The Alpha-Top Green740 is a 486-based generic/ODM laptop released in 1994 - I think. It passed FCC in August 1995, so it didn't appear on the US market before then (and yes, that is after the Green751 passed FCC), and that's consistent with when I saw this one appear in magazines. However, Alpha-Top themselves said it was introduced in October 1994 on their website, and I do actually think that's when it was designed, given the fact that it really does look like an older version of the Green751 design. I can't confirm this for sure, but my theory is that the Green740 did come first, but didn't initially release in the western market. Interestingly, all of the Green740s I've seen for sale were located in Eastern Europe, so my theory is that they were sold there first. Some of those were also grayscale, which was very uncommon by 1995.
The photo you're seeing to the right actually came from the Green740's box. I was previously unable to confirm that the box and image were of a Green740, as no model number was written on the box, but I eventually found a a few Green740s for sale on European auction sites which confirmed that it was. The box is mine, but I only have the box, no laptop. Shame there was no laptop, mine's marked as a TFT unit!
I've found several OEMs that sold this laptop. I've seen ones in auctions branded by Olidata, DTK, and Rover/Roverbook (some eastern european brand). As well as that, I've found via the Wayback Machine that Trogon and Maxtech also sold it.
The box has a number of spec options on the side, and under CPU, it shows options as slow as a SX-33 and as fast as a DX4-100. However, some other Alpha-Top boxes showed options that I don't think were actually available on the laptops in question, so the info here remains fuzzy.
The G740 appears to use proprietary RAM, with a 20MB limit. I don't know whether it uses the same RAM as the Green751 or not. It has a removable cover on the bottom, so I'd assume the slot is under it.
The G751 has a standard barrel jack on the back of the unit. It requires a center-positive supply that outputs 19V with at least 1.9 amps. From a photo I found, it appears to ship with the same charger that the Green751 did, and the plug and voltages line up too.
These used a hard drive bay design more similar to the Green753 than the Green751, and that includes a proprietary adapter cable. I doubt it's the same one as the Green753 but I can't confirm right now. Point is, avoid buying one that's missing the caddy, you don't be able to plug in a hard drive.
The Green740 has modular bay functionality that I've never seen in any other laptop before. The modular bay in the Green740 can hold a floppy drive or a second battery, which is pretty common, but it can also hold a sound card module, which is certainly not common at all. It uses a Crystal chip of some kind, but I'm not sure which one. The sound module also has a connector on it that allows you to connect the floppy drive module externally in order to use both at once. The sound module was a $189 option on the MaxTech version of this laptop, so it's likely unobtainium.
| Spec | Details |
|---|---|
| CPU | Desktop 486 CPUs (Intel and Cyrix are known to be supported) - 486SX @33MHz - 486DX @33MHz - 486DX2 @50 or 66MHz - 486DX4 @75 or 100MHz |
| Chipset | Unknown |
| RAM | Proprietary - 4MB soldered - 20MB Maximum |
| Hard Disk | - 2.5" IDE - Uses proprietary adapter board |
| Display Options | - Passive Matrix Grayscale - 10.3" Passive Matrix Color - 9.5" Active Matrix Color |
| Graphics Chipset | Chips & Technologies 65540 |
| Audio | Optional module that goes in place of the floppy drive, see modular bay section above. - Crystal (exact chip unknown) |
| Main Battery | NiMH |
| CMOS Battery | Unknown |
| Power Supply | Standard barrel jack - 19V 1.9A |
| Disk Drives | Modular Bay, holds Floppy Drive, Sound Module, or 2nd Battery. See modular bay section above for more info. |
| PC Cards | 2x PCMCIA Slots |
| Networking | None internal |
| Other I/O | - 1x Parallel - 1x Serial - 1x VGA Out - 1x PS/2 - 1x Dock Connector |
| BIOS | SystemSoft |
| Pointing Device | Trackball or TrackPoint |
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