Philip ,
>         I was wondering if a PIC16c84, or any PIC was powerful enough to
> be used to make a sort of a laptop.  The Z80 is used in Nintendo's Gameboy,
> and the TI-85 Calculator, both of them are fairly powerful.  How does the
> PIC compare?  I want to make a simple laptop with a 320x200 LCD, qwerty
> keypad, and a task switching graphical operating system.  My main concern
> next to speed is memory, would I be able to use any external memory with
> the PIC microcontrollers?

The 17Cxx series especially the 17c42a and 17c44 with built in multiply
are formidable computing machines. It is at this point that the PIC power
can really show itself. They have the ability to use external RAM and
they have a large address space.

> Would something else be better suited for this type of project?
>  Software would be the problem. For the application that you propose
their is very little available software.

Walter Banks
fttp://www.bytecraft.com