Dual Technology Corporation Logo (1998)
Country: Taiwan Industry: Notebook Computers Founded: 1982 Defunct: ~2000 Fate: Website went down in late 2000, seemingly just went defunct Address (former): No. 8, Lane 97, Wu-Kung Rd., Wu-Ku Industrial Park, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan, ROC Website: dual.com.tw, Dual Australia

Welcome to the Dual Homepage on MacDat!

Dual was a Taiwan-based Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) that manufactured laptop computers from 1991 until around 2000, when it seems they went out of business. The company was founded in 1982 and sold mainly telephone and computer accessories until their expansion into the laptop market. They also sold LCD monitors.

Dual placed a focus on modularity in their SKD and PMD Series laptops. Later models, including the AIO, ERA, and VDA Series used all-in-one (3 spindle) designs, many with magnesium case construction.

Each of Dual's three letter series names actually stood for something, and I've managed to dig up what they all were! Here's a list:

• SKD = System Knock Down
• PMD = PentiMedia
• AIO = All-In-One
• MVA = Minerva
• ERA = Seemingly represented "a new era"
• PMA = PowerMedia
• MRA = Mirage
• VDA = Vidar

I've as of yet been unable to find concrete info on what exactly happened to Dual. Their last product launch was in Spring 2000, and their website was gone by the end of that year. One company history page on the Dual site linked them to Nankang Tire, a Taiwanese tire manufacturing company which is still in business today. The Chairman of Dual was named as being "honorary president" of Nankang Tire in a 2014 article, so I guess making tires ended up being a lot more profitable than making notebook computers.

Model List (Incomplete)

Should be complete from the SKD-4000 onwards, but I'm missing any info on what they made before that (their first laptop was released in 1991).

Dual DU-3000 1992	Dual SKD-4000 (SKD 1) ~June 1993	Dual SKD-4000 II (SKD 2) ~March 1994	Dual SKD-4000 III (SKD 3) ~November 1994
Dual SKD-5 ~February 1995?	Dual PentiMedia (PMD-5000) ~July 1994	Dual PentiMedia II (PMD-5500) 1995	Dual PentiMedia 3 (PMD-5640) ~January 1996
Dual SKD-4100 ~January 1996	Dual PentiMedia 3+ (PMD-5700) ~July 1996	Dual PMD-6000 (PMD 6) ~April 1997	Dual AIO-6000 Series ~September 1997
Dual MVA-6600 February 1998	Dual ERA-1000 March 1998	No Image Dual MVA-6670 April 1998	Dual MVA-6690 July 1998
No Image Dual PMA-2000 August 1998	Dual ERA-2000 October 1998	Dual MRA-2000 October 1998	Dual MRA-3100 ~April 1999
Dual VDA-9900 May 1999	No Image Dual ERA-3100 May 1999	Dual VDA-9570/ERA-3170 October 1999	No Image Dual VDA-9573/ERA-3173 March 2000