Tadpole SPARCbook 3

Tadpole SPARCbook 3GX
© Tadpole 1997

Tadpole SPARCbook 3 were second generation RISC laptops for Unix computing, released between 1994 and 1998. Based on earlier SPARCbook 1 and 2, the SPARCbook 3 featured 3XP, 3GX and 3TX models and were followed by the 3000.

SPARCbook 3 began with 32-bit microSPARC processors, later updated to TurboSPARC with 170 MHz – pretty strong CPUs for the mid- to late-1990s. Designed for Unix, SPARCbooks shipped with Solaris oder SunOS and were binary-compatible to Sun workstations.

SPARCbook 3 SPARCbook 3XP SPARCbook 3GX SPARCbook 3TX SPARCbook 3000
Introduced 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
Other 3LC 3000XT, 3000ST
CPU TI microSPARC
50 MHz		 Fujitsu microSPARC-II
85 MHz		 microSPARC-II
110 MHz		 TurboSPARC
170 MHz		 TurboSPARC
170 MHz
Cache 2/4 KB L1 8/16 KB L1 8/16 KB L1 16/16 KB L1
256 KB L2		 16/16 KB L1
256 KB L2
Design 32-bit RISC Sun SPARC with Sun custom chipset
RAM 16-64 MB 32-128 MB 32-128 MB 32-256 MB 32-256 MB
Video P9000 P9100 P9100 P9100 P9100
Screen 10.4″ 10.4″ 10.4″ 10.4″ 12.1″
Drives SCSI drives IDE
Expansion PC Card
I/O Ethernet, VGA, SCSI, PS/2, Modem, ISDN, audio, 2 serial, parallel
OS Solaris
Price $7,500-10,950 $11,950 $13,450 $21,400 $18,650-26,700

There was a low-cost version SPARCbook 3LC released in 1994 ($ 7,500), sharing most features with the stock 3 but smaller harddrive, memory and VRAM and a monochrome LCD. SPARCbook 3000 was available as 3000XT and 3000ST, the ST having a smaller 800×600 resolution TFT.

There were a few other SPARC-based RISC laptops during the 1990s from Tadpole and RDI: ALPHAbook, PowerLite and also IBM N40 and 800s.

SPARCbook 3 RDI SPARCbook 3XP RDI SPARCbook 3000 SPARCbook advertisement
SPARCbook 3, 3XP, 3000, 3 ad © EDN 94, Tadpole 1997, Byte 95

Technical details

SPARCbooks were 32-bit SPARC computers, mostly based on Sun workstations designs, which Tadpole designed into a laptop. Chipset and devices used were:

[i] - integrated into chipset
Usage Device Type External Bus
Chipset CPU memory controller integrated 64-bit
Chipset CPU I/O controller integrated SBus
Chipset NCR 89C100 Sun MACIO integrated chipset SBus
Chipset 89C105 Sun SLAVIO integrated I/O SBus
Storage NCR 53C90 [i] 8-bit single-ended SCSI-2 50-pin single-ended SBus
Storage PCI0640 SB3000 IDE controller SBus
Network NCR 92C990 [i] 10 Mbit Ethernet controller TP and AUI SBus
Video Weitek P9000 SB3
Weitek P9100		 2MB frame buffer
2MB frame buffer		 VGA D-Type SBus
Cards TS102 Tadpole PCMCIA controller two slots SBus
I/O 85C30 [i] Serial and parallel I/O two RS-232C DB9 (8-pin mini-DIN)
Centronics port (26-pin mini-DIN)
I/O 85C30 [i] PS/2 for keyboard/mouse one combined or two? ports
Audio CS4215 16-bit sound headphone, line in/out
(3 jacks or mini-DIN?)
Network T7259 ISDN, 2B+D, 128K RJ45
Network Modem 14.4k RJ11

Expansion and I/O

There were quite a few possibilities to expand the PrecisionBook with devices:

Device Type Details
Memory RAM SB3 two SIMM modules for 16-64 MB RAM
XP, GX, TX two SIMM 60ns modules for 32-128 MB RAM
SB3000, 3TX two SIMM 60ns modules for 32-256 MB RAM
Storage SCSI SB3 one 2.5″ SCSI drive
Storage IDE SB3000 one 2.5″ IDE drive
Media external CD-ROM and Floppy externally via SCSI
Cards PCMCIA two Type I/II or one Type III card
Input PS/2 84-key Lexmark keyboard and three-button pointing device
Output Screen SB3 10.4″ TFT 1024×768 (262K colors)
SB3LC 10.4″ mono passive display
SB3000TX 12.1″ Hitachi TFT 1024×768 (65k colors)
SB3000ST 12.1″ Samsung TFT 800×600 (262K)

The SPARCbook case was made out of magnesium. Battery was one 12V NiCad (SPARCbook 3, 3XP) or NiMH (3GX, 3TX, 3000) with 1.8Ah for up to 2 hours typical use.

Operating systems

Tadpole SPARCbooks were portable Unix workstations, shipped with Sun Solaris with some device drivers preloaded by Tadpole (graphics, battery sleep, NCE). SPARCbook 3 and 3LC were preloaded with SunSoft Solaris 1 or 2, SPARCbook 3TX shipped with Solaris 1.1.2 or 2.5 and SPARCbook 3000 with Solaris 2.5.1.

Benchmarks

SPEC benchmark data and comparisons to contemporary laptops and workstations:

Based on old SPEC95 archives
Model CPU SPEC92 int SPEC92 fp SPEC95 int SPEC95 fp
SPARCbook 3 Sun microSPARC 50 MHz 26.4 21.0 59.1 MIPS
SPARCbook 3XP Sun microSPARC-II 85 MHz 64.0 54.6
SPARCbook 3GX Sun microSPARC-II 110 MHz 78.6 65.3 over 134 MIPS
SPARCbook 3TX TurboSPARC 170 MHz 3.50 3.00
SPARCbook 3000 Fujitsu TurboSPARC 170 MHz 143.0 119.0 3.50 3.00
Comparison
reference Intel 486DX 33 MHz 19.5 8.9
reference Intel 486DX2 66 MHz 32.4 16.1
Siemens PCE-5S Intel Pentium 100MHz 96.2 81.2 4.04 2.35
Sun SPARCstation 20 Sun SuperSPARC II 75MHz 125.8 121.2 3.11 3.10

References

Specifications

Articles and reviews

Announcements

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