portable Last modified: Thursday, April 01, 2004
(adj.) (1) When used to describe hardware, portable means small and lightweight. A portable computer is a computer small enough to carry. Portable computers include notebook and subnotebook computers, hand-held computers, palmtops, and PDAs. (2) When used to describe software, portable means that the software has the ability to run on a variety of computers. Portable and machine independent mean the same thing—that the software does not depend on a particular type of hardware.
MobilePlanet Online shop devoted entirely to portable computing products, Includes laptops, portable accessories, PC cards, global travel aids, and a full line of software titles from the leading manufacturers in portable computing. Portable Computer and Communications Association Offers links to their Mobile Connectivity '97 report, standards and mobile connectivity committee activities, white papers, and articles relating to the wireless industry.

Related Terms

docking station hand-held computer machine independent notebook computer palmtop PDA POSIX power brick robust subnotebook computer