The NEC portable PC-8201A computer's arrival in the shops is imminent.

A spokesman for NEC said the company had just received "two jumbo-jet-fulls" and should have them in shops by the end of the month.

The CMOS RAM Tandy Model 100-lookalike portable computer sells for £475 without VAT and includes 16K RAM as standard memory. Printer cables will cost £20, and memory upgrades to a maximum 64K internally will cost £52 per 8K - the 32K RAM pack that plugs at the side of the machine costs £190.

Included in the price of the basic machine is a cassette with 25 games and utilities programs, as well as a built-in word-processor and tele-communications package. Among the standard interfaces are parallel printer and RS-232C connections, two serial ports for planned disk drives and a connection for a barcode reader.

The 8201A can be connected to any standard cassette recorder but NEC also offers its own data recorder for £58.

The shoot-out of the lap-held portables should now begin. Led by Epson's HX-20 the main contenders have all come under starter's orders - Tandy with its Model 100, NEC with the PC-8201A, and Olivetti with its M10.

Epson was first in the field but it was the Tandy system that heralded the new generation of portable computer, specifically with its integrated software. The NEC is basically the same machine, and in Japan it has been wiping the floor with the Tandy system. Olivetti's is the dark horse.

If a three-way challenge develops, various factors should help decide the winner. Tandy was first, NEC has a name that can be readily identified with the Japanese reputation for quality, and Olivetti will be best known to European users, particularly those in offices.