Compaq LTE Elite 4/100CX Prototype
Here's a special one - a prototype LTE Elite that never made it to production. This unit was found by compaqportableplus on the VCF forums (80sCompaqPC on YouTube) off of eBay, advertised incorrectly as a different LTE Elite by someone who didn't know what it was. compaqportableplus gave me the info for this page, and some images of the unit to show. They also have a YouTube video up here showing the unit in action.
The "best" of the LTE Elite series that was actually released was the 4/75CXL, which had a 486DX4-75, a larger screen than any previous model, and still no sound card.
This prototype LTE Elite has a DX4-100 in it, the same larger CXL screen, a sound card, and other component differences. See the full specs below:
Specifications
| Spec | Details |
|---|---|
| CPU | CPU Type: Unknown Intel 486DX4 @100MHz |
| Chipset | Unreleased |
| RAM | Type: LTE Elite Proprietary Standard: 8MB Soldered Maximum: Likely 32MB |
| Hard Disk | 2.5" IDE Uses proprietary adapter?: Yes Standard: 810MB (IBM) |
| Display Options | 10.4" Active Matrix Color @640x480 |
| Graphics Chipset | Cirrus Logic VRAM: Unknown |
| Audio | ESS AudioDrive 1688 |
| Main Battery | NiMH |
| CMOS Battery | NiCad |
| Power Supply | Internal, uses standard 2-prong mains voltage plug |
| Disk Drives | 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Drive (Epson, belt drive) |
| PC Cards | 2x PCMCIA Slots |
| Networking | None |
| Other I/O | - 1x Parallel - 1x Serial - 1x VGA Out - 1x PS/2 - 1x Dock Connector - 3x Audio Jacks |
| BIOS | Compaq BIOS |
| Pointing Device | Trackball |
Differences compared to the Elite 4/75CXL
- Faster DX4-100 CPU with beefier cooling system
- Cirrus Logic video, all previous models used Western Digital video
- Internal sound card(!!), located where the PC Speaker/LED board is on the 4/75CXL, with audio jacks.
- Uses an Epson floppy drive, all production LTE Elites used the Citizen W1D. However, said Epson drive is still belt-driven (just like the citizen is), so you don't get out of a bad belt if you somehow find one of these.
- Keyboard bezel is modified in order to improve sound output from the speaker
How close to production is it?
Seemingly very. The modified keyboard bezel isn't textured (a common occurance on prototype parts in general), it is missing various badging (top just says "COMPAQ", bottom labels missing, COMPAQ badge on keyboard bezel missing) and there is one video bug. Other than this, the system appears to be fully functional, and identifies as an LTE Elite 4/100CX in BIOS.
Said video bug: At certain resolutions, the screen is shifted down by about two inches. This can be mostly negated if you set the "internal display features" option in BIOS to disabled. After this, most things will then display correctly, except for the Windows 95 splash screen for whatever reason.
Other than those couple of things, it seems to be fully functional.
Why didn't it release?
My personal guess is that the Pentium-based LTE 5000 was too close to launch by the time they had finished or gotten close to finishing development on the 4/100CX. That's just my own guess though, and we may never know for sure why it was cancelled. It's also completely unknown as to how many prototypes for this unit exist. We only currently have a sample size of one. For what it's worth, this unit's owner also believes that the LTE 5000 is at fault for this laptop's cancellation.
Image Gallery
Click any image on this page to view the full-size version of it.
Page last updated (MM/DD/YYYY): 11/05/2024
Update Reason: page converted to php
Back-Navigation
Home < Laptop Portal < Compaq < LTE Elite 4/100CX Prototype