Compal TS30A, TS30AS, & TS30AT

The Compal TS30A, TS30AS, and TS30AT are generic/ODM laptops both released in 1994. The only difference between all three are the displays - TS30A is grayscale passive matrix, TS30AS is passive matrix color, and TS30AT is active matrix color. The TS30AS and TS30AT released first, as they passed FCC in February 1994. The TS30A passed FCC in April 1994.

The TS30A/AS/AT are 486 laptops, and they use desktop CPUs. They support up to a DX4-100. They also support Cyrix CPUs (but not the 5x86 as far as I know).

Some TS30A/AS/AT laptops have stereo speakers and a microphone on the palmrest and some don't. Ones without the speakers/mic may still have a sound card though. I'd assume all with the stereo speakers and mic have a sound card. The sound circuitry is soldered to the motherboard, so you cannot easily add sound to a TS30A/AS/AT that didn't ship with sound.

The Epson ActionNote 650 and 660 Series (pictured on this page) were all TS30A/AS/AT laptops. None of these had the sound card.
Targa sold the TS30A and the TS30AS
MidWest Micro sold them under their Elite and Ultra lines as the SoundBook Series.
MPC Technologies sold them. I think the model number from MPC was the 380 (note - NOT the M-380), but I'm not positive. They probably only have TS30A, AS, or AT on the label anyway.
I've seen a TS30A on eBay badged as "PLATINUM". I don't know anything about PLATINUM.
Mitsuba sold the TS30A.
Systemax sold the TS30AS with a sound card under their "ULTRA" brand. They also sold the TS30AT.
Ambra sold the TS30AS and TS30AT.
Some brand called "Swift-Pro" sold one of the three.
Sceptre sold the TS30A.
The Viglen Dossier 486 ST was a TS30AT - this one was from the UK. It has a printed model number of TS30ME, but looks exactly like the TS30AT.
ABS Computer Technologies sold all three just as their generic "Note Book".

Specifications

Spec	Details
CPU	CPU Type: Socket 3 - Intel 486SX @25MHz - Intel 486DX @33MHz - Cyrix or Intel 486DX2 @50 or 66MHz - Intel 486DX4 @75 or 100MHz - Other options likely supported
Chipset	PicoPower Evergreen 2
RAM	Type: 1 Proprietary Module Standard: Unknown Maximum: 20MB
Storage	2.5" IDE Requires Adapter: Sort of Standard: N/A
Display Options	- 9.4" Passive Matrix Grayscale @640x480 - 10.3" Passive Matrix Color @640x480 - 9.5" Active Matrix Color @640x480
Graphics Chipset	Chips & Technologies 65540 VRAM: 512KB or 1MB
Audio	ESS AudioDrive 488 (Optional) - Mono or Stereo Speakers - Microphone (sound models only)
Main Battery	NiMH (10 cell, 4/3A cells)
CMOS Battery	- 3-cell Varta NiCad (3/V11RT, Soldered) - 6-cell Varta NiCad Reserve Battery (Some models)
Power Supply	Hirose RP-34 (3-pin) connector - AC Adapter P/N TSA3
Media Drives	3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Drive (Teac)
PC Cards	2x PCMCIA Slots
Networking	None
Other I/O	- 1x Parallel - 1x Serial - 1x VGA Out - 1x PS/2 - 1x Line In (if equipped w/ sound) - 1x Line Out (if equipped w/ sound) - 1x Dock Connector (Optional)
BIOS	SystemSoft
Pointing Device	Trackball

Common Faults & Maintenance

Battery Leaks

The TS30A/AS/AT's CMOS battery is a NiCad Varta pack which is soldered directly to the motherboard. These batteries are extremely prone to leaking and should be removed from any TS30A. In addition, some TS30A laptops also have a 6-cell NiCad Varta battery taped to the palmrest, to the left of the trackball. This battery is a "suspend" or "reserve" battery, which allowed the main battery to be replaced while the reserve battery kept the system alive in hibernation mode. This battery is also prone to leaking and should be removed if present. My Epson ActionNote 660c unit was missing this battery (the connector for it wasn't even soldered), while my Midwest Micro TS30AT unit had it.

The main battery is NiMH and can also leak.

Brittle Plastic

Plastic on these laptops is quite brittle, so keep that in mind when handling them and especially when taking one apart. The hinge mounts directly into a metal sub-frame at the base, so it will never fail there. They probably mount to plastic in the screen but they don't break here as often as other laptops from this time.