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 Texas Instruments Inc., once a pioneer in portable computer technology, today will make a bid 
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to reassert itself in that business 
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by unveiling three small personal computers.
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 The announcements are scheduled to be made in Temple, Texas,
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 and include a so-called notebook PC 
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that weighs less than seven pounds, 
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has a built-in hard disk drive 
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and is powered by Intel Corp. 's 286 microprocessor.
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 That introduction comes 
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only two weeks after Compaq Computer Corp.,
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 believing 
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it had a lead of three to six months on competitors, 
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introduced the first U.S. notebook computer with such features.
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 Despite the inevitable comparison with Compaq, however, 
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Texas Instruments' new notebook won't be a direct competitor. 
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While Compaq sells its machines to businesses through computer retailers, 
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Texas Instruments will be selling most of its machines to the industrial market and to value-added resellers and original-equipment manufacturers.
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 The introductions also mark Texas Instruments' plunge back into a technology 
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it has all but ignored for the past several years.
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 Although the Dallas-based computer giant introduced the first portable data terminal in 1971 
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-- a 38-pound monster -- 
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and the world's first microprocessor-based portable in 1976,
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 the only portable machines 
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it has introduced since the first part of the decade 
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have been dumb terminals with limited on-board processing ability.
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 It stopped selling a standard personal computer a while ago.
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 Now that is about to change, 
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as Texas Instruments begins marketing two 14-pound laptop PCs with 20 megabyte and 40 megabyte hard drives. 
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The laptops are not revolutionary 
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and, indeed, are tardy in a market 
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first opened by GRiD Systems Corp., now a unit of Tandy Corp., almost two years ago.
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 But the notebook, with the more advanced microprocessor and hard disk, is more innovative.
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 Weighing 6.7 pounds with battery,
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 the notebook measures 8.2 by 11.7 inches, 
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has a 20-megabyte hard disk drive 
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and boasts a backlit screen 
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that is 22% larger than Compaq's.
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 Its keyboard,
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 according to industry consultants, 
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is better than Compaq's, 
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but its battery life of two to three hours is shorter.
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 It doesn't have an internal floppy disk drive, 
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although a snap-on drive can be purchased separately. 
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Its greatest drawback may be its 3-inch thickness, big enough for one consultant 
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to describe it as clunky.
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 List prices on the heavier Texas Instrument laptops will be $4,999 for the TI Model 25, with a 20 megabyte disk drive, and $5,599 for the 40-megabyte Model 45. 
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The notebook, the TI Model 12, will be priced at $4,199.
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