In 1998, MicroDigital announced a variant of the A7000+ called the Medi, repackaging the Acorn system in a new case and providing a CD-ROM drive and two free expansion slots as standard, as opposed to offering the choice of a CD-ROM drive or an expansion slot, along with a built-in sound digitiser.[16] Acorn had reportedly given its "grudging" permission to MicroDigital to incorporate A7000-based hardware into the Medi product, but restrictions imposed on developments of this hardware and Acorn's subsequent demise led to the product's cancellation. Consequently, MicroDigital pursued the development of another ARM7500FE-based computer, the Mico, running RISC OS 4 and adopting the ISA and USB standards, relatively novel for RISC OS machines at the time of the machine's introduction.[17]
Portables
In 1996, Acorn Risc Technologies (ART), a division of Acorn focusing on the development of products for Acorn and other companies, demonstrated a prototype laptop known as the Stork based on the ARM7500 processor,[18] employing the casing of an Olivetti Echos subnotebook and reportedly featuring a colour LCD screen, this having been intended as a replacement for Acorn's earlier A4 laptop. However, Acorn declined to pursue production and instead awaited a "suitable commercial opportunity".[19] A subsequent demonstration of the Stork prototype featured the use of a 9.5-inch greyscale screen with 16 grey levels, with the demonstrated hardware featuring 16 MB of RAM, potentially expandable to 256 MB using two SODIMM slots, a 425 MB 2.5-inch hard drive, PCMCIA, serial and parallel ports. Control of the mouse pointer was exercised using a tracker ball arrangement that managed to support the three-button mouse arrangement using buttons on the left and right sides of the case. A nickel-cadmium battery permitted two hours of use on a single charge, depending on hard drive usage, but the machine also supported "the ability to freeze the machine" and to restart it up to a week later. Already, by early 1997, the Stork model had been superseded by another in development at ART known as Artisan.[20]
Development of a portable machine based on the ARM7500FE was pursued by Innovative Media Solutions in collaboration with Interconnex UK Limited and Acorn Computers, with a model demonstrated in 1998 at the Wakefield Spring Show (a regular commercial event for the Acorn market). Employing an existing Twinhead PC laptop design[21] with a "standard Windows 95" keyboard and "two button glidepoint" touchpad, the machine's footprint was stated as 297mm x 236mm, being slightly larger but thinner (at 47mm) than Acorn's A4 laptop, offering a 12.1-inch colour TFT screen with a 800 x 600 resolution displaying up to 256 colours. Alongside the 48 MHz ARM7500FE processor, the machine had 16 MB of RAM fitted, expandable to 32 MB, and the demonstrated model provided a 2 GB hard disk, high-density floppy drive, and "20-speed CD-ROM" drive. Ports were provided for an external monitor, keyboard and mouse, together with serial and parallel connectors. RISC OS 3.71 was demonstrated running on the machine, but despite operating system support for PCMCIA devices being present, the PCMCIA slots were disabled for apparent reliability reasons. With a nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery, four hours of use was estimated on a single charge. The projected price of the machine was £1,500 plus VAT.[22] Later developments enabled PCMCIA support for the machine, and a "generic Hayes modem driver" for modem cards was promised.[21] Despite apparent demand for the product, changes in Acorn's strategy led to difficulties in component procurement and the eventual demise of the endeavour.[23]
A subsequent laptop or portable initiative involved a product design from RiscStation, a producer of ARM7500FE-based RISC OS machines, based on hardware by Simtec Electronics. In 2002, this hardware was demonstrated publicly alongside a Windows-based laptop whose casing was meant to illustrate the physical characteristics of the eventual laptop product. The use of a Windows laptop running the Virtual Acorn emulation software had caused confusion and doubt as to the authenticity of the demonstrated hardware.[24] Despite signs of progress, in 2003, RiscStation abandoned its plans to deliver this product, instead choosing to sell "off the shelf" Windows laptops running Virtual Acorn.[25]
A user modification (dubbed the A7KP) to rehouse an A7000+ as a portable weighing 5 lb (2.3 kg) was seen in 2011.[26]