Compaq LTE Elite Series
The LTE Elite Series were 486-based laptops, released by Compaq in 1994. They succeeded the LTE Lite series and unlike the Lite were designed and produced in-house by Compaq.
Also see: Prototype of the cancelled LTE Elite 4/100CX
Specifications
Individual Model Specsheets
Elite 4/40C | Elite 4/40CX | Elite 4/50E | Elite 4/50CX | Elite 4/75C | Elite 4/75CX | Elite 4/75CXL
Combined Spec Table
| Spec | 4/40C | 4/40CX | 4/50E | 4/50CX | 4/75C | 4/75CX | 4/75CXL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel 486DX2 @40MHz | Intel 486DX2 @50MHz | Intel 486DX4 @75MHz | ||||
| RAM Type | LTE Elite Proprietary | ||||||
| RAM Capacity | - 4MB Standard - 20MB Maximum |
- 8MB Standard - 24MB Maximum |
- 8MB Standard - 32MB Maximum |
- 4MB Standard - 24MB Maximum |
- 8MB Standard - 32MB Maximum |
||
| Hard Disk | 2.5" IDE - 170MB Standard |
2.5" IDE - 170 or 340MB Standard |
2.5" IDE - 250MB Standard |
2.5" IDE - 340MB Standard |
2.5" IDE | 2.5" IDE - 340 or 510MB Standard |
2.5" IDE |
| Uses Proprietary HDD Adapter? | Yes | ||||||
| Display Options | 9.5" Passive Matrix Color LCD @640x480 | 8.4" Active Matrix Color LCD @640x480 | 9.5" Active Matrix Grayscale LCD @640x480 | 9.5" Active Matrix Color LCD @640x480 | 9.5" Passive Matrix Color LCD @640x480 | 9.5" Active Matrix Color LCD @640x480 | 10.4" Active Matrix Color LCD @640x480 |
| Graphics Chipset | Western Digital WD24A2 | ||||||
| Audio | PC Speaker Only | ||||||
| Main Battery | NiMH | ||||||
| CMOS Battery | NiCad | ||||||
| Power Supply | Internal, uses standard 2-prong mains voltage plug | ||||||
| Disk Drives | 3.5" Floppy Drive - Citizen W1D |
||||||
| Expansion | 2x PCMCIA Slots | ||||||
| Other I/O | - 1x Serial - 1x Parallel - 1x VGA Out - 1x Dock Connector - 1x PS/2 - 1x Keypad Connector |
||||||
| BIOS | Compaq BIOS | ||||||
| Pointing Device | Trackball | ||||||
Resources
 Drivers |
 Service Manual |
|---|
Common Faults & Maintenance
The LTE Elite Series is generally among the top of laptops from this time for reliability. They have a number of problems still, but are far better than many others.
Floppy Drive Failure
Every single unserviced floppy drive in these laptops no longer works. The drive is a Citizen W1D, a drive that vintage laptop collectors fear - it's got a belt buried inside that always goes bad in age and needs replacing. As of right now, you can find the proper replacement belt on eBay from a German seller. The real issue is that it's really difficult to replace the belt and get the drive back together without damaging anything.
The W1D also has two SMD electrolytic capacitors inside of it that while not always bad, should be replaced due to the risk of them failing and/or leaking.
Plastics
The plastic on the LTE Elites is generally less brittle and more solid than the competition from the time. Hinge failures are currently exceptionally rare, although I've seen one unit with a stress crack around the base hinge mounts. I'll bet in another 5-10 years that will be common. Still, even if hinge failures are currently rare, the plastic has aged. The port doors often break off or no longer stay shut due to their plastic-based design. The plastic can also yellow.
Capacitors
The LTE Elite is a 1994/95 machine, so it's right on the line in terms of electrolytic caps. Besides the aforementioned caps in the floppy drive, the LCD panels on TFT color Elites (4/40CX, 4/50CX, 4/75CX, and 4/75CXL) use Sharp displays which have many capacitors on them. It's a good idea to replace them, as panels from just a year earlier are being completely ruined due to cap leakage damaging nearly impossible to replace internal display ribbon cables.
The LTE Elite also uses a completely internal power supply, so if it dies, the laptop is dead and you need a parts unit. If you have a dead PSU, capacitors are a likely cause just due to age. This currently isn't very common though.
CMOS Battery Leaks
The LTE Elite's CMOS battery is a cylindrical NiCad pack, located next to the right display hinge. It isn't directly over the motherboard, but corrosion will leech down the cable and onto the motherboard if the battery leaks. It's very easy to remove the battery to prevent any issues.
Display Problems
Like any other laptop, all the LTE Elites can develop Vinegar Syndrome on the LCD.
In addition, the Elite 4/50E specifically nearly always has the Tunnel Vision fault that affects Hosiden TFT Mono/Grayscale LCDs.
Other Notes
The LTE Elite's main battery is NiMH, and can also leak. Keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't begin to damage the computer. The pack is completely "dumb", so it should be easy to rebuild with new cells.
The LTE Elite has no setup program in ROM. The BIOS is extremely basic and only has provisions to boot the computer from the floppy or hard drive, automatically. To modify BIOS settings, you need access to a software-based setup program that shipped on the computer's hard drive from the factory. As most original drives are now dead or have been wiped through the years, chances are likely that your Elite is probably missing this setup partition. Compaq released a utility to re-write the setup partition to a drive (see the resources page), but it's picky about hard drives, and won't work if you're using a drive larger than around 1GB. The bigger issue though is that the utility MUST be booted from floppy disk, so you would have to have replaced the belt in order to even use it.
The setup partition isn't required to use the computer, so I would just recommend avoiding dealing with it unless you want to.
Gallery
LTE Elite 4/75CX
Click on any image below to view the full-size version of it.
Page last updated (MM/DD/YYYY): 11/06/2024
Update Reason: added individual model specsheets
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