Lappy 486
From Homestar Runner Wiki
The Lappy 486 is Strong Bad's third and current computer, and is manufactured by Compy, Inc. It utilizes a more modern email client which includes a subject line, a reply panel, and the following easy-access buttons: Reply, Forward, Delete, Save, Computer, and Image. (Delete, Save, Computer, and Image are hidden by Strong Bad's head.) However, all of it disappears when Strong Bad clears the screen to continue typing.
The Lappy seems to be Strong Bad's favorite computer to date, as evidenced by how highly he speaks of it in animal. Strong Bad describes its startup noise as "classy." His attempt to repeat it is quite out of tune.
Unlike the Compy 386 and the Tandy 400, no emails have been DELETED on this computer yet. It can flash a DO OVER!! screen with an explosion effect, as seen in do over.
As of the end of cliffhangers, it appears that the Lappy has been stolen. The perpetrator left behind a ransom note stating "I got your Lappy", and has removed and left the "< ," key at the table. It is revealed in retirement that the Tandy 400 and the Compy 386 kidnapped the Lappy so Strong Bad could answer one more e-mail on each of them. Homestar was speculated in an Easter egg that he himself is the thief and The King of Town claimed that he did not eat it in Missing Lappy.
Contents |
Debut
First seen in Strong Bad Email 119, "animal." First mentioned by The Brothers Chaps in the "invisibility" DVD commentary.
Features
- 42 pounds!! (19 kilograms—"Extremely portable", according to Strong Bad)
- 2MB Hard Drive!
- "Several" Color Monitor
- Warning: Five Minute Battery Life (Strong Bad said it is "One half of ten minutes"—evidence shown in part-time job)
- 512K RAM (0.5 MB)
- "Finally, a computer for your lap!"—Compy
- Although never mentioned, the Lappy may support a wireless internet connection. In isp, we can see that Strong Bad does not use the Lappy's Ethernet socket.
Screen Ratio
The Lappy's aspect ratio is 1.67:1 (width:height) or 5:3, as opposed to a normal screen of 1.3:1 (4:3), a high-definition screen of 1.78:1 (16:9), and a widescreen of 1.85:1.
Interactive Feature
Clicking on the Lappy's screen simulates the effect seen on LCD Monitors: applied force moves the liquid inside (a Liquid Crystal Display), causing a "wave" of distorted colors. Whenever the Lappy 486 is seen in an email or toon, the screen can be clicked to get the effect that is similar on most LCD flat panel monitors. The circle matches the color of what is in the reflection (i.e. red for Strong Bad's head, green for Strong Bad's eyes, etc.). This is also Strong Bad's first computer without contrast buttons besides the Polish Block.
Colors
So far, the "several" colors of the screen, as referred to in the email "animal", have been 22:
- Black: background color
- White: text
- Blue: email client title bar, shortcut keys, and rolling over emails titles on the menu, Edgar's Baby's Daddy
- Magenta: (pink) Lappy 486 logo
- Dark Magenta: Lappy 486 logo (outline of magenta)
- Cyan: (aqua) Lappy 486 logo
- Dark Cyan: Lappy 486 logo (outline of cyan)
- Yellow: Lappy 486 logo
- Dark Yellow: Lappy 486 logo (outline of yellow)
- Gold: encore Easter egg in the email rock opera
- Puke Green: "bread sing-alongs" in the email origins
- Red: new emails, do over, Edgar's Baby's Daddy
- Dark Red: Edgar's Baby's Daddy (outline of red)
- Peach: the face of Edga Jr.
- Orange: the hair of Edga Jr.
- Sky blue: the shirt of Edga Jr.
- Gray: scrollbar color, Edga Jr. picture table outline
- Salmon: the words 'a girl', 'really', and 'relatively' in bottom 10
- Dark Green: the "de" words in death metal
- Video colors: the explosion effect in do over, the webcam in death metal
- Creamy white: the computer on the downloading screen in isp
- Light brown: the "not really break dancing" rat, also in isp
Programs
Some of the programs Strong Bad has on the Lappy 486, most of which are started by typing the filename only after the prompt:
- strongbad_email.exe - emails 119-current, except email 142 (secret identity)
- run "Edga Jr." (long pants) - filters emails with indents
- run "webcam" (death metal) - initiates live video chat with Larry Palaroncini
- strongbad_email.wad (secret identity - Strong Bad inexplicably types this to access his email.)
- screen_savior.exe (technology) - runs an infinitely repeating 3D Maze screensaver with poor graphics
- Edgar's Baby's Daddy (filename unknown) (candy product) - Filters emails from Homestar Runner
The Real Computer
The 486 was actually a real processor made by Intel. It was quite similar to the 386 processor from a software standpoint, but was considerably faster.
The Lappy seems to be inspired by the Mac Portable, a 16-pound transportable Macintosh that sold poorly.
The "real" (live-action) Lappy stand-in is an old Compaq LTE series laptop.
Font
The Lappy 486's font is called "Glitch0."
Remarks
The Lappy 486's prompt, a closing square bracket, was also used by the Apple II series of computers.
See Also
| Preceded by: Compy 386 | Strong Bad Emails 119 - Present | Succeeded by: N/A |
