Sometimes you learn about the existence of a rare and unique machine and just have to get one. Such was what happened when I learned about the company Tadpole Computers and their Sparcbook line of laptops. What makes this special besides being a rare and very expensive rugged laptop from the mid 90’s is the fact it is powered by a Sparc CPU and therefore runs Sun OS/Solaris Unix. This one arrived with a dead SCSI hard drive and a faulty VRAM chip, but I managed to replace both, resulting in a rare gem of a machine.
| Manufacturer | Tadpole Computers |
| Model | Sparcbook 3XP |
| Manufactured | 1995 |
| Processor | Fujistu MicroSparc II @ 85MHz |
| RAM | 64 MB |
| Storage | ZuluSCSI |
| Display | 9.4" TFT LCD 640x480 |
| Ports & Expansion | Sun Parallel Connector
Sun Ethernet Connector External SCSI Sun Serial Mouse and Keyboard Mini-Din 2x Sun Serial Mini-Din RJ-11 Dial-up Modem RJ-45 ISDN Modem 2x PCMCIA Type 2 |
| OS | Sun Solaris 7 Unix |