The Otrona Attache was an excellent CP/M machine, considered the Cadillac of luggable computers. It was considerably smaller and faster than its competition and featured a tiny 5.5″ built-in monitor to match its small size. An external monitor could be connected for dual display. It could also run off an external battery making it one of the first truly portable computers. Only about 8,000 or so units were sold and mine is unit #1701 (could it have been used on the Enterprise?)

I bought this computer from another local computer collector named Milton Blackstone. I soon learned Milton was much more than a computer collector. Back in the 50s, he was a radio and television producer and writer and helped create “The Steve Allen Show” and the popular radio program, “Don’t You Believe It”, among others. Really cool guy!

Many years later, I acquired a second unit locally from an estate sale. This was a great find indeed as it happened to be one of the later rare 8:16 models with the 8086 coprocessor expansion board installed to function as an IBM compatible in addition to a CP/M machine. It also came with tons of disks and documentation. Total cost was about $30.

Below is my video review of the Otrona Attache: