996). "Sharp has point with big screen". South China Morning Post: 7. Archived from the original on June 25, 2024.
  6. ^ "Wider Screen Computer". The New York Times: 6. September 18, 1996 – via ProQuest.
  7. ^ a b Pepper, Jon (November 1996). "Notebook Screen Future: Bigger and Wider". Byte. 21 (11). McGraw-Hill: 42–43 – via the Internet Archive.
  8. ^ Cooper, Barry (January 11, 1997). "Take a Long Look at Wide-screen Laptops". Orlando Sentinel: E1 – via ProQuest.
  9. ^ "100th Special Edition". PC Direct. ZDNet: 34. April 2000 – via Gale.
  10. ^ Williams, Elisa (September 29, 1996). "Sharp Electronics' WideNote makes it easier to do two things at once while traveling". The Orange County Register: K10 – via ProQuest.
  11. ^ Taylor, Paul (March 5, 1997). "Portable PCs". Financial Post: 4 – via ProQuest.
  12. ^ a b Matzkin, Jonathan K. (January 1997). "A Notebook in CinemaScope". Home Office Computing. 15 (1). Scholastic: 40, 42 – via ProQuest.
  13. ^ McLaughlin, Laurianne (December 1996). "Sharp WideNote W-100T Puts on Quite a Display". PC World. 14 (12). IDG Publications: 78 – via Gale.
  14. ^ El, Hakhi Alakhun (September 30, 1996). "A Wide-screen Machine". InformationWeek (599). CMP Publications: 109–110 – via ProQuest.
  15. ^ Husted, Bill (October 13, 1996). "New notebook comes equipped with big screen". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: H2 – via ProQuest.
  16. ^ Venezia, Carol (July 1997). "The New Subnotes". PC Magazine. 16 (13). Ziff-Davis: 62–63 – via Google Books.
  17. ^ Broida, Rick (December 1997). "MMX Takes to the Skies". Computer Shopper. 16 (16). SX2 Media Labs: 398 et seq. – via Gale.
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