website/content/museum/hewlett-packard-hp-110.md

---
title: Hewlett Packard HP-110
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Home Computer
origins:
- U.S.A.
years:
- '1984'
cpus:
- 8086 CMOS
params:
  name: HP-110
  company: /companies/hewlett-packard
  company_name: Hewlett Packard
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: HP-110
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Hewlett Packard
  - label: TYPE
    value: Home Computer
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: U.S.A.
  - label: YEAR
    value: '1984'
  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
    value: |-
      None, but built-in software :\
      Lotus 1-2-3 (spreadsheet), Memomaker (wordprocessor), Terminal (communication)
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: |-
      QWERTY / AZERTY mechanical keyboard\
      75 keys, 8 function keys
  - label: CPU
    value: 8086 CMOS
  - label: SPEED
    value: 5,33 Mhz
  - label: RAM
    value: |-
      HP-110 : 272 kb (up to 176 kb can be used as a virtual disk)\
      HP-110 Plus : 256 kb, upgradable to 1Mb (896 kb max. for virtual disk)
  - label: ROM
    value: 384 kb (DOS and built-in applications)
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: |-
      HP-110 : 80 x 16\
      HP-110 Plus : 80 x 25
  - label: GRAPHIC MODES
    value: |-
      HP-110 : 480 x 128\
      HP-110 Plus : 480 x 200
  - label: COLORS
    value: 'No'
  - label: SOUND
    value: Beeper ?
  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
    value: 32 x 25 x 7 cm / 4kg
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: |-
      HP-IL / HP-IB\
      RS-232c
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: Virtual RAM disk
  - label: OS
    value: DOS 2.11
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: Acid lead batteries (16h autonomy)
  - label: PERIPHERALS
    value: |-
      Printer\
      Disk Drive
  - label: PRICE
    value: |-
      HP-110 :5231 (France, 85)\
      HP-110 Plus (without software) : 3811 (France, 85)
  tabs:
  - photos
  - adverts
  - hardware
  photos:
  - title: THE HP-110 IN USE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: THE HP-110 PLUS
    subtitle: ''
    text: The HP-110 plus had a bigger screen (25 lines instead of 16), the possibility to change the internal ROM sotfware, and more memory upgrade.
    image: null
  - title: BACK
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: CLOSED
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: THE CARRYING CASE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: PARIS-DAKAR
    subtitle: ''
    text: The HP-110 was used in the famous Paris-Dakar race...
    image: null
  adverts:
  - title: PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD COVER
    subtitle: ''
    text: dated July 1984
    image: null
  hardware:
  - title: THE COMPLETE SYSTEM
    subtitle: HP-110 + Thinkjet printer + Disk-drive
    text: ''
    image: null
  - title: COMPLETE SYSTEM
    subtitle: ''
    text: The Thinkjet printer is on top of the Disk-drive.
    image: null
  - title: THE DISK-DRIVE
    subtitle: ''
    text: 3"1/2 disk-drive. 710 kb. 7000 fr (France, 84)
    image: null
  - title: THE ACID LEAD BATTERIES
    subtitle: ''
    text: These batteries can power the HP-110 for 16 hours !
    image: null
  - title: THE MAIN BOARD
    subtitle: ''
    text: In the middle-left part is the 80c86 (40 pins).
    image: null
  - title: THE UPPER BOARD
    subtitle: ''
    text: On this upper board, we can find the interfaces, the power supply circuits, the keyboard and the screen circuits.
    image: null
  comments:
  - author: Blahs Blase'' (USA)
    date: Saturday 26th February 2011
    text: I bought the 110+ in 1985 with the disk drive and printer and the screen upgrade to 26 lines and one megabyte of RAM. I used it almost everyday for ten years to run my business on the road and it was a fantastic computer. A battery charge was good for 20 hours of work, much longer to just store data. It had MS Word 1A on a ROM chip and Lotus 1-2-3 and they both ran quickly with no problems at all. As I recall the retail price for everything was somewhere around Seven thousand dollars and it was worth it. I still have it but haven''t turned in on since 1994.
  - author: Lohi Karhu (Germany)
    date: Thursday 20th May 2021
    text: Rich WIlson (HP3478A Guru) mentioned the PPU in the 11ü, and couldn''t see the part number, but I''ll bet it was a Motorola 146805G2, or similar$ Myself and a friend built the very first evaluation system for this processor, in 1982/83, even beating Motorola to the market... it was one of the first generation of ultra-low power MCUs, ideal for that application, at that time.
  - author: Denis Wicking (United Kingdom)
    date: Tuesday 23rd May 2017
    text: Just found the complete collection - laptop, printer, disk base, manuals, bag when clearing out my dad''s gear. I will see if it works soon
  - author: HL (Germany)
    date: Wednesday 18th May 2016
    text: |-
      Hi, can anyone send me a scan of the service manual of the original 110? My one does not boot at all, i thing the eprom contents is lost.\
      Thanks HL
  - author: Christa Maas (Germany)
    date: Friday 1st June 2012
    text: |-
      I still have my HP 110 Portable Plus - and it is still working !\
      I bought it 1985 and it helped me in my business for more then 10 years - it was the best maschine that time - just\
      great !!!\
      My Question: How much money ($ or €) wouldl it bring, if I would sell my Portable Plus from 1984 today ?\
      It would be fantastic, if somebody would answer me.\
      Christa Maas
  - author: David (Australia)
    date: Sunday 22nd April 2007
    text: Hi, I don't know if anyone noticed but this laptop was used in the end of the Knight Rider episode "The Wrong Crowd". It was used near the end by Bonnie.
  - author: Anna (Michigan)
    date: Wednesday 19th November 2003
    text: I've got one fo these. I took it out of my basement the other day and plugged it in. I forgot how annoying the beeping gets.
  - author: jason (dayton, oh)
    date: Sunday 13rd July 2003
    text: so i just decided to post again to change my e-mail.. i stil have this thing if anyone wants to check it out.. later...
  - author: oPC_iNC_Fu (dayton, ohio)
    date: Wednesday 17th July 2002
    text: my buddy found one of these in the trash today, it is in working condition, but we can't get the lotus or memomaker to work(i didn't mess with it too much..., it has a couple manuals, the disk drive, a printer, and a carrying case with it, the cables to connect the drives... if anyone is interested in buying this or has any software or info, let me know... i never knew they even made stuff like this, let alone a website all about it... sweet, peace out homies....
  oc_id: 445
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230604181209/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=445
    date: '2023-06-04'
---

The HP-110 was the first laptop computer to offer the power and the possibilities of a desktop. As it was possible to connect a printer and a disk-drive to it, it was a very serious machine in its category, with Lotus 1-2-3 integrated.

This was the good occasion for Hewlet-Packard to introduce a laptop computer when IBM and Apple were not yet on this part of the market. The HP-110 is somehow compatible with its big brother, the HP-150, and can communicate with HP "calculators" like the HP-41c.

Its design looks like the Dulmont Magnum or the Gavilan produced at the same time. The screen can be tilted to accomodate the right angle of vision for the user.

The HP-110 is equiped with a 8086 16-bit CPU which is much more powerful than the 8088 for example used in the HP-150.

One year later, HP presented the **Portable Plus** with bigger screen, more memory upgrade and the possibility to change the internal ROM software.

---

**Rich Wilson** comments:\
The HP-110 and Portable Plus were actually multi-processor computers! I see something on the schematic called a PPU, and its part number seems to be 146?0562. But it's blurry; the ? might be 3 or 8, and the 0 might be an 8. In sleep mode, the 8086 is powered off, and the PPU is given the job of keeping the time, controlling the power supply and charger, monitoring the power button, etc.