This project was a pleasant surprise in more ways than one. For a long time I’ve only thought of Compaq branded computers as exceptionally cheaply made, mass produced commodity appliances. While this was certainly true during the later Pentium-era years as Compaq, Dell and Gateway raced to bottom of the retail market, I’ve been pleased to learn this wasn’t the case with the Compaq Portable line.
This 1987 Compaq Portable III 386 is well documented online and its hardware has been extensively explored by others. One fan has even created an
entire website devoted to the Compaq Portable family. In this article I will just be showing a few specific aspects of this repair and restoration which I found interesting, and sharing some more tips with you.
