Dauphin DTR-1: a 1993 Windows Touchscreen Tablet PC 

Thank you LGR. You recorded a piece of history with amazing details. Great research despite some inaccuracies. We sold closer to 10,000 units. Over-heated power supply was a problem at the period of technology evolution. But labeling that particular DTR power supply shown in the video that “it was infamously prone to melting” is not accurate. I was personally involved in testing hundreds of them before release. That power supply was the smallest and truly state of the art of its time. And I used one on a daily basis for four years in my consulting business before it finally failed. Dauphin Lap-Pro, a 16 pound Laptop with a 4 lb lead acid battery, was the first laptop to use an external power supply in 1989. It sounded like that the poor guy got a piece of lemon from IBM, unloaded without full testing and burnt-in. Wow - customer services went to hell after I was forced out. For the records, IBM aggressively approached us for the manufacturing business. Twice I told them, “We are a little company, how can believe that IBM will take us seriously?” At the third meeting they committed to bank-roll us with $40 million in finished products with amazing payment terms that few in my position would turn down. Lessons learned: It does not matter that you have the most incredible product if the market is not ready for it - you will fail. And “if you are a little mouse, don’t dance with an elephant.” For those who are curious, I am back and doing very well these days with DNotes - a Bitcoin alternative digital currency. You are welcome to connect with me on LinkedIn, Google DNotes Alan Yong, or check out this link: dnotescoin.com/ceo-cfo-magazine-interview-with-alan-yong-co-founder-ceo-dnotes-global-inc/

"It's held together by tape and positive thinking" That's LGR Gold!!!

It's always fun to see LGR uncover some obscure, forgotten computer hardware and then explain in detail exactly why it is and should be obscure and forgotten.

ah, I feel so bad for that poor guy dropping $700 on this product and not getting any help. you could sense the desperation in those faxes.

Really the most impressive thing about it for 1993 is that micro hard drive.

"It kinda holds together by tape and positive thinking." My life sumarized by one sentence...

This is something I have never heard of, truly LGR know his weird retro hardware.

stylus, on-screen keyboard and hand-writting recognition for win3.1? always surprises me how far ahead of time some things were

Start of video: "I want one, I'm so extremely jealous that lgr managed to get one" end of video : "naaah, I'm all set"

That looks like a prop from a low-budget 80s sci-fi, a "computer of the future" in a brutalist dystopia.

That's the cutest hard drive! 8:29

1993 BIOS with Pen. 2017 BIOS with Mouse... Dafuq is goin' on

"Unscrupulous Nonsense" Best floppy disc label EVER.

This is why I subscribe to you Clint. Weird random shit from the past that probably no one knows about. I love it.

It looks like one of those computers which would fit in an 80s and early 90s cyberpunk movie

Clint, your timing delivery of "there's chocolate bars that hold up better than this" was amazing. As always, the video was great!

I had one of those when I was a kid! I convinced my grandparents to buy it for me from one of those closeout resellers like the guy who bought the one in the video. It was... as bad as it seems. My power supply didn't melt, but my stylus disintegrated, the ethernet never quite worked right, the modem was flakey too. Eventually the (crappy) keyboard gave out. I probably still have the remnants of the thing shoved in a box somewhere.

Clint, this was way ahead of its time!!

"Chocolate bars held up better than this." My mind instantly imagined myself opening my bag, looking in and then saying "Shit... my adapter melted again." I need professional help.

that hard drive was pretty impressive!

Y'know, this is why I love your content, Clint. It's always awesome to see stuff I otherwise would've never heard of.

8:31 Cutest ... hard drive ... ever!

There was so much cool stuff in the 90’s that really pushed the envelope farther than it could be pushed at the time. Pretty amazing what we have now and how well it works in comparison. I’m thinking about those cheap 7” Windows tablet PC’s that cost less than $100!

This is awesome!! Thank you Soo much for showing us. I don't remember ever seeing this when I was young. Or the personal assistant you showed, which is REALLY cool. It's setup reminds me of an old desktop. I love seeing the variety of tech your channel has

I continue to love this channel more than almost any other on RU-vid. Great tech, great delivery, soothing trace-like voice.... LGR has got it all!

Hey LGR! Funny to see a DOS/3.1 tablet, that's exactly what I'm working on restoring at the moment! I've got a Fujitsu Stylistic 500, which is, given they were released roughly at the same time, the much better version of this computer. Same Wacom tablet screen, literally the same stylus, but the screen is much bigger and in colour, plus it used a much larger and more common PCMCIA HDD. Lots of other handy features built in, too. It's cool to see that there were a few attempts at the mobile tablet market way back then.

Love the jazz at the end... really chill man.

It’s always a pleasure to watch your channel.

Seeing old tech I had no idea existed put through the paces is great. Keep it up.

I'm from Lombard, IL and I've never heard of Dauphin. Neat-o

I really like these PC tablets/PDA reviews. Had a ton of random ones a few years back that I messed around with.

As someone who also enjoys finding and getting my hands on vintage electronic/computer hardware, with always a bonus when the box and original manuals and software and even those random single tiny sheets of info warning not to use the device in the bath or whatever, I am always impressed by how complete the gadgets you present in these videos, are shown. Their boxes, packaging, manuals/paperwork, random accessories, etc Wonderful job finding and Getting these items, im sure the level of excitement you're feeling when opening one of these devices, IN ITS ORIGINAL BOX, if it could be put into a battery could power an entire city for a year! Great quality videos too, just a great complete package you are putting out! Thanks for sharing with us these adventures.

Very interesting video. Though I've never been disappointed by a lgr video. It was nice to get some insight on a tablet that old. especially just thinking about how far tablets have come blows me away. Keep up the great work Clint!

There is something about LGR videos that just makes me so happy. :)

I want to turn one into a Pip-boy 2000

I love your voice-over work :) always relaxing!

I loved this video all the way 'round. A closeup of the hardware, some Tech Tales-esque discussion of the company's fate and history, plus a direct review of the system itself.

The case from a dead one of these would make a really cool retro case for an actual tablet PC

"Desktop replacement, how ridiculous!" I say, watching from my smartphone.

+LGR Every time I watch one of your videos about older tech, it reminds me of the enthusiasm and fascination I had with computers when I was little. It’s so great :)

my day is so much better.... the future is going to be so much better.... now that i have discovered this channel. thanks for doing what you do. you are inspiring me to finally get around to doing my retro tech reviews.

Holy shit a Dauphin Island shout out from LGR! Last place I'd expect to see a local reference at.

A precursor to the modern tablet? Interesting.

Love your videos man, my sons would never understand but retro reviews of crazy stuff like this are awesome haha

Thanks for sharing the story. Great video, as always.

“It’s just sort of held together with tape and positive thinking” A bit like my life! 🙃

Who needs a headphone jack in a phone, give me a parallel port!

One of your best videos, really interesting, thanks.

Hooray for dauphin county!!! Thanks for the mention Clint!!

It would be cool to buy one broken and stuff a modern x86 tablet in that sexy case, add adapters and make all the ports working properly.

i thought the hp LX series of palmtops were were cool for their time because they ran full DOS but the DTR blows them out the water in comparison

Love how clean this looks brings me back to the good ol days.stay clean my friend and keep up the good content.

Possibly one of your most enjoyable videos! Just my kind of oddware!

The guy was right about going mobile.. it's a shame that the poor tablet was a couple decades too early to the party!

OMG! That hard drive is so cute! I wish my iPhone used that drive instead of flash storage

Lombard IL! -- Thats where I live! Super cool hearing this -- thanks for the videos

Have to watch this later as RU-vid is failing hard on syncing this great video to Europe for a smooth experience (again). The sole fact you got hands on a Dauphin tablet is reason enough for me to give my thumbs up despite I need to let RU-vid get their content synced in time. yeah, even anno 2017 tech has it's limits.

But can it run Doom?

0:20 HL3 Half Life 3 Confirmed

I just graduated high school and I'm going into computer science these videos are very appealing to me thank you so much for making them and never stop making videos you're the best lgr

Thank you for not having horrible music in your videos. Such a relief! Great video also!!

I prefer Dauphin Hasselhoff

I’m noticing a pattern that almost every oddware you review was made by a bankrupt company.

That's amazing. I feel bad for them, but it makes for a good tech history lesson. I really enjoy the channel LGR, please keep it up.

Love these odd hardware videos you make.

lgr - the only channel where dislikes are not honest dislikes but instead are just fans of the channel disliking for fun because noone else would..

4:28 thought the alcohol I am consuming had finally taken over

Really enjoy his content and his narrative... as I grew up with this technology

I did enjoy seeing it! I've always had a soft spot for pen-equipped mobiles. From the original Fujitsu micros to the convertibles of the XP era to the Galaxy Note series. Can't forget Palm! Great vid, thanks for sharing! :)

The Surface didn't even come with extra pen tip lol...

Look, by today's standards, it sucks but this was space age technology back in 1993. We're talking about an age where desktop computers were considered very high tech devices. Having a device that had a touch-screen, was portable and had a two hour battery life (when most mobile phones couldn't last that much) was extraordinary. Maybe it wasn't built up to proper standards (therefore, being a failure) but the idea behind it, what it could achieve was extraordinary. In 2017, a $25 tablet is better yet in 1993, this was years before its time.

Watching videos about old PC tech just makes me so appreciative of how even state-of-the art peripherals and computers themselves are so much cheaper now. Maybe innovation isn’t moving as fast, but it’s still a nice thing to think about.

another great video, LGR! you're an interesting archivist, man; kind've a pioneer as obsolete technology such as this dangles over the precipice between junk and antique... you're making great cases for its worth, and thus, organizing it into a manageable history for future generations! Huzzah. Ever thought about making a gallery or museum of sorts? Or at least curating a show?

This goes to show execution is everything, it was a great idea, that sucked when it was made. Heck if you make a great product you can change history, just look at those folks that think Apple made everything and Micheal Jackson invented the moonwalk.

Kittyhawk is is such a good name.

I did in fact enjoy your video! Today we are used to so much performance, comfort and functions in our hardware, that I find it very interesting to see, how everything started. When people didn't have mobile internet, high resolution screens and incredible processing power in the size of a cigarette box. I only started working with computer hardware in 2005, while I still got me a floppy drive for my first computer, it was rendered absolutely without any use. But thinking of, that a long time back, nothing worked without those, it's simply fascinating.

Fantastic as always, Clint!

that keyboard looks like logitech bluetooth keyboard, that is super modern!!!

a 2.5 pound (1.1 KG) 486 table/laptop in 1993 is insane, most ultra-books today weight more. Seriously, that is like the equivalent of a modern smartphone being the size and weight of a credit card. Even going the same 25 year distance in the future, I doubt we'll have fully functioning computing devise that weight only a few grams by 2042.

Thank you for recording this video. The truth is that this tablet from 1993 did not know it. I have seen several of your videos and I really like the summary and clear style with which you describe and report each device. I love Windows 3.1. With whom we use a PC we helped to use the mouse. I would say that with it he started everything. In the early 90's MS-D.O: S was already obsolete. And while OS / 2 3 warp was good, Windows 95 was much more intuitive. Thanks from Argentina, South America.

Lgr and ashens reviewing old computers A good day :)

Now install Linux on it.

Ah the good old days that spending 10 000 on a pc was expected.

That DAUPHIN logo man, that retro 80's future font, love it, as well as the design of the unit overall.

Excellent video as always that man. And thank you for pronouncing ZX Spectrum correctly. Fairly cheers the heart of an Englishman hearing an American say it the right way

that case is so awsome looking!!! i want to get a dead one and stick a Raspberry pi in it and somehow turn the keyboard into usb!!!!

7:09 all those shades of graaaaaaaaaaaay

I had no idea there were tablets back then. Thanks for sharing this.

great video, man. congrats

$2,495!! BLOODY HELL!!! .... FOR THAT BRICK!! 😨😨😨

me being me, id be playing wolfenstein 3d and blake stone on it...

Videos like this make me happy.

Man, you got all of the cool stuff.

Will you ever talk about the GridPad?

You know its bad when a tablet from 1993 has more ports than a new Iphone.

"held together by tape and, positive thinking" that cracked me up lmao

I just love how big that connector is for the floppy drive. Well, of course the placement of the port is just brilliant as well :) :)

omg, an ethernet port THAT THING CAN GO ON THE INTERNET You have to make a video showing net surfing on that thing! I mean, all... 3 or 4 websites that internet explorer 5/netscape 4 can still render without crashing.

ITS DTR NOT DOTONBORI ROBO

this is awesome. id like to see a video about the full history of tablet pc's.