By Scott Colvey on Monday, 17 September 2007
 Fancy a small, lightweight laptop computer with a great keyboard, built-in printer,
infinite storage and a battery life of up to 40 hours? Then whizz back 26 years
and bag yourself an Epson HX-20.
This little retro-beauty still looks pretty nifty in the modern age — so
imagine just how extraordinary the HX-20 must have seemed when it was launched
in 1981?
So numerous are the HX-20’s achievements that picking a starting point
is tricky. Certainly the machine’s genuine portability would have been
a major attraction, arriving as it did during a time when the next most-portable
computer was the size of a small suitcase (the 11.8kg Osborne
1). Ditto the Epson's keyboard, which was a proper typewriter-style affair.
We also imagine that many business buyers were enchanted by the HX-20’s
battery life, which was good for an entire working week. Then there was the
LCD screen that, while small, was wonderfully clear. Let’s not forget the
integrated 24-column printer, able to churn out audit trails at 42 lines per
minute.
As for storage, with an option of having a built-in micro-cassette recorder,
the only limit on capacity was how many tapes the user wished to carry around.
Oh, and don’t forget communications — the HX-20 included a 300bit/s
modem for those pre-internet electronic data transfers.
Really though, it was the combination of all of the above that made the HX-20
so irresistible. The software support was good and applications existed for
all manner of needs, though the proprietary operating system arguably limited
choice a little. Add to all of this a price tag of just US$795 (around £392,
or £900 in today's money), and it’s really not hard to see why Epson’s
little computer was so very popular. Indeed, we’d probably not baulk at
paying £900 for one today.
According to Epson, the HX-20 sold over a quarter of a million units worldwide.
Nor was its success a one-off. Epson added more models to the HX range and they
continued to fly off the shelves for several years.
Perhaps surprisingly, it’s still possible to receive support for the HX-20
from Epson. The company’s website carries extensive
documentation relating to the device. With all this in mind, we’re
left with a question. Why is Epson today a world-renowned printer manufacturer,
rather than a maker of astonishing portable computers?
Product Epson HX-20
Released 1981
Price From US$795
Specifications
Processor Hitachi 6301 (0.6MHz)
Memory 16Kb
Size 290 x 215 x 44mm
Weight 1.7kg
Screen 120 x 32-pixel (20 x 4-character) LCD panel
Storage Optional micro-cassette recorder
Other notables Built-in dot-matrix printer and optional modem
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