The computer was released in several models with different hard disk configurations and in two screen types, a cheaper monochrome version and a more expensive active matrix color version, known as the Compaq Portable 486c.[5][6] The street price with a 120 MB hard disk was US$5,899 (equivalent to $13,200 in 2023) for the monochrome version and US$9,999 (equivalent to $22,400 in 2023) for the active matrix color version.[5][6] For a model with a 210 MB hard disk, the price was US$6,899 for the monochrome version and US$10,999 for the active matrix color version, available after May 1992.[5][6]
Both versions are equipped with a socketed 33 MHz[5][6]Intel 80486DXCPU, 4 MBDRAM (72-pin SIMM),[1]1.44 MB 3.5"floppy, 120[4] - 1000 MB hard disk drive[1] (P-ATA),[3] and SCSI port for CD-ROM or tape.[3] On the front of the unit there two dials underneath the PC-speaker to adjust the brightness of the screen and the volume of the PC-speaker. The PC-speaker in the Compaq Portable 486 is unique in that there is a 3.5 mm audio input jack on the side of the unit to allow a third party ISAsound card to pass through its audio output to the PC speaker.[5]
Compaq released two versions of the Compaq Portable 486 with a faster, 66 MHzIntel 80486DX2CPU, named the Compaq Portable 486/66 for the monochrome version and the Compaq Portable 486/66c for the color version.[5]
Compaq worked with Network General which released branded versions of the Compaq Portable 486 as "Network Sniffers".[7]
A case-modified version of the colour screen variant with replaced internals was used as a prop in the 1995 film Hackers. With its internals replaced by those of a Macintosh laptop, it served as the character Dade Murphy's (Aliases: Zero Cool and Crash Override) primary computer for the first half of the film.
Environmental limits are:
Temperature operating 10–40 °C, nonoperating −30–60 °C
