It is MY #retrocomputing pleasure to welcome the Atari Portfolio 16-bit kinda-MS-DOS-compatible handheld PC to the crew!
Powered by 3 AA batteries and coming to us from 1991, I can already tell it will fit right in.
Eventually I will be stocking up on a few choice peripherals for the Portfolio, including a system RAM memory expansion card (with peripheral port pass-through, kind of like an ur-Sonic & Knuckles experience), a serial interface, and a diagnostic interface produced for licensed repair shops and peripheral developers, all due to the diligence of a single vendor, aptly named Best Electronics, who's maintained stocks longer than the original company stayed in business.
Software distribution was via ROM cards like this one, the base File Manager and Tutorial card that came with each Portfolio.
@djsundog That looks very similar to a Lynx game card.
@remotenemesis I believe hardware-wise they're almost identical
The base system at launch cost US$400, which is like USD$800+ in cool 21st Century fiat currency, so I got it for pennies on the dollar.
Shrewd investor, me. Finding that purchasing power sweet spot.
With all your vintage computing going on its got to be a real relief that you can network them together with the contents of anyones kitchen junk drawer.
@djsundog just 30 years of discarded one-off cables and long-abandoned adapters
@Mainebot local computer store guy gave me his last null modem adapter with a look of respect and awe a few months ago, so now I am really just trying to live up to his mental image of who I must be.
The only one of us who can truly claim to be future-proof. Goodspeed O7
@djsundog I'm reading this store page, and it looks like you can even "& Knuckles & Knuckles" it:
"Pass through bus connector allows you to Connect a second Atari 256K Memory Expander to increase your Portfolio’s total Memory to 640K"
@kepstin & Knuckles & Knuckles & Game Genie even
@djsundog Somehow I'm surprised Best still exist after all these years each time I check up on their web site...
"Best Electronics in the Atari business since February 1, 1984."
They even carry overclocking kits that can increase performance by over 33 percent of the stock configuration! 33%, maybe even more! We're talking almost double-digit megahertz!