Key Takeaways
- This Compaq Portable III, transformed into a retro gaming powerhouse, now boasts a modern AMD Ryzen 7 processor and RX580 GPU.
- Despite its outdated design, the Portable III’s suitcase form factor makes it a great choice for those always on the move.
- This upgraded Portable III now serves as a powerful and portable mini-RTX PC for everyday use.
There’s not a lot you can do with old, busted hardware, but some examples have a certain retro look and feel that you can’t bear to get rid of. The Compaq Portable III from 1987 is but one such kit, and while it was designed to be carried around, it resembles more of a suitcase than the laptops we have in this day and age. Still, it has a certain charm to it, which one person built upon by taking a busted model and beefing it up so it can perform modern-day tasks.
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Bringing a Compaq Portable III into the 21st Century
As spotted by Hackadaythis amazing project by r0r0 on Hackaday.io began as a busted-up Compaq Portable III. Unfortunately, a lot of the original internals were either broken or unfit for modern-day usage, including the amazing plasma screen that these units usually rock. It had to be replaced with an LDC screen, but r0r0 did the best they could to make it look as if it was running on the original plasma-based display.
As you might expect, the old motherboard wasn’t up to the task of running 21st-century hardware, so r0r0 had to strip everything out and implement a full ITX board. This board sports an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and an AMD RX580 GPU, which r0r0 notes was selected purely because he had upgraded his main PC and had some spare parts lying around.
A decades-old design shines in 2024
As it turns out, Compaq may have been onto something when they designed the Portable III. The fact that it sports a suitcase-styled design makes it an excellent choice for people on the go:
The best part of this build is its upgradability now that it complies with the mini ITX standard. Sometimes a laptop just isn’t a great solution and this where the luggable really shines.
As such, r0r0 now has a powerful mini-RTX PC that he can pick up and carry around. Perhaps the original engineers will be glad to see that, years from its original release, the Compaq Portable III’s design still hits the right notes for some people.