website/content/museum/otrona-attache.md

---
title: Otrona Attache
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Transportable
origins:
- U.S.A.
years:
- '1982'
cpus:
- Zilog Z80A at 4 MHz
params:
  name: Attache
  image: /media/museum/photos/otrona_attache_1s.jpg
  company: /companies/otrona
  company_name: Otrona
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: Attache
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Otrona
  - label: TYPE
    value: Transportable
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: U.S.A.
  - label: YEAR
    value: April 1982
  - label: END OF PRODUCTION
    value: '1984'
  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
    value: Unknown
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: compact full-stroke keyboard (QWERTY)
  - label: CPU
    value: |-
      Zilog Z80A at 4 MHz\
      \+ Intel i8086 at 8 MHz for the Model 8:16
  - label: RAM
    value: |-
      64 KB\
      8:16 model: 256 KB when running in MS-DOS mode
  - label: ROM
    value: 4 KB
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: 80 x 24
  - label: GRAPHIC MODES
    value: 320 x 240
  - label: COLORS
    value: No (monochrome built-in 5.5'' CRT display)
  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
    value: 12 x 5.75 x 13.6 inches / 19 lbs
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: expansion slot, keyboard connector, two RS-232c ports, video output (composite)
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: 5.25'' built-in floppy disk drive (360 KB)
  - label: OS
    value: |-
      CP/M\
      \+ MS-DOS with 8:16 model
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: AC power or battery pack (optional)
  - label: PERIPHERALS
    value: second 5.25'' floppy disk drive, 10 MB hard disk, parallel interface, carrying case, battery pack
  - label: PRICE
    value: $3995 (USA, 1982)
  tabs:
  - photos
  - links
  photos:
  - title: OTRONA ATTACHE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/otrona_attache_1.jpg
  - title: RIGHT SIDE
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/otrona_attache_3.jpg
  - title: TOP VIEW
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/otrona_attache_top.jpg
  - title: CLOSED
    subtitle: ''
    text: ready to go !
    image: /media/museum/photos/otrona_attache_closed.jpg
  - title: CLOSED - STAND UP
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/otrona_attache_closed_2.jpg
  - title: CLOSED WITH 5.25'' DISK
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/otrona_attache_closed_3.jpg
  - title: DETAIL
    subtitle: ''
    text: The serial number of this unit is 1464.
    image: /media/museum/photos/otrona_attache_detail.jpg
  - title: TURNED ON
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/otrona_attache_2.jpg
  - title: USING THE DISK DRIVES
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/otrona_attache_disk.jpg
  - title: REAR
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/otrona_attache_rear.jpg
  - title: BOOT SCREEN
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/otrona_attache_screen.jpg
  - title: MOTHERBOARD
    subtitle: ''
    text: This is a model 8:16 motherboard, with the additional i8086 board placed on top of the main Z80 board.
    image: /media/museum/photos/otrona_attache-8-16_mobo.jpg
  - title: DOCUMENTATION
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/otrona_attache_docs.jpg
  links:
  - title: Oldcomputers.net - Otrona Attache page
    url: http://oldcomputers.net/attache.html
    text: Very interesting page about the Otrona Attache
  - title: Otrona Attache 8:16 diskette contents
    url: http://wps.com/archives/Otrona-Attache-8-16-diskettes/
    text: download this while it's online!
  - title: Rhod's collection
    url: http://www.rhod.fr/otrona.html
    text: Nice pictures!
  - title: Wikipedia - Otrona page
    url: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otrona
    text: Some info here...
  comments:
  - author: Steve Gray (United States)
    date: Monday 3rd May 2021
    text: This line above annoys me "Sadly the 2001 wasn''t completely IBM PC compatible...." . Actually, the 2001 was thoroughly tested and completely IBM PC compatible. At the time the company folded there was only one progarm identified that did not run correctly, the game ''frogger$'' that woould crash under some conditions. That was being thorouhly anlyed at the time the company folded. The company folded due to cash flow issues that had norhing to do with a PC ''compatibility'' issue. It was a Catch-22. Xebec refused to ship the disk controllers needed to buld the machines that were on order unless they were first paid in cash. Revenue could not be generated without the controllers. But the banks and the VC''s had decided they would give no more money to Otrona becase they had not met revenue goals. The problem is they were blindsided by the rise of the IBM-PC .... and the 8:16 co-developed with Phoenix Software, did not have the compatibilty needed to compete in the the PC compatible
      market. So, suffeirng from the resulting revenue loss, Otrona designed and built the superior 2001 in record time, including its own BIOS, but could not generate the needed revenue to continue because they did not have the cash to buy the disk controllers needed to complete the systems. It was a very sad thing. What was the best PC compatible in existence was kept out of the market by the bean counters. Otrona should have been as big or bigger than Compaq. The Compaq PC was a tugboat compared to the 2001. Oh well.
  - author: Kerry Davis (USA)
    date: Thursday 29th January 2015
    text: |-
      I got myself a new-condition Attache with the padded case recently, on ebay. Works perfectly, but didn''t come with any software. Any suggestions or sources would be greatly appreciated. email pearled-duck@earthlink.net I saw the previous posts by Charles Raisch but the site no longer exists, and it seems like he might have passed away since then.

      I did some software development work that was intended to be used on the Otrona and Compaq portables, for utility company energy audits, in the 1980s.
  - author: Charles Raisch (USA)
    date: Thursday 11th April 2013
    text: Have original First Attache Users Group software library and some part. www.charlesraisch.com
  - author: Charles Raisch (USA)
    date: Thursday 11th April 2013
    text: Have original First Attache Users Group software library and some part. www.charlesraisch.com
  - author: Charles Raisch (USA)
    date: Thursday 11th April 2013
    text: Have original First Attache Users Group software library and some part. www.charlesraisch.com
  - author: Charles Raisch (USA)
    date: Thursday 11th April 2013
    text: Have original First Attache Users Group software library and some part. www.charlesraisch.com
  - author: Charles Raisch (USA)
    date: Thursday 21st March 2013
    text: I was FAUG First Attache Users Group. Still have software and disks. Remember?
  - author: Tim (US)
    date: Friday 26th October 2012
    text: |-
      I still have an Attache that I fire up every once in awhile - man, what a Cadillac it was in the day. It''s a very good example of how badly IBM shook up the whole market, because that company really deserved to keep going on.

      Sitting in my storeroom with the keyboard folded over the screen and the coiled keyboard hanging down, people often ask me why I have a portable heart monitor stored away!
  - author: cpubuilder
    date: Wednesday 18th January 2012
    text: '@steve I fixed it about a year ago, it was a crt controller, and a rom chip'
  - author: Steve (Boulder, CO USA)
    date: Tuesday 15th November 2011
    text: Oops.. I filled out the previous post incorrectly. It''s from me, not James Wilson. I wrote it TO James Wilson.
  - author: James Wilson (Boulder, CO USA)
    date: Tuesday 15th November 2011
    text: '@James. Funny you should mention and appreciate the keyboard. It was a custom job (of course) using high quality Cherry switches. We put a lot into that in order to get a quality look and feel. The Otrona was the Ferrari of portables and everything about it had to be top shelf.'
  - author: Steve (USA)
    date: Tuesday 15th November 2011
    text: '@cpubuilder. I just happened back across ths thread. I don''''t really know how to fix this macihine. I was a firmware/sodtware geek. Sorry.'
  - author: James Wilson (Laguna Beach, California)
    date: Saturday 15th October 2011
    text: |-
      My first computer at JPL was an Otrona, and it was a winner. I was particularly impressed with the keyboard, and was sorry that the IBM one was totally inferior. I would like to chat with anyone connected with its development.

      Thanks.

      Jim Wilson
  - author: Steven Streeper (Idaho/USA)
    date: Wednesday 14th September 2011
    text: I purchased an Attache when they were first released. It was a fabulous machine for the times. I used it to develop several software applications over a three-year period, then sold it to a friend. At the time it came on the market, it was the ideal portable computer...pretty awesome!!
  - author: cpubuilder
    date: Monday 6th December 2010
    text: do you know anything on how to fix it steve
  - author: Steve (USA)
    date: Tuesday 23rd November 2010
    text: I worked there. Employee number 8, start to finish, and wrote most of the software including the ROM code (including the 2001 BIOS), utilities and O/S ports (CP/M and DOS). Just two things. The 2001 was completely IBM compatible. At the time we folded there was only on program we could find that would not run (Frogger) and that issue was almost licked. The reason we went under is because we were shot by our own marketing dept. Well, not really. But it was the straw that broke the camel''s back. They let leak that the 2001 was coming so orders for the 8:16 dried up and so did our revenue stream. We couldn''t hit the revenue targets necessary to access our credit line so we could not by parts to build the new 2001 machines. That''s why there were so few. The first run was really more like a proto run and then we shut down. It was too bad. The 2001 was a good machine and the orders were strong. But the banks and the VC''s decided they had enough and so we closed. A real shame.
  - author: David Vohs (USA)
    date: Thursday 15th April 2010
    text: |-
      Here''s some trivia about this machine that must people don''t know about:

      NASA''s Jet Proulsion Laboratories was a large purchaser of these machines when they were new.

      An Attache even flew on the space shuttle! (before the GRiD Compass came out)
  oc_id: 1227
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230530210241/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1227
    date: '2023-05-30'
---

The Otrona Attache was the most wanted transportable computer at the time as it was the smallest of its category. Preceded by the [Osborne](/museum/osborne-corp-osborne-1/) and [Kaypro II](/museum/kaypro-ii/), the Attache was also more expensive than its competitors. Compactness has a price!

The Attache is this a nice little CP/M system. High-resolution graphics, compact keyboard, 64 KB RAM, real time battery-packed clock, composite video output, delivered with Wordstar, MBasic, CP/M, the Otrona Attache had all that was needed at the time to be efficient.

in 1983, Otrona released a second model, the **Attache 8:16** which was in fact a "normal" Attache with an Intel 8086 expansion board built-in, thus offering the MS-DOS world in addition to the CP/M compatibility. The [IBM PC](/museum/ibm-pc-model-5150/) was already putting a strong pressure on the market. The rush toward MS-DOS compatibility had begun, announcing CP/M death. Meanwhile, hybrid machines like this one appeared on the market illustrating the transition.

In May 1984, Otrona announced a new transportable model, the **Otrona 2001**, using an Intel 8088 processor. Sadly the 2001 wasn't completely IBM PC compatible and the production costs were high. Like its predecessor (Attache), the 2001 had real assets, but was too expensive compared to other portables. As Otrona didn't want to exceed the $3000 price limit to stay competitive against IBM and Compaq, they had to throw in the towel.

Too bad, as the demand for the "2001" ran extraordinarily well, as Otrona president Jim Lindner explained. 1000 orders in the month were common.

But in september 1984, Otrona Advanced Systems announced that it was ceasing production. It gave notice to its 175 employees and said that it had decided that is was not able to reorganize (and thus continue in business) under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Act. Jim Lindner hoped for a buyback which never came (?).

<table> <tr> <td></td> <td>We need more info about this computer ! If you designed, used, or have more info about this system, please send us pictures or anything you might find useful.</td> <td></td> </tr> </table>