<s>
The	O
ActionNote	B-Device
was	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
laptop	O
computers	O
developed	O
by	O
Epson	O
America	O
in	O
1993	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
series	O
was	O
segmented	O
into	O
premium	O
and	O
low-cost	O
offerings	O
and	O
included	O
a	O
subnotebook	B-Device
,	O
the	O
ActionNote	B-Device
4000	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ActionNote	B-Device
received	O
mixed	O
,	O
mostly	O
positive	O
,	O
reception	O
in	O
its	O
lifespan	O
before	O
Epson	O
America	O
silently	O
left	O
the	O
personal	O
computer	O
market	O
in	O
1996	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Epson	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
sometimes	O
credited	O
for	O
being	O
the	O
first	O
to	O
market	O
a	O
laptop	O
computer	O
with	O
the	O
HX-20	B-Device
in	O
1982	O
,	O
introduced	O
the	O
ActionNote	B-Device
series	O
in	O
April	O
1993	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Development	O
for	O
the	O
ActionNote	B-Device
was	O
led	O
by	O
Sanford	O
Weisman	O
,	O
portable	O
computer	O
product	O
manager	O
at	O
Epson	O
America	O
,	O
who	O
was	O
also	O
instrumental	O
in	O
the	O
design	O
of	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
earlier	O
NB	O
series	O
of	O
laptops	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
to	O
criticism	O
that	O
the	O
purported	O
piecemeal	O
replacement	O
of	O
the	O
NB	O
line	O
with	O
the	O
ActionNote	B-Device
would	O
cause	O
the	O
company	O
to	O
fall	O
further	O
behind	O
in	O
laptop	O
innovations	O
,	O
Weisman	O
said	O
that	O
NB	O
would	O
continue	O
to	O
be	O
marketed	O
simultaneously	O
with	O
the	O
ActionNote	B-Device
—	O
the	O
former	O
being	O
sold	O
to	O
large	O
businesses	O
through	O
reseller	O
networks	O
and	O
the	O
latter	O
to	O
small	O
businesses	O
and	O
home	O
office	O
buyers	O
through	O
retailers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
entries	O
in	O
the	O
ActionNote	B-Device
line	O
came	O
preinstalled	O
with	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
and	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
starting	O
with	O
Windows	B-Application
3.1	I-Application
for	O
the	O
4SLC-25	O
,	O
Windows	O
3.11	O
for	O
the	O
700	O
series	O
,	O
and	O
Windows	B-Application
95	I-Application
with	O
the	O
660	O
and	O
880	O
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Epson	O
used	O
Cyrix	O
's	O
microprocessors	O
exclusively	O
for	O
the	O
ActionNote	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
laptop	O
in	O
the	O
series	O
,	O
the	O
ActionNote	B-Device
4SLC-25	O
,	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
April	O
1993	O
and	O
featured	O
a	O
486SLC	B-Device
with	O
a	O
clock	O
speed	O
of	O
25	O
MHz	O
,	O
later	O
bumped	O
to	O
33	O
MHz	O
and	O
50	O
MHz	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ActionNote	B-Device
4000	O
,	O
released	O
in	O
July	O
1993	O
,	O
sported	O
a	O
subnotebook	B-Device
form	O
factor	O
and	O
had	O
a	O
486SLC	B-Device
clocked	O
at	O
33	O
MHz	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
1994	O
,	O
Epson	O
introduced	O
the	O
500C	O
and	O
700	O
series	O
ActionNotes	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
former	O
introduced	O
a	O
color	O
display	O
to	O
the	O
series	O
with	O
a	O
passive-matrix	O
LCD	B-Device
and	O
had	O
a	O
50	O
MHz	O
486SLC2	B-Device
,	O
while	O
the	O
latter	O
featured	O
Cyrix	O
's	O
486DX	O
at	O
33	O
MHz	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
650	O
series	O
,	O
marketed	O
as	O
a	O
low-cost	O
entry	O
to	O
the	O
ActionNote	B-Device
line-up	O
,	O
sold	O
between	O
and	O
—	O
depending	O
on	O
whether	O
the	O
user	O
wanted	O
a	O
color	B-Device
LCD	I-Device
—	O
and	O
featured	O
a	O
clock-switchable	O
25	O
or	O
50	O
MHz	O
Cyrix	O
DX2	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
more	O
expensive	O
800	O
series	O
upgraded	O
the	O
ActionNote	B-Device
's	O
styling	O
and	O
was	O
among	O
the	O
first	O
Wintel	B-Device
laptops	O
to	O
feature	O
an	O
integrated	O
touchpad	B-Application
,	O
replacing	O
the	O
trackballs	B-Device
of	O
earlier	O
models	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
trackpad	O
was	O
manufactured	O
by	O
Synaptics	B-Language
and	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
to	O
incorporate	O
capacitive	B-Device
sensing	I-Device
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ActionNote	B-Device
series	O
ended	O
in	O
January	O
1996	O
with	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
910C	O
,	O
which	O
sported	O
a	O
100	O
MHz	O
5x86	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Manufacturing	O
of	O
the	O
ActionNote	B-Device
was	O
initially	O
split	O
between	O
ASE	O
Technologies	O
of	O
Taiwan	O
and	O
Epson	O
's	O
overseas	O
plants	O
in	O
Singapore	O
and	O
Portland	O
,	O
Oregon	O
,	O
where	O
the	O
bulk	O
of	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
personal	O
computers	O
were	O
being	O
manufactured	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ASE	O
was	O
then	O
the	O
sole	O
manufacturer	O
of	O
ActionNotes	B-Device
for	O
the	O
next	O
few	O
years	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
exception	O
of	O
the	O
700	O
series	O
,	O
for	O
which	O
Epson	O
turned	O
to	O
Jabil	O
Circuit	O
of	O
St.	O
Petersburg	O
,	O
Florida	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
to	O
be	O
Jabil	O
's	O
break	O
into	O
the	O
computer	O
design	O
industry	O
;	O
the	O
company	O
up	O
to	O
that	O
point	O
had	O
only	O
manufactured	O
motherboards	B-Device
and	O
components	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
concluded	O
that	O
its	O
processing	O
power	O
and	O
low	O
cost	O
meant	O
that	O
the	O
ActionNote	B-Device
was	O
a	O
"	O
way	O
to	O
get	O
486	O
processing	O
muscle	O
without	O
breaking	O
the	O
bank	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ActionNote	B-Device
4000	O
received	O
mostly	O
positive	O
reviews	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bryan	O
Hastings	O
of	O
PC	O
World	O
called	O
its	O
display	O
small	O
but	O
"	O
quite	O
readable	O
"	O
and	O
its	O
keyboard	O
comfortable	O
but	O
found	O
the	O
2.5-hour	O
battery	O
life	O
"	O
on	O
the	O
short	O
side	O
"	O
for	O
a	O
subnotebook	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
ABA	O
Journal	O
wrote	O
that	O
it	O
offered	O
"	O
outstanding	O
power	O
"	O
,	O
delivering	O
high-end	O
features	O
typical	O
of	O
a	O
desktop	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
found	O
it	O
a	O
fast	O
performer	O
compared	O
to	O
other	O
subnotebooks	B-Device
on	O
the	O
market	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
and	O
praised	O
the	O
contrast	O
of	O
the	O
LCD	B-Device
but	O
found	O
reservation	O
with	O
the	O
keyboard	O
layout	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Albert	O
G	O
.	O
Holzinger	O
and	O
Ripley	O
Hotch	O
of	O
Nation	O
's	O
Business	O
called	O
it	O
"	O
not	O
quite	O
as	O
technologically	O
refined	O
"	O
as	O
the	O
ThinkPad	B-Device
500	I-Device
but	O
found	O
the	O
4000	O
's	O
display	O
and	O
keyboard	O
similarly	O
high	O
quality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
comparison	O
with	O
the	O
ThinkPad	B-Device
500	I-Device
,	O
Byte	O
writer	O
Dave	O
Rowell	O
found	O
that	O
the	O
ThinkPad	O
"	O
clearly	O
comes	O
out	O
ahead	O
"	O
with	O
respect	O
to	O
fit-and-finish	O
,	O
keyboard	O
layout	O
,	O
choice	O
of	O
pointing	O
device	O
and	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
specific	O
,	O
Rowell	O
found	O
the	O
built-in	O
trackball	B-Device
of	O
the	O
ActionNote	B-Device
4000	O
irritating	O
,	O
its	O
display	O
brightness	O
and	O
contrast	O
controls	O
jerky	O
and	O
the	O
typing	O
experience	O
error-prone	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
shortening	O
of	O
the	O
right	B-Device
Shift	I-Device
key	I-Device
and	O
its	O
placement	O
next	O
to	O
the	O
arrow	B-Device
keys	I-Device
,	O
though	O
he	O
found	O
the	O
keyboard	O
switches	O
smoother	O
than	O
the	O
ThinkPad	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Rowell	O
praised	O
the	O
ease	O
of	O
removal	O
of	O
the	O
hard	O
drive	O
allowing	O
for	O
shared	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
ActionNote	B-Device
and	O
its	O
"	O
sharp	O
,	O
paper-white	O
"	O
display	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
review	O
of	O
the	O
880CX	O
,	O
Anush	O
Yegyazarian	O
of	O
PC	O
Magazine	O
deemed	O
it	O
a	O
good	O
as	O
a	O
road	O
warrior	O
's	O
machine	O
but	O
only	O
fair	O
as	O
a	O
desktop	B-Application
replacement	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Reviewing	O
of	O
the	O
880C	O
,	O
Dwight	O
Silverman	O
of	O
the	O
Houston	O
Chronicle	O
found	O
the	O
included	O
hard	O
drive	O
slow	O
,	O
hindering	O
the	O
relatively	O
fast	O
486DX2	O
processor	O
and	O
making	O
for	O
slow	O
paging	B-Architecture
with	O
the	O
stock	O
8	O
MB	O
of	O
RAM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
called	O
the	O
execution	O
of	O
its	O
touchpad	B-Application
flawed	O
in	O
contrast	O
to	O
the	O
one	O
on	O
the	O
PowerBook	B-Device
500	I-Device
,	O
with	O
its	O
left	O
and	O
right	O
click	O
buttons	O
too	O
small	O
and	O
the	O
act	O
of	O
dragging	O
and	O
dropping	O
items	O
on	O
the	O
screen	O
cumbersome	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Home	O
Office	O
Computing	O
preferred	O
the	O
ActionNote	B-Device
's	O
trackpad	O
to	O
the	O
PowerBook	O
's	O
,	O
on	O
the	O
other	O
hand	O
.	O
</s>
