I think the single most important issue with laptops in 1985 was that they were heavy.<p>Remember, that was the age of conspicuous consumption -- people went out of their way to show off how much money they had spent needlessly.<p>I had a T1100 around that time and the thing weighed like ten pounds, had horrible battery life, and a pretty crappy display.<p>So without access to AC power it was little more than an overpriced toy -- and with AC power, my desktop was far nicer to work on anyway.