Lappy 486

From Homestar Runner Wiki

Jump to: navigation, search
"Now that is a classy start-up noise!"
The Lappy's logo.

The Lappy 486 (often referred to as Lappy) was Strong Bad's third computer. The Lappy was the replacement for the Compy 386, which Bubs destroyed with a shotgun after it contracted over 400,000 viruses. Like its predecessor, as well as each of its permanent successors, the Lappy 486 is a product of Compy, Inc. It utilized a more modern email client that included 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 usually hidden behind Strong Bad's head.) However, all of it would disappear after Strong Bad would clear the screen to continue typing.

In its first email, animal, Strong Bad speaks highly of the Lappy as an introduction. He describes its startup noise as "classy" (though his attempt to repeat it is out of tune).

In animal, it is revealed that the Lappy is male, as Strong Bad says, "Let's see if this bad boy can check some emails," and tells The Paper to "come and meet [his] new brother". Despite this, the Lappy tends to appear in female form much more often.

In addition to the usual DELETED! feature, the Lappy could also flash a "DO OVER!!" screen with an explosion effect, as seen in do over.

Despite supposedly weighing an excessive 42 pounds, Strong Bad has been seen carrying it on various occasions.

The Lappy met its demise at the end of hremail 3184 when Strong Bad preemptively blew it up with a USB self-destruct button, after checking his first email in more than half a year. It was temporarily replaced with the Corpy NT6 for the email imaginary, and permanently with the Compé beginning with the email independent.

Since Strong Bad's purchase of the Lappy, it has been released in five different colors, including Neon Tan, Gray Passion, Rodeo Beige, Italian Same, and Glittery Taupe, as seen in Compy Catalog. The Compy logo replaced the standard "Lappy 486" text on the back of the monitor.

In sbemail 206, Strong Bad began using the Lappier, which appears to be a newer version of Compy's Lappy computer line.

Contents

[edit] Quick Facts

The back of the Lappy 486 from isp.

Debut: First seen in "animal". First mentioned by The Brothers Chaps in the "invisibility" DVD commentary.

Interactive Feature: Clicking on the Lappy's screen simulates the effect seen on LCD monitors: applied force bends the polarizing filter for the display within the immediate vicinity of the force, causing varying distortions of light and dark. 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.). If you hold the mouse button or move it slightly while clicking the Lappy's screen, the effect won't move with the mouse; it will go away if you leave its circle of effect. This was also Strong Bad's first computer without contrast buttons, besides the Polish Block.

Operating System: In an interview with Strong Bad on The Screen Savers, Strong Bad states that his computer runs on an operating system known as "2S-point-Cynics 5, The Upgrade". The spelling of this was guessed, so it is not completely accurate.

Font: Glitch0

Screen Ratio: 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.

Emails checked on the computer: 88

[edit] Features

The Lappy 486's horribly outdated features.
  • 42 pounds!! (19 kilograms—"Extremely portable" according to Strong Bad in animal; he later describes it as "allegedly portable" in technology.)
  • 2MB Hard Drive! (Later said to be 5MB, as of retirement)
  • "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 have supported a wireless internet connection. In part-time job, isp, Comic Book Movie, Happy Dethemberween, licensed, rated, your edge, and email thunder, it can be seen that Strong Bad does not use the Lappy's Ethernet socket.
  • In the email environment, claims made about the Lappy include:
    • Every time the "enter" key is pressed, everyone else in town will temporarily lose electricity.
    • When the Lappy runs on battery power, 45 acres of rainforest are burned to the ground.
  • An "Undelete" feature, shown in Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People.

[edit] Colors

Lappy 486's email client.

The screen boasts "several" colors in the email animal. The number of colors present suggest that the Lappy 486 uses at least a VGA display. There are 24 known colors:

  • 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, mini-golf
  • 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, mini-golf
  • Dark Red: Edgar's Baby's Daddy (outline of red)
  • Peach: Edga Jr.'s face, and Trogdor's beefy arm in concert
  • Orange: Edga Jr.'s hair, mini-golf
  • Sky blue: Edga Jr.'s shirt
  • 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, and Trogdor's body in concert
  • Video colors: the explosion effect in do over, the webcam in death metal
  • Cream: the computer on the downloading screen in isp
  • Light Brown: the "not really break dancing" rat, also in isp
  • Teal: The background of the "Teal Screen of Near Death" in retirement
  • Turquoise: 'flavored water' in rough copy

[edit] Programs

Strong Bad checks his email.

The programs Strong Bad used on the Lappy 486, most of which are started by typing the filename only after the prompt:

[edit] The Real Computer

The "real" Lappy, as seen in Real-Live E-Mails.

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 Compaq LTE series laptop. Indeed, the "real" Lappy (pictured) is a Compaq LTE.

The Lappy 486's prompt, a closing square bracket, was also used by the Apple II series of computers, although MS-DOS could be configured to produce this prompt.

[edit] Lappy-napping

"I coulda sworn one of you guys liked hushpuppies."

At the end of cliffhangers, the Lappy was stolen. The perpetrators left behind a ransom note stating "i got your Lappy" along with the Lappy's severed "toe" (the "< ," key). After searching for his missing computer in Lappynapped!, Strong Bad discovered that the Tandy 400 and the Compy 386, or what was left of them, had kidnapped the Lappy so that he would answer one last email on each of them. Strong Bad answered the Tandy's and the Compy's last emails in retirement, and in the process destroyed both of them and retrieved the Lappy. Strong Bad took his favorite "portable" computer out to get hushpuppies with the restored, at-peace ghosts of the two other computers and The Paper following along in harmony.

[edit] Female Lappy 486

Strong Bad's looking prooty hot.

The Female Lappy 486 appears in Strong Bad's dream email in dreamail. She's basically the Lappy 486 logo with blonde hair and makeup. She appears when Strong Bad starts up the Lappy, telling him that he's "looking prooty hot". Female Lappy 486 fawns over Strong Bad for his reply to an email ("Well played, Strong Bad. Those ladies are sure to be all up ons."). After Strong Bad flies away at the end of the email, she appears in an Easter egg, telling Strong Bad not to fly, that's she's worried about him, and that she can see the strings which are holding him above ground. Apparently, she seems to rely on Strong Bad.

The monitor of Female Lappy 486 is bordered with a gold chain bearing the phrase, "MY LAPPY ATE YOUR DOG" inscribed on top.

It has since then appeared on the normal Lappy, suggesting that it is an actual feature of it.

Female Lappy 486 frequently makes spelling and grammar mistakes, such as "prooty hot", "one unread messages", "is understairs", "I'm hate hushpuppies", and "tell whim I love", and speaks with a voice that sounds somewhat like a computer speech synthesizer.

[edit] Appearances

[edit] Takeover By The King of Town

In Strong Badia the Free, after the King of Town succeeds in tricking Strong Bad into taking his castle, he uses the Lappy to check his very own emails. His email show becomes quite popular and, according to Strong Sad, Fark.com links to him every single week. Strong Bad is infuriated by this, especially after the King neglects to make fun of an email sender's name.

After finding out the King's plan, Strong Bad sends a tax via email on Creamy Ding Snack Cakes, causing an outraged King to abandon the Lappy and prepare to take his castle back. It works, and the Lappy returns to Strong Bad's possession.

[edit] The End Of The Lappy 486

The Lappy goeth into the NIIIIGHTT!

In hremail 3184, Strong Bad finally comes out of retirement to check his email again. He attempts to replace it/her with a steak sandwich, claiming it to be a computer. This attempt fails, and he allows the Lappy to live another week at least. Strong Bad goes back on his promise, as when asked what was the coolest explosion he ever saw, he revealed that the coolest explosions have come from his computers. To that end, he rigged up a USB Self-Destruct Button to the Lappy 486 and triggered it, causing an explosion, and ending the existence of the Lappy.

[edit] Appearances outside Lappy-era Emails

The following Lappy 486 emails are only available on strongbad_email.exe Disc Four, Disc Five and Disc Six respectively and are outside the normal numbering scheme:

Strong Bad's computer equipment
Computers Papers
Current Lappier CGI Paper
Previous Tandy 400 · Compy 386 · Lappy 486 · Compé The Paper · New Paper · Compé-per
Other Block · Zappy XT6 · Terminal D6 · Corpy NT6 Other Papers
Preceded by:
Compy 386 		     Strong Bad Emails     
119 - 201 		Succeeded by:
Compé
Retrieved from "http://hrwiki.org/wiki/Lappy_486"
Personal tools