Technology
The Portfolio uses an Intel 80C88 CPU running at 4.9152 MHz. It has 128 KB of RAM, and 256 KB of ROM which contains the BIOS, DOS & Command Shell as well as several Personal information Management (PIM) applications.
The RAM has 4 KB allocated as video RAM, with the remainder divided between system memory and local storage (the C: drive). The LCD is monochrome without backlight and has pixels or 40 characters × 8 lines.
There is a small speaker on the display bezel. In addition to simulated key-clicks, beeps and musical tones, this can output Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency (DTMF) tones which are used by touch-tone phones to dial numbers. Telephone numbers in the address book can be speed-dialed by holding a telephone handset against the Portfolio’s speaker.
Power is supplied by three AA size removable alkaline batteries. The computer's memory is preserved during battery changes. There is also an optional AC adapter (120V: HPC-401, 230V: HPC-402).The Portfolio's "DIP Operating System 2.11" is compatible with MS-DOS 2.11. Most text-based DOS applications can run on the Portfolio as long as they don’t access the hardware directly, due to the lack of PC-compatible IO ports.
Built-in PIM applications include a spreadsheet (Lotus 1-2-3 compatible), text editor, address book with DTMF dialing, diary with alarms, and a calculator.
Mitsubishi Plastics Bee Cards are used as removable memory cards for file storage, which are inserted into a slot on the left side of the Portfolio. They are accessed as drive A: and use a DOS FAT file system. They're not compatible with the PC card standard as they pre-date it.
Read/write memory cards were available from Atari in three sizes: 32 KB (HPC-201), 64 KB (HPC-202), and 128 KB (HPC-203), and later from third party suppliers in capacities up to 4 MB. The RAM in a read/write memory card is backed up by a replaceable coin-cell battery, which lasts around two years.
Read-only memory cards (listed in Accessories below) include a utility pack (HPC-701), finance manager (HPC-702), science pack (HPC-703), file manager (HPC-704), and several others including a chess game (HPC-750).
A card reader (HPC-301) connects to a desktop PC which can then access the memory cards. The kit contains an ISA card, a special cable, the card reader, and driver software distributed on floppy disk.
There is an expansion port on the right side of the Portfolio, that enables peripheral modules to be attached.
A Memory Expander+ (HPC-104) RAM expansion unit is available. Each unit gives the Portfolio an additional 256 KB of RAM. It passes all signal lines through it, so another expansion module can be attached. Up to two can be joined together to increase the total system RAM to 640 KB, with the first one also providing memory card drive B:.
A Smart Parallel Port (HPC-101) and Serial Port (HPC-102) interface are available, as well as a number of third party peripherals. One example is a modem expansion module that converts the Portfolio into a miniature computer terminal. The modem is powered from the Portfolio and comes with an acoustic coupler, as well as the option for a direct connection.
The Portfolio can be connected to a PC for transferring files to and from the unit using the Smart Parallel Port expansion module (HPC-101), a standard parallel cable, and the (DOS based) File Transfer software.
Credits for the development of the product can be found in an easter egg. Launch the Setup application. Set the language to English. Select Help, and from within a help screen press + ("Alt" plus "left square bracket").
