LUGGABLE

adjective and noun (Science and Technology) adjective: Of a computer: rather larger than a portable; light and small enough to be carried short distances with some effort. noun: A computer which is not quite small enough to be easily portable. Etymology: Formed by adding the suffix -able to the verb lug 'carry (something heavy)', after the model of portable. History and Usage: One of a series of terms for different sizes of personal computer which came into the language during the first half of the eighties. Luggable was originally used to refer to the PC which had been made rather lighter than usual to allow it to be moved about from one location to another; as such, it was still in a distinct category from the portable laptop (which had an LCD screen and was not dependent on mains power). With the development of ever smaller computers in the second half of the eighties (see the examples listed under laptop) came smaller and lighter luggables--of about twenty rather than thirty pounds--without which the maufacturers would have been unable to compete successfully in the microcomputer market. The success of these 30lb 'luggables', as they are more appropriately known, owes more to their wide range of software...than to their ease of carting about. Sunday Times 26 Aug. 1984, p. 49 At a time when portables are getting smaller and lighter, IBM has come up with a mains luggable the size of a small suitcase and weighing some 20lb. PC Magazine July 1989, p. 46