Kaypro 286i

Model Number 81-074

The KAYPRO 286 - the first IBM PC/AT compatible computer — delivers exceptional speed, remarkable memory, and a list of standard features even IBM can't match. The ideal choice for growing businesses that have outgrown the PC standard. Look to Kaypro for quality and innovation second to none.
Standard Specifications KAYPRO 286i Model C:

Processor:	80286 microprocessor Keyboard-selectable 8/10/16 MHz clock Socket for 80287 math cco-processor
Video/Display:	Multivideo graphics adapter, EGA, CGA, MDA, and Hercules compatible on most monitors; 12-inch monochrome monitor
Memory:	1 MB expandable to 8MB on CPU board
Disk Storage:	One 1.2 MB disk drive One 40 MB hard drive, 35ms average access time
Ports:	AT-compatible serial and parallel
Expansion:	Eight slots, six available for user options
Keyboard:	Enhanced 101-style keyboard

Marketing info

Info World March 4, 1985

Creative Computing July 1985

The Kaypro Corporation plans to introduce a new computer today that is compatible with the PC-AT computer being sold by the International Business Machines Corporation.

The computer is likely to be the first of several AT-compatible machines coming out this year. It could provide a boost for Kaypro, which has seen sales of its main product, a low- priced portable computer, dwindle. ...

The new AT-compatible machine, which will not be portable, will sell for $4,550. It has 512,000 characters of internal memory and two floppy disk drives capable of storing 1.2 million characters of information each.

An I.B.M. machine with the same features lists for $5,785, according to David Kay, Kaypro's vice president of marketing and new product development. The new machine will be called the Kaypro 286i, after the Intel Corporation's 80286 microprocessor, which is used in the Kaypro product.

But the new marketing strategy has risks. It is not quite clear that the AT, which was introduced by I.B.M. last August and can be used by several people at the same time, will be as successful as I.B.M.'s less powerful but less expensive original PC. That could mean the market for compatible machines will be smaller.

Moreover, selling I.B.M. clones and competing on price is dangerous, because I.B.M. has huge economies of scale. Some manufacturers of I.B.M.-compatible personal computers have already gone out of business.
(New York Times, February 25, 1985)

"Kaypro's new 286i model, named to suggest the jazziness of a BMW sports car at a "Volkswagen price," is based on the same 80286 microprocessor that drives the AT. Kaypro hopes to offer the 286i for $4,550, or $1,000 less than the stripped down AT, including two drives to the basic AT's one and 512K of random access memory to the basic AT's 256K."
(New York Times, March 12, 1985)

"Kaypro now has four variations of the high-performance 286i, an IBM PC AT work-alike. The "A" model comes with 512K of RAM and a single 1.2-megabyte drive. The "B" version adds a second high-density drive and the software bundle. The 286i-C has 640K of RAM, a 20-megabyte hard disk and one high-density floppy drive but no software. The top-of-the-line 286i-D has 640K of RAM , one highdensity drive, a streaming tape drive for hard disk backup and the software bundle."
(Profiles V3 N6)

Note: While the marketing shows a black case the versions of the machine we see in the market are white/beige.

Example 286i Machines

	Assuming this is the second version since the original was to have a 6MHz processor.

	Machine posted on Reddit