Sub notebook computer

LAS VEGAS -- Lexmark International is developing a line of sub-notebook PCs for the OEM market, with both a basic model using the PC/Chip single-component processor from Chips and Technologies and a higher-end unit based on a Cyrix 486 processor targeted at Q193 shipment.

The PC/Chip-based Mini-Book design is further along and was shown at Comdex here last week, but Jerry von Dielengen, an account executive within Lexmark's Input Technologies unit, said the company is still "working on needs and requirements" with prospective OEM customers.

Shipments aren't likely to start until Q1 as a result, he added. Meanwhile, the second sub-notebook, as yet unnamed, should be ready "probably toward the end of Q1" with the 25MHz version of the Cyrix Cy486SLC as its microprocessor.

Lexmark, a spun-out former IBM operation that already introduced a series of full-sized 386 and 486 notebooks earlier this year, is positioning the sub-notebooks between those machines and the emerging class of personal digital assistants like the Apple Newton.

The sub-notebooks include a new 77-key keyboard designed by Lexmark that's said to be nine-tenths the size of a standard notebook keyboard with 84 keys. Despite the smaller size, Lexmark still thinks the keyboard "gives a person good touch-type capabilities," Mr. von Dielengen said.

Included is an embedded mouse key, jointly designed with Chips and Technologies, that takes the place of the trackballs or clip-on mouse devices used on larger note-books. The cursor can be moved in different directions, including diagonals, depending on how the key is depressed.

Chips and Technologies defined the system concept and provided both electrical and mechanical designs for the three 2.3-lb. MiniBook models. All are based on the 16-bit F8680 PC/Chip device, running at 7MHz on the MiniBook Mizer, 8MHz on the MiniBook Basic and up to 10MHz on the MiniBook Plus.

The Mizer includes 1MB of memory, two PCMCIA slots and DOS 5.0 embedded on a ROM, while the Basic adds a custom 640x200 reflective panel display, and internal battery charger and a module for such options as a fax/modem or audio. The Plus has 2MB of memory and a 640x400 panel. Power is provided by six AA batteries rated for to 40 hours between charges.

The MiniBooks are aimed at users "who travel and don't do a lot of graphics or spreadsheets," Mr. von Dielegen said, describing them as useful for trip reports. E-mail and calendar functions. The Cyrix 486-based design will provide a more powerful platform, he added.

That system is "very new," Mr. von Dielengen noted, and details are more sketchy at this point. Memory should be expandable to 12MB and the machine will be slightly larger than the non-expandable MiniBooks, "but still in the sub-notebook category," he said.

Lexmark is producing the keyboard and plastic enclosure for the new machines at its Lexington, Ky., plant. Motherboard and final assembly duties are being contracted out to a troika of Texas Instruments, SCI Systems and IBM's Austin, Tex., facility, the company said.

As to whether former parent IBM is likely to be a customer for the sub-notebooks, Lexmark officials described that only as "a possibility." They declined to say if the two companies are discussing a deal of that sort at the present time.