The NEC Versa S was a compact, slimline Versa model that shares little with the other versions. It came in 2 variants, the S33, and the S66, and these models were released in 2 screen technologies, DSTN Monochrome, and Color Active Matrix.
These were really just Versas in name only. THey had a different case design, different BIOS, did not work with all the usual ports and features, and were designed to act more as a highly portable variant. Ironically, these are also the most inline with the original term "ULtraLite" than the actual "UltraLite Versa" was as they are actually somewhat "ultralite"
Model#s were as follows...
- PC-120-XXXX - NEC Versa S/33
- PC-130-XXXX - NEC Versa S/66
SPECIFICATIONS
| Price New
| $1500-3500
|
| Current Price
| $15-75
|
| Case
| Dark Gray plastic case about 1" thick when closed. No trackball, trackpoint located in the middle of the keyboard more like an IBM ThinkPad, giving a modern-style extended palm wrest where normally there is none.
|
| Power
| Special Versa S power supply, three prong, smaller. Also uses it's own special NiMH Battery pack designed specifically for the Versa S-series.
|
| CPU(s)
| Intel 486 DX SL 33MHz or 486 DX2 SL 66MHz, 33MHz bus speed
|
| RAM
| TBD
|
| FLOPPY
| 1.44MB 3.5" External Floppy Disk Drive
|
| HARD DISKS
| 320MB, 540MB, 810MB, and later possibly 1 and 2GB HDDs available. The capcity ceiling is 2GB (2048K).
|
| EXPANSION
| 2x PCMCIA Type-II Expansion Slots with Cirrus Logic Controller Chip
|
| GRAPHICS
| C&T 65545 1MB SVGA Graphics Chipset, VESA 1.2 Compliant
|
| DISPLAY
| It seems to me that only three displays were offered: the 640x480 pixel 9.4" Active Matrix LCD (C), the 800x600 9.4" Active Matrix LCD (HC), and later a bigger 10.4" 800x600 screen was used toward the end of the P/75's product lifecycle
|
| SOUND
| Internal Speaker with ESS688 AudioDrive SoundBlaster compatible audio with OPL/3 FM Synth
|
| NETWORK
| Available with Accessory 10mbps LAN Cards and 14.4K PCMCIA Modems, seems the majoriity of these were MHz branded products, though ClipperCom has also been seen used, odd since NEC had a line of their own PCMCIA cards they branded for this line
|
| ACCESSORIES
| NEC VersaDock II Docking Station, NEC Port Replicator, Versa Video PCMCIA Card, Versa Video VersaBay Module, PCMCIA VersaBay Expansion Module (up to 4x PCMCIA Type II Port), Carrying Case
|
| O/S
| MS-DOS 6.22/Windows 3.1, later may have shipped with Windows 95 as device shipped right around the start of 1995.
|
PERFORMANCE, SPECS, COMMON INFORMATION FROM IT'S DAY
The Versa S did not recieve very much fanfare when it came out, getting overshadowed by the higher end models in PC magazines. It was sort of a "Specialty" model aimed at traveling executives who needed a computer small enough to cram in their brief case and use without bugging the person next to them on a long, trans-continental flight.
MODERN PERFORMANCE, RELIABILITY, AND DURABILITY
The Versa S33 and S66 would make a nice little DOS system for someone who prefers somethign smaller and a trackpoint.
COMMON ISSUES
TBD
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