{"id":23183,"date":"2026-01-09T19:17:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T00:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/?page_id=23183"},"modified":"2026-01-09T19:29:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T00:29:18","slug":"vin194","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin194\/","title":{"rendered":"Compaq ProLinea 4\/24s"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Compaq ProLinea 4\/24s<\/h2>\n<p>[Vin194]<\/p>\n<p>From a vintage\u2011computing and university museum perspective, the Compaq ProLinea 4\/24s represents an important chapter in early\u20111990s PC history as part of Compaq\u2019s budget ProLinea series, which brought 486\u2011class IBM PC\u2011compatible desktops into the mainstream at unprecedented low prices and helped trigger a major industry price war in 1992. Models like the 4\/24s typically featured a 486\u2011series processor, modest RAM and hard drive by modern standards, and were designed for everyday business and educational use, making them highly accessible to first\u2011time buyers and institutions alike. While not as celebrated as flagship machines like the Deskpro or more commercially successful lines like the later Presario, the ProLinea family nevertheless sold hundreds of thousands of units and marked Compaq\u2019s strategic push into the low\u2011cost PC market, influencing competitor pricing and broadening PC adoption in schools, offices, and homes.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Manufacturer<\/strong>: Compaq Computer Corporation<\/li>\n<li><strong>Type<\/strong>: Desktop IBM\u2011PC\u2011compatible personal computer<\/li>\n<li><strong>Release Date<\/strong>: October 1992<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cost at release<\/strong>: ~$2,000 (adjusted for inflation)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cost with peripherals<\/strong>: ~$4,400 (adjusted for inflation)<\/li>\n<li><strong>MIPS<\/strong>: ~20<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"TextRun SCXW36078203 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW36078203 BCX0\">Hardware Specifications<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>CPU<\/strong>: Intel 486SX @ 25\u202fMHz (no internal math coprocessor in base config)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Memory<\/strong>: 4\u202fMB onboard (70\u202fns SIMM), expandable (some boards up to ~32\u202fMB)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Graphics<\/strong>: Often Tseng Labs ET4000\/W32 local\u2011bus VGA or similar integrated graphics on 486 models<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hard Drive<\/strong>: Originally commonly a ~120\u202fMB IDE hard disk in many 4\/25s units<\/li>\n<li><strong>Floppy Drive<\/strong>: 1.44\u202fMB 3.5\u2033 floppy drive (some units also supported a 5.25\u2033)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Expansion Slots<\/strong>: Typically 2\u20133 ISA slots + shared PCI\/ISA on some configurations<\/li>\n<li><strong>Integrated I\/O<\/strong>: Serial, parallel, keyboard, PS\/2 mouse, and VGA ports (standard PC configuration)<\/li>\n<li><strong data-start=\"2249\" data-end=\"2260\">Weight:<\/strong> Approximately <strong data-start=\"2275\" data-end=\"2303\">~21\u201324\u202flbs (9.5\u201310.9\u202fkg)<\/strong> depending on configuration and drives.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"TextRun SCXW136206418 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW136206418 BCX0\">Operating System &amp; Programming Languages<\/span><\/span><span class=\"EOP SCXW136206418 BCX0\" data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:0}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Operating System<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Primary OS: MS\u2011DOS 5.0 or 6.0 (depending on the exact year\/configuration).<\/li>\n<li>Graphical Environment: Windows 3.0 or 3.1 (Windows ran on top of DOS).<\/li>\n<li>Optional OS: Some installations could run OS\/2 2.x or early Linux ports for PCs, but this was less common.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong><strong>Supported Languages:<\/strong><\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Compiled Languages:\n<ul>\n<li>C \/ C++ (Turbo C\/C++, Borland C++, Microsoft C)<\/li>\n<li>Pascal \/ Object Pascal (Turbo Pascal, Borland Delphi later on Windows)<\/li>\n<li>Fortran (IBM Fortran, Lahey Fortran)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Interpreted Languages:\n<ul>\n<li>BASIC (GW\u2011BASIC, QuickBASIC, QBasic)<\/li>\n<li>Bourne \/ DOS batch scripting<\/li>\n<li>Early versions of Python or Perl (if installed, mostly under DOS extenders or Windows 3.x)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Other: Assembly language programming via MASM \/ TASM for low\u2011level development.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Notables<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Part of Compaq\u2019s ProLinea line, it was among the first 486\u2011class PCs sold at sub\u2011$1,000 prices, making powerful IBM-compatible computing accessible to homes, schools, and small offices.<\/li>\n<li>Its aggressive pricing in 1992 forced competitors to cut PC prices dramatically, accelerating desktop adoption worldwide.<\/li>\n<li>Sold hundreds of thousands of units in its first year, making it one of the most popular \u201centry-level\u201d 486 PCs of the era.<\/li>\n<li>Represents the democratization of desktop computing, bridging business-grade PCs and home computers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Donated by<\/strong>: Dr. Arlen Michaels<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/compaq_ad.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-23188\" src=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/compaq_ad.jpg\" alt=\"Compaq ProLinea 4\/24s\" width=\"2103\" height=\"1423\" srcset=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/compaq_ad.jpg 2103w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/compaq_ad-240x162.jpg 240w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/compaq_ad-400x271.jpg 400w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/compaq_ad-160x108.jpg 160w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/compaq_ad-768x520.jpg 768w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/compaq_ad-1536x1039.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/compaq_ad-2048x1386.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/wp-content\/uploads\/compaq_ad-360x244.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2103px) 100vw, 2103px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Compaq ProLinea 4\/24s [Vin194] From a vintage\u2011computing and university museum perspective, the Compaq ProLinea 4\/24s represents an important chapter in early\u20111990s PC history as part of Compaq\u2019s budget ProLinea series, which brought 486\u2011class IBM PC\u2011compatible desktops into the mainstream at unprecedented low prices and helped trigger a major industry price war in 1992. Models like [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":19704,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Compaq ProLinea 4\/24s - School of Computer Science<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Compaq ProLinea 4\/24s From a vintage\u2011computing and university museum perspective, the Compaq ProLinea 4\/24s represents an important chapter in early\u20111990s\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin194\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin194\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/scs\/vintage-computing\/item\/vin194\/\",\"name\":\"Compaq ProLinea 4\/24s - 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