Toshiba released the DynaBook GT-R590 notebook in 1995. It came with two operating systems — Microsoft Windows 3.1 and the newly released Windows 95 — preinstalled on the hard drive. The first time the computer was booted up, the user could select which operating system to enable.
The GT-R590 was standard equipped with a large 11.3-inch color LCD screen and a high-speed graphics accelerator. As a result, it could support high-resolution SVGA (800 x 600 pixels) displays.
The notebook used a low-power 90 MHz Pentium CPU that was about 2.3 times faster than the CPU on its predecessor, the DynaBook GT475.
The GT-R590 was powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack that gave about 2.3 hours of operating time in full-power mode and about 4 hours in energy-savings mode. The CPU, hard drive, and other components were specifically selected for low-power operation. And by using high-density circuit boards and optimized component placement, Toshiba was able to fit the AC adaptor, normally an external component, inside the computer. This design innovation created a smaller footprint and improved portability.
The hard drive could store 810 MB of data and was connected according to the Enhanced IDE standard — which offered almost twice the data-transfer speeds of the IDE standard — for faster access speeds.
| Model | 081SS/W model | 081ST/W model |
|---|---|---|
| External dimensions [mm] | 299 x 235 x 55 (w x d x h) | |
| Weight | 3.3kg | 3.2kg |
| Power supply | Lithium-ion battery pack or 100 - 240 VAC (built-in AC adaptor) |
|
| Power consumption | 35W | |
| CPU | 90 MHz Pentium | |
| Memory | 8 MB, standard; 40 MB max. |
|
| Built-in screen | 11.3-inch DSTN color LCD with FL sidelight 800 x 600 pixels Capable of displaying 256 colors simultaneously from a 226,981-color palette |
11.3-inch TFT color LCD with FL sidelight 800 x 600 pixels Capable of displaying 65,536 colors simultaneously |
| External color CRT monitor (optional) | 640 x 480 (full color) 800 x 600 (65,536 colors) 1024 x 768 (256 colors from a 262,144-color palette) |
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| Storage memory devices | Floppy drive: 3.5-inch (1.44 MB / 1.2 MB/ 720 KB), swappable with the CD-ROM drive Hard drive: 810 MB CD-ROM drive (optional): 4x, swappable with the floppy drive |
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| Interfaces | RS-232C (asynchronous), printer interface (Centronics), CRT interface (RGB connector), PS/2, two PC card slots (one slot when used as a Type III slot) |
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| Infrared communications | IrDA compliant, ASK compliant | |
| Sound functions | SoundBlaster Pro compatible (16-bit stereo), built-in microphone / speaker (mono), interfaces: headphone output (stereo), audio input (stereo), microphone input (mono) |
|
| OS | MS-DOS V. 6.2/V, selectable between Microsoft Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 |
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