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HiNote VP

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Digital HiNote VP
Digital HiNote VP 550-575 right front view (ER-PD1WF-SR Figure 1-5)
HiNote VP 550/575 series, from DEC's service guide (Figure 1-5)
Specifications
ManufacturerDigital Equipment Corporation
TypeNotebook computer
Released1996 (Pentium VP models)[1]
CPUIntel Pentium, 75 to 166 MHz (VP 500 series); Pentium MMX and Pentium II, 166 to 266 MHz (VP 700 series)[1][2][3]
Memory16 MB standard on the VP 550/575 series; up to 144 MB on the VP 700 series[2][1]
StorageRemovable hard disk module; 3.5-inch diskette and CD-ROM in the expansion bay[4][5]
Display11.3 to 13.3 in passive (DSTN) or active (TFT) colour LCD, by model[1][2]
Sound—
PowerNiMH or lithium-ion smart battery; optional lithium-ion second battery in the expansion bay[6][4]
Weight6.9–7.7 lb (VP 550/575 series, by model and drive fitted); 7.4 lb (VP 700 series)[7][3]
OS / Firmware—
PredecessorHiNote (486 models, 1994)[1]

The Digital HiNote VP is the full-size line of Digital Equipment Corporation's HiNote notebooks, sold from 1996 to 1998 alongside the thinner HiNote Ultra. Digital introduced the HiNote range in November 1994 and later separated the full-size machines as the VP line; the VP models ran from the Pentium VP 575 of March 1996 to the Pentium II VP 765 of April 1998.[1] Unlike the Ultra, the VP has its diskette drive or CD-ROM inside, in an expansion bay that can take a second battery instead.[1][4]

Restoring one is mostly a matter of the batteries: the main pack is a NiMH or lithium-ion smart battery, and the CMOS memory battery is recharged only when the machine runs on AC power. See HiNote VP Battery Replacement, HiNote VP General Maintenance and HiNote VP Troubleshooting Guide.[6][8]

Models

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HiNote VP models (Wikipedia, from DEC announcements and service guides)
Model Processor Display Introduced
575, CSS5100, CTS5100 Pentium 75 or 100 MHz 11.3 in SVGA, passive or active March 1996
LSS5100 Pentium 100 MHz 11.3 in SVGA, active September 1996
520, 525, 535 Pentium 120 or 133 MHz 11.3 in SVGA, passive or active September 1996
VSS5120, VSS5133, VTS5150, VTS5166 Pentium 120 to 150 MHz; Pentium MMX 166 MHz 12.1 in SVGA, passive or active March 1997
735 Pentium MMX 233 MHz 13.3 in XGA, active November 1997
703, 710, 715, 717, 725, 745 Pentium MMX 166 to 266 MHz 12.1 to 13.3 in, passive or active 1998
765 Pentium II 266 MHz 13.3 in XGA, active April 1998

[1] DEC's service guides use their own model codes: the VP 550/575 series guide covers the VSS5120, VSS5133, VTS5150 and VTS5166, and the VP 700 series guide the MSX5166M, MTX5166M and MTX5233M.[2][3]

Hardware

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The VP 550/575 series uses Pentium processors on a CPU daughter card (P54C at 120 to 150 MHz, Pentium MMX at 166 MHz), 256 KB of level 2 cache on the daughter card except on the VSS5120, a PCI Mobile Triton chipset and 16 MB of memory as standard, EDO on the TFT models. The hard disk (1.08 to 2.1 GB) is a removable module, and a 12x CD-ROM/diskette combination module or an optional lithium-ion second battery fits the expansion bay. An LCD status panel shows the battery gauge, drive activity and keyboard lock states.[2][4]

The VP 700 series machines use Pentium MMX processors, 144-pin SO-DIMM SDRAM, a Synaptics trackpad, CardBus with zoomed video, USB and 4 Mbit/s infrared, and measure 11.9 × 9.3 × 2.1 in. The AC adapter accepts 90–264 V at 47–63 Hz.[3]

Batteries

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The main battery of the VP 500 and 700 series is either a NiMH (DEC's ENiMH type) or a lithium-ion smart battery, with five LEDs on the pack that show the charge in 20% steps when its button is pressed.[6] The VP 550/575 NiMH pack is rated at 32.4 Wh (42 Wh on the VTS5166); the VP 700 series NiMH pack at 37.4 Wh and its lithium-ion pack at 40 Wh.[9][3] The earlier HiNote VP of 1996 used a NiMH pack that charged in about two hours with the machine off and three and a half with it on.[10] A separate CMOS battery keeps the BIOS settings; it charges only when the notebook runs on AC power.[8]

Known problems

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  • Flat CMOS battery. If the notebook has been off for more than a year the CMOS battery drains, the BIOS settings are lost and the machine reports a CMOS checksum error at start-up.[8]
  • Short battery run time on NiMH packs, which DEC attributes to memory effect and cures by forming the battery.[6]

See HiNote VP Troubleshooting Guide.

Documentation

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See HiNote VP Documentation.

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  • Closed, with the main battery module and expansion bay (DEC service guide Figure 1-2)
    Closed, with the main battery module and expansion bay (DEC service guide Figure 1-2)
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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "Digital HiNote", Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_HiNote. History of the range, VP model table with dates, processors and displays.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 DEC, ER-PD1WF-SR.A01, chapter 6, specifications: base unit.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Digital Equipment Corporation, DIGITAL HiNote VP 700 Series Service Quick Reference Guide, ER-PJ1WW-SR.A01, December 1997, appendix A, specifications, pp. A-1 to A-9 (File:Digital HiNote VP 700 Series Service Quick Reference Guide (ER-PJ1WW-SR.A01).pdf).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Digital Equipment Corporation, DIGITAL HiNote VP 550-575 Series Service Quick Reference Guide, ER-PD1WF-SR.A01, October 1997, chapter 1, components, controls and indicators (File:Digital HiNote VP 550-575 Series Service Quick Reference Guide (ER-PD1WF-SR.A01).pdf).
  5. ↑ DEC, ER-PD1WF-SR.A01, appendix A, FRU part numbers.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Digital Equipment Corporation, Digital HiNote VP 500 Series User's Guide, ER-PD1WF-UA.A01, March 1997, chapter 2, pp. 2-2 to 2-11: battery care, smart battery gauge, low battery activity (File:Digital HiNote VP 500 Series User's Guide (ER-PD1WF-UA.A01).pdf).
  7. ↑ DEC, ER-PD1WF-SR.A01, chapter 6, physical specifications.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 DEC, ER-PJ1WW-SR.A01, chapter 3, p. 3-1, note on the CMOS battery.
  9. ↑ DEC, ER-PD1WF-SR.A01, chapter 6, battery, status display and keyboard.
  10. ↑ Digital Equipment Corporation, Digital HiNote VP User's Guide, ER-P90WW-UA.A01, chapter 1, battery and AC power system (File:Digital HiNote VP User's Guide (ER-P90WW-UA.A01).pdf).
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