Ask HN: First laptop you had without optical drive? I was surprised to search on google and not being able to easily find the first laptop ever to not have an optical drive built in after CD'S were invented and all computers used them. I'm curious to see who can name the oldest model here in HN to omit it. |
There have been superportables all along without built-in optical drives, such as the ThinkPad 560 (1996).
It had a PCMCIA floppy drive, and I think 1 had similar CD-ROM drive.
I ran Linux on it for a few years, prior to getting a 12" PowerBook.
I ended up buying a Picturebook since I had a long bus commute. It was underpowered with the TransMeta Crusoe processor, but it fit in my coat pocket and served as an MP3 player. :)