The first three terminal adjustable regulator was introduced in 1976 and used two external resistors that generated an output voltage between 1.2V up to a maximum of 40V. It had a 3V dropout, 1.5A output current and a well-controlled current limit that was constant with temperature. This device was a big advance over earlier regulators which featured fixed outputs and had a poor current limit. The modern-day shortcomings of the original 3-terminal regulator, and the higher current regulators that followed are, the inability to adjust output voltage below 1.2V, inability to obtain high output current in a surface mounted system, and not being optimum for use in all surface mount systems.