<s>
The	O
SupersPort	B-Device
is	O
a	O
line	O
of	O
PC-compatible	O
laptops	B-Device
manufactured	O
by	O
Zenith	O
Data	O
Systems	O
and	O
sold	O
from	O
1988	O
to	O
1993	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
two	O
main	O
entries	O
in	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
line	O
included	O
either	O
an	O
Intel	B-General_Concept
80286	I-General_Concept
microprocessor	O
clocked	O
at	O
12MHz	O
or	O
an	O
8088	B-Device
processor	O
clocked	O
at	O
8	O
or	O
4.77MHz	O
,	O
switchable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
entries	O
included	O
the	O
386SX	O
,	O
486SX	B-Device
and	O
486	B-General_Concept
processors	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SupersPort	B-Device
286	B-General_Concept
in	O
particular	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
top-selling	O
laptops	B-Device
of	O
the	O
late	O
1980s	O
,	O
although	O
Zenith	O
's	O
position	O
in	O
this	O
segment	O
faltered	O
by	O
the	O
early	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Zenith	O
Data	O
Systems	O
unveiled	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
line	O
alongside	O
Zenith	O
's	O
TurbosPort	O
386	O
luggable	O
computer	O
on	O
April	O
19	O
,	O
1988	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
and	O
TurbosPort	O
were	O
marketed	O
under	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
new	O
Road	O
Warrior	O
umbrella	O
of	O
battery-powered	O
portable	O
computers	O
,	O
a	O
project	O
helmed	O
by	O
Andy	O
Czernek	O
and	O
John	O
Frank	O
,	O
VP	O
of	O
marketing	O
and	O
president	O
of	O
Zenith	O
respectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meanwhile	O
,	O
Howard	O
Fullmer	O
and	O
Russ	O
Niedzielski	O
were	O
responsible	O
for	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
's	O
design	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
keeping	O
with	O
the	O
Road	O
Warrior	O
theme	O
,	O
the	O
unveiling	O
was	O
held	O
at	O
an	O
event	O
center	O
in	O
Chicago	O
,	O
Illinois	O
,	O
with	O
helmeted	O
performers	O
and	O
motorcyclists	O
showcasing	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
and	O
TurbosPort	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
lowest-cost	O
initial	O
entries	O
in	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
line	O
,	O
running	O
an	O
Intel	B-Device
8088	I-Device
microprocessor	O
,	O
are	O
the	O
successors	O
to	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
Z-180	O
line	O
of	O
laptops	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
the	O
8088	B-Device
SupersPort	B-Device
and	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
286	B-General_Concept
feature	O
an	O
improved	O
design	O
of	O
the	O
EL-backlit	O
STN	B-General_Concept
LCDs	B-Device
introduced	O
with	O
the	O
Z-180	O
line	O
,	O
doubling	O
the	O
vertical	O
resolution	O
(	O
for	O
a	O
total	O
resolution	O
of	O
640	O
by	O
400	O
pixels	O
,	O
CGA	B-Device
double-scan	O
)	O
and	O
possessing	O
a	O
brighter	O
backlight	O
element	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
8088	B-Device
SupersPort	B-Device
was	O
marketed	O
toward	O
university	O
students	O
,	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
286	B-General_Concept
—	O
featuring	O
an	O
Intel	B-General_Concept
80286	I-General_Concept
clocked	O
at	O
12MHz	O
(	O
with	O
no	O
wait	B-Device
states	I-Device
)	O
—	O
was	O
aimed	O
at	O
business	O
professionals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SupersPort	B-Device
286	B-General_Concept
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
battery-powered	O
286	B-General_Concept
laptops	B-Device
;	O
Zenith	O
claimed	O
it	O
was	O
the	O
fastest	O
286	B-General_Concept
portable	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
its	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
the	O
8088	B-Device
SupersPort	B-Device
(	O
actually	O
featuring	O
a	O
80C88	B-Device
switchable	O
between	O
8	O
and	O
4.77MHz	O
and	O
simply	O
called	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
)	O
and	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
286	B-General_Concept
came	O
in	O
two	O
variants	O
each	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SupersPort	B-Device
Model	O
2	O
was	O
the	O
lowest-cost	O
affair	O
and	O
features	O
dual	O
720KB	O
,	O
3.5-inch	O
floppy	O
disk	O
drives	O
;	O
both	O
are	O
equipped	O
with	O
640KB	O
of	O
memory	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SupersPort	B-Device
Model	O
20	O
swaps	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
two	O
floppy	O
drives	O
for	O
a	O
20MB	O
hard	O
drive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SupersPort	B-Device
286	B-General_Concept
Model	O
20	O
features	O
a	O
high-density	O
1.44MB	O
,	O
3.5-inch	O
floppy	O
disk	O
drive	O
and	O
same	O
20MB	O
hard	O
drive	O
as	O
the	O
aforementioned	O
model	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
Model	O
40	O
features	O
a	O
40MB	O
drive	O
;	O
both	O
come	O
with	O
1MB	O
RAM	B-Architecture
stock	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
80C88	B-Device
SupersPort	B-Device
Model	O
20	O
weighs	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
286	B-General_Concept
Model	O
20	O
weighs	O
a	O
little	O
over	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
TurbosPort	O
and	O
8088	B-Device
SupersPort	B-Device
were	O
released	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
in	O
April	O
1988	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SupersPort	B-Device
286	B-General_Concept
was	O
released	O
a	O
month	O
later	O
,	O
held	O
back	O
by	O
FCC	O
clearance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
kit	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
286	B-General_Concept
was	O
offered	O
by	O
Zenith	O
's	O
Heath	O
division	O
in	O
the	O
beginning	O
of	O
1989	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Heath	O
SupersPort	B-Device
286	B-General_Concept
sold	O
for	O
US$3	O
,	O
678	O
,	O
against	O
the	O
$	O
4,999	O
retail	O
price	O
of	O
the	O
fully	O
assembled	O
Zenith	B-Device
SupersPort	I-Device
286	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
Zenith	O
refused	O
to	O
disclose	O
sales	O
figures	O
of	O
their	O
computers	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
reportedly	O
sold	O
roughly	O
173,910	O
SupersPorts	B-Device
by	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
1988	O
,	O
or	O
25.5percent	O
of	O
all	O
682,000	O
laptops	B-Device
sold	O
that	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
1988	O
,	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
multi-million	O
dollar	O
agreement	O
,	O
Zenith	O
became	O
the	O
official	O
supplier	O
of	O
laptops	B-Device
for	O
the	O
Master	O
's	O
program	O
of	O
Harvard	O
Business	O
School	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
part	O
of	O
this	O
agreement	O
,	O
Harvard	O
recommended	O
incoming	O
post-graduates	O
acquire	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
286	B-General_Concept
for	O
use	O
with	O
coursework	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
School	O
had	O
prescribed	O
IBM	B-Device
PCs	I-Device
to	O
students	O
in	O
the	O
prior	O
four	O
years	O
;	O
Zenith	O
beat	O
out	O
IBM	O
and	O
four	O
other	O
competitors	O
for	O
the	O
1988	O
contract	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
that	O
May	O
,	O
Zenith	O
signed	O
an	O
agreement	O
with	O
Hewlett-Packard	O
to	O
act	O
as	O
an	O
OEM	O
for	O
HP	O
,	O
rebadging	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
286	B-General_Concept
as	O
a	O
laptop	B-Device
under	O
Hewlett-Packard	O
'	O
s	O
Vectra	B-Device
line	O
of	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
compatibles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Hewlett-Packard	O
had	O
sold	O
two	O
models	O
of	O
laptops	B-Device
of	O
its	O
own	O
design	O
under	O
the	O
Vectra	B-Device
line	O
,	O
it	O
only	O
achieved	O
limited	O
success	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
company	O
admitted	O
to	O
the	O
press	O
that	O
Zenith	O
's	O
product	O
was	O
more	O
feature-packed	O
and	O
offered	O
higher	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SupersPort-based	O
HP	O
laptop	B-Device
was	O
released	O
as	O
the	O
Vectra	B-Device
LS/12	O
in	O
January	O
1989	O
,	O
by	O
which	O
point	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
286	B-General_Concept
was	O
among	O
the	O
top-selling	O
laptops	B-Device
on	O
the	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sherwin	O
Levinson	O
of	O
InfoWorld	O
wrote	O
that	O
"	O
the	O
Zenith	B-Device
SupersPort	I-Device
286	B-General_Concept
may	O
well	O
be	O
the	O
harbinger	O
of	O
a	O
new	O
era	O
of	O
laptop	B-Device
computing	O
"	O
,	O
"embod[ying]	O
a	O
combination	O
of	O
speed	O
,	O
weight	O
,	O
size	O
,	O
and	O
battery	O
life	O
that	O
we	O
've	O
seen	O
in	O
no	O
other	O
laptop	B-Device
"	O
and	O
that	O
"	O
Zenith	O
's	O
engineers	O
have	O
come	O
closer	O
to	O
the	O
ideal	O
laptop	B-Device
than	O
any	O
so	O
far.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Levinson	O
particularly	O
praised	O
the	O
processing	O
speed	O
,	O
hard	O
disk	O
access	O
times	O
and	O
battery	O
life	O
of	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
286	B-General_Concept
and	O
while	O
finding	O
some	O
software	O
incompatibility	O
with	O
FastBack	B-Application
Plus	I-Application
(	O
a	O
file	O
backup	O
utility	O
for	O
DOS	B-Device
)	O
and	O
Crosstalk	B-Protocol
Mk.4	I-Protocol
(	O
a	O
terminal	B-Application
emulator	I-Application
for	O
DOS	B-Device
)	O
,	O
he	O
wrote	O
that	O
such	O
errors	O
were	O
correctable	O
and	O
subsequent	O
tests	O
ran	O
fine	O
afterwards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Levinson	O
found	O
reservation	O
with	O
the	O
keyboard	O
layout	O
which	O
he	O
deemed	O
slightly	O
cramped	O
and	O
recommended	O
purchasers	O
get	O
the	O
optional	O
numeric	B-Device
keypad	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Allan	O
S	O
.	O
Papkin	O
,	O
a	O
journalist	O
for	O
United	O
Press	O
International	O
,	O
"	O
clearly	O
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
best	O
laptops	B-Device
going	O
"	O
and	O
although	O
"	O
not	O
the	O
lightest	O
in	O
its	O
class	O
,	O
nor	O
by	O
any	O
means	O
the	O
least	O
costly	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
it	O
deserves	O
serious	O
consideration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bill	O
Howard	O
of	O
PC	O
Magazine	O
,	O
writing	O
a	O
year	O
after	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
286	B-General_Concept
's	O
release	O
,	O
wrote	O
that	O
the	O
machine	O
was	O
"	O
still	O
competent	O
"	O
as	O
a	O
business	O
laptop	B-Device
and	O
praised	O
the	O
display	O
and	O
keyboard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
calling	O
the	O
industrial	O
design	O
of	O
the	O
laptop	B-Device
"	O
trendsetting	O
"	O
,	O
he	O
called	O
the	O
battery	O
enclosure	O
"	O
less	O
than	O
elegant	O
"	O
on	O
account	O
of	O
its	O
heft	O
and	O
dumbbell	O
shape	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Reviewing	O
the	O
8088	B-Device
SupersPort	B-Device
in	O
PC	O
Magazine	O
,	O
Nora	O
Georgas	O
wrote	O
that	O
while	O
the	O
laptop	B-Device
was	O
more	O
expensive	O
than	O
Toshiba	O
's	O
Toshiba	B-Device
T1000	I-Device
,	O
she	O
preferred	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
's	O
screen	O
and	O
keyboard	O
and	O
called	O
it	O
a	O
"	O
good	O
low-end	O
laptop	B-Device
"	O
overall	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
year	O
after	O
its	O
release	O
,	O
in	O
October	O
1989	O
,	O
Alfred	O
Poor	O
wrote	O
in	O
PC	O
Magazine	O
that	O
the	O
8088	B-Device
SupersPort	B-Device
was	O
beginning	O
to	O
fall	O
behind	O
in	O
usability	O
and	O
speed	O
,	O
calling	O
the	O
hard	O
disk	O
speed	O
unremarkable	O
and	O
the	O
processing	O
speed	O
mediocre	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
praised	O
the	O
laptop	B-Device
's	O
backlit	O
display	O
and	O
called	O
the	O
battery	O
life	O
reasonable	O
,	O
but	O
found	O
the	O
design	O
of	O
the	O
battery	O
attachment	O
mechanism	O
flawed	O
,	O
as	O
it	O
prevented	O
users	O
from	O
plugging	O
in	O
peripherals	O
to	O
the	O
rear	O
ports	O
without	O
first	O
removing	O
the	O
rather	O
bulky	O
battery	O
and	O
unlatching	O
the	O
peripheral	O
port	O
door	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SupersPort	B-Device
SX	O
(	O
October	O
1989	O
)	O
–	O
16MHz	O
80386SX	O
processor	O
;	O
supertwist	B-General_Concept
backlit	O
VGA	B-Protocol
LCD	B-Device
;	O
1MB	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
stock	O
(	O
upgradable	O
to	O
8MB	O
)	O
;	O
40MB	O
or	O
100MB	O
hard	O
drive	O
options	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
battery-powered	O
laptop	B-Device
with	O
an	O
386SX	O
processor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SupersPort	B-Device
486	B-General_Concept
(	O
fall	O
1991	O
)	O
–	O
25MHz	O
80486	B-General_Concept
processor	O
;	O
supertwist	B-General_Concept
backlit	O
VGA	B-Protocol
LCD	B-Device
;	O
4MB	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
stock	O
(	O
upgradable	O
to	O
16MB	O
)	O
;	O
120MB	O
hard	O
drive	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SupersPort	B-Device
486	B-General_Concept
was	O
among	O
the	O
first	O
battery-powered	O
486-based	O
laptops	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
SupersPort	B-Device
486SX	B-Device
(	O
fall	O
1991	O
)	O
–	O
20MHz	O
80486SX	B-Device
processor	O
;	O
supertwist	B-General_Concept
backlit	O
VGA	B-Protocol
LCD	B-Device
;	O
4MB	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
stock	O
(	O
upgradable	O
to	O
16MB	O
)	O
;	O
120MB	O
hard	O
drive	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
486	B-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
SupersPort	B-Device
486SX	B-Device
was	O
among	O
the	O
first	O
battery-powered	O
486-based	O
laptops	B-Device
.	O
</s>
