05/20/96 NOW, NOTEBOOKS ARE GOING ON A DIET

NOW, NOTEBOOKS ARE GOING ON A DIET

AFTER FAILING TO ENTICE customers with so-called subnotebook personal computers--which shrank full-size laptop PCs into machines with narrow keyboards and tiny screens--PC makers, including IBM and Compaq, are taking a different approach. They are focusing on making machines that retain the full-size keys and large screens of standard laptops but come in a lightweight, superslim package.
Compaq Computer Corp. is the latest to climb on the thin-is-in bandwagon. In June, the PC giant will release a new notebook to replace the poor-selling Contura Aero subnotebooks that were discontinued last year. The Houston computer maker's upcoming line will pack a Pentium chip and 11-inch display into a case less than 2 inches high. It will be about half the weight of Compaq's present full-size, $6,000 LTE 5000 notebook, a hefty, 7-pound unit, and will be priced below that model.
Meanwhile, computer dealers say that IBM this summer will bring out a slim-line notebook to replace the ThinkPad 701c Butterfly model. The ultrathin Big Blue unit will be an inch thick and a svelte 5 pounds.
EDITED BY IRA SAGER By Gary McWilliams