Manufacturers continually test new ideas to sell devices. HP tested a particularly interesting laptop years ago. A particularly strange idea, a mini-mouse inside the laptop, did not catch on.
What kind of laptop is this? With the HP OmniBook 800CT, the manufacturer HP launched a completely new laptop in 1997. The hardware used may sound quite unremarkable today, but it represented a huge advance for the time:
- Intel Pentium 166 MHz with MMX technology and PCI bus architecture.
- 16 MB RAM, which could be upgraded to 48 MB.
- The device was offered with three different hard drive sizes: 772 MB, 1.34 GB, and 2 GB.
- The display, with a resolution of 800 x 600, could be purchased as either TFT or DSTN and offered a size of 10.4 inches.
- Windows 95 was, by the way, pre-installed on the model.
In particular, this laptop was the first model where Intel’s Pentium processor was used, even though the performance of 166 MHz cannot keep up with modern systems today.
A mini-mouse did not catch on in laptops
What was so strange about the device? The strangest idea, however, was in the side of the model: Instead of a touchpad, the device offered an integrated, self-calibrating mouse that could be stored inside the device. With the push of a button, you could take the mouse out of the device and then use it.
From today’s perspective, it is not surprising that this mini-mouse has not been revived by any manufacturer to this day. The main reason for the mouse eventually disappearing is likely that the device was simply impractical: The mouse was so small, with its few centimeters in size, that it must have been cumbersome to work with.
Can you see this in practice? You can check out the device live with the YouTuber LGR. The YouTuber explains in his video that the device allegedly cost around $5,000 (about €4,500) at its release in 1997.
Where can you find the device today? Otherwise, you can still find the model in various computer museums in the USA or Australia. On eBay, you can still buy functioning models for about €1,500. For that money, however, you can also get powerful, modern gaming laptops or a proper gaming PC.
Today, for €4,500, you can get a fully equipped gaming PC with high-end components and sometimes with usable peripherals. But it can get even more expensive. A German company recently introduced a gaming PC with RTX 4090 that costs as much as a car or a nice vacation:
