I have the main unit, power adapter and Olivetti Floppy Disk Drive.
type Computer
country Italy
year 1992
os Olivetti MS-DOS 5.0
cpu V30
speed 16 MHz
ram 1 MB
hd 20 MB
graphic LCD, 640×400
colors monochrome
sound yes
ports mic, headphone, serial, parallel, batteries
The Olivetti Quaderno — Italy’s Ultra-Small Notebook
The Olivetti Quaderno (Italian for ”notebook”) was a remarkably compact notebook computer produced by Olivetti in the early 1990s — one of the smallest IBM PC-compatible computers of its era, designed to be genuinely pocket-sized in a way that most ”notebook” computers were not. Using an NEC V30 processor (an Intel 8086-compatible chip) running MS-DOS, the Quaderno measured just 210 × 148 mm — exactly the size of an A5 sheet of paper — and weighed under 700 grams, making it one of the earliest genuine subnotebooks.
Design Excellence
The Quaderno exemplified Olivetti’s tradition of design-led product development — the machine was as beautiful as it was functional, with a clamshell design that opened to reveal a miniature keyboard and display. The Italian design philosophy that had produced iconic typewriters and calculators was evident in the Quaderno’s proportions and details. It anticipated the subnotebook and ultrabook categories by decades, demonstrating that ultra-compact computing was technically achievable even with early 1990s technology.
Limited Practicality, Historical Significance
The Quaderno’s tiny size came with practical limitations — the keyboard was necessarily cramped, the display small, and the performance of the V30 processor modest by the standards of the era. But as a demonstration of miniaturisation and design ambition, it was remarkable. The Quaderno is today a highly sought-after collector’s piece, valued both for its historical significance and its beauty as an object.