Compaq Armada 7800

The Aramda 7800 was a Pentium II-based desktop replacement laptop, released by Compaq in 1998. They succeeded the 7700 Series, and shared a similar design to the 7790 and 7792, only in a black case instead of beige.

They are one of only a few laptops I'm aware of to use S3 graphics, and supposedly the first laptop with AGP graphics.

As far as I know, the 7800 is the final laptop that Compaq designed and manufactured completely in-house. This thing is fully custom, and an absolute tank. Notably, it is the only Pentium II-based laptop I know of which does not use a variant of the Intel 440 chipset. Instead, it uses a custom chipset designed by Compaq. The northbridge is known as "CETUS" and the southbridge is known as "DRACO-L". This also means that rather than using Intel's Mobile Module, it uses a form factor known as a "minicartriage" - less common than MMC, but also a standard, and upgradeable.

Like other laptops Compaq produced in-house, the 7800 uses Compaq's own BIOS, which still lacks a ROM setup, meaning that the laptop relies on a special setup partition on the hard drive to be able to change settings.

Specifications

Spec	Details
CPU	CPU Type: Minicartridge Intel Mobile Pentium II @266, 300, 366, or 400MHz
Chipset	Compaq CETUS/DRACO-L
RAM	Type: SDRAM, 2 slots Standard: 64MB Maximum: 256MB
Storage	2.5" IDE Requires Adapter: Yes Standard: 5, 8, or 14GB
Display Options	- 13.3" TFT LCD @1024x768 - 14.1" TFT LCD @1024x768
Graphics Chipset	S3 ViRGE/MX VRAM: 4MB
Audio	ESS AudioDrive 1879 - Stereo Speakers - Microphone
Main Battery	Lithium Ion
CMOS Battery	- CR1220 Lithium CMOS Battery - Varta NiMH Reserve Battery
Power Supply	Internal, uses standard 3-prong mains cable
Media Drives	Modular Bay supporting the following: - 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Drive - CD-ROM Drive - DVD-ROM Drive - LS-120 Drive - 2nd Battery
PC Cards	2x PCMCIA/CardBus Slots - ZoomVideo Support
Networking	Modem
Other I/O	- 1x Parallel - 1x Serial - 1x VGA Out - 1x PS/2 - 1x Dock Connector - 1x USB 1.x - 1x Headphone Out - 1x Mic In - 1x Line In - Infrared
BIOS	Compaq BIOS
Pointing Device	TrackPoint

Resources

Link	Details
	Compaq Armada 7800 Drivers
	Compaq Armada 7800 Recovery Media
	Compaq Armada 7800 Service Manual
	Compaq Armada 7800 Product Brochure
	Compaq Armada 7800 QuickSpecs
	Compaq Armada 7800 QuickSpecs (Alternate)