<s>
The	O
UltraLite	O
was	O
an	O
IBM	O
PC-compatible	O
laptop	B-Device
released	O
by	O
NEC	O
in	O
October	O
1988	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
released	O
alongside	O
the	O
heavier	O
and	O
more-capable	O
ProSpeed	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
UltraLite	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
NEC	B-Device
V30	I-Device
microprocessor	O
;	O
the	O
computer	O
includes	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
3.3	O
built	O
into	O
ROM	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
PC	O
Magazine	O
featured	O
the	O
UltraLite	O
on	O
its	O
cover	O
in	O
November	O
1988	O
and	O
shortly	O
thereafter	O
journalists	O
began	O
referring	O
to	O
the	O
A4	O
sized	O
computer	O
as	O
a	O
"	O
notebook	B-Device
"	O
to	O
distinguish	O
it	O
from	O
the	O
larger	O
and	O
heavier	O
laptops	B-Device
of	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tom	O
Martin	O
,	O
the	O
Vice	O
President	O
in	O
charge	O
of	O
the	O
group	O
,	O
asked	O
,	O
"	O
Can	O
you	O
make	O
this	O
thing	O
run	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
"	O
?	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
UltraLite	O
's	O
two	O
Achilles	O
heels	O
...	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
drive	I-Device
which	O
prevented	O
storage	O
of	O
one	O
's	O
work	O
(	O
for	O
more	O
than	O
a	O
week	O
or	O
so	O
without	O
charging	O
the	O
internal	O
RAM	O
drive	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
relatively	O
slow	O
8086-compatible	O
processor	O
when	O
the	O
market	O
was	O
moving	O
to	O
the	O
80286	B-General_Concept
class	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Given	O
its	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
ram	O
drive	O
boot	O
times	O
were	O
actually	O
faster	O
than	O
80386	B-General_Concept
class	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
storage	O
can	O
be	O
done	O
by	O
an	O
optional	O
external	O
720kb	O
(	O
in	O
fact	O
it	O
supported	O
"	O
Japanese	O
"	O
1.2Mb	O
format	O
but	O
did	O
not	O
support	O
more	O
common	O
1.44Mb	O
)	O
3.5-inch	O
floppy	O
drive	O
,	O
by	O
the	O
internal	O
non-volatile	O
RAM	O
drive	O
(	O
silicon	O
hard	B-Device
drive	I-Device
)	O
,	O
or	O
by	O
proprietary	O
RAM	O
and	O
ROM	B-Device
cards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
RAM	O
cards	O
and	O
ROM	B-Device
cards	O
use	O
a	O
proprietary	O
NEC	O
interface	O
because	O
this	O
laptop	B-Device
came	O
out	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
when	O
there	O
were	O
no	O
standard	O
portable	O
computing	O
interfaces	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PCMCIA	B-Architecture
standard	O
did	O
not	O
exist	O
until	O
1990	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	O
can	O
be	O
bought	O
running	O
from	O
ROM	B-Device
cards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
other	O
models	O
in	O
the	O
NEC	B-Device
Ultralite	I-Device
series	O
—	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
Ultralite	O
SX/20	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
1991	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Others	O
in	O
the	O
series	O
include	O
the	O
NEC	B-Device
Ultralite	I-Device
286F	O
,	O
286V	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
NEC	B-Device
Ultralite	I-Device
Versa	O
models	O
.	O
</s>
