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

BIOS:	Award

Development

Then they did the Kaypro 286i. Based on the Intel 80286 processor it was a gun-metal gray large desktop computer and a clone of the IBM PC AT – the first one in the United States. When I first got to Profiles, I got a Kaypro 286i because I needed it for evaluations. And people were angry with me. There were far more senior people who didn't have a Kaypro 286i sitting on their desk. I had a coprocessor, I had a Hercules graphics card. The head of sales would come by and just give me a dirty look.
I also had it because I had to speak to Jerry Pournelle, to whom Kaypro had given a 286i. He was a renowned science fiction writer who with Larry Niven. He co-wrote Lucifer's Hammer. He was also a columnist for Byte Magazine which is why he was on my radar and why we gave him a 286i.
As to how we offered the first PC AT-compatible, what I understood was that Andy had written a giant check to some manufacturer in Taiwan -- I mean a GIANT check -- so that we would have an exclusive license to it for a year. They [the Taiwanese company] had duplicated the IBM PC-AT.
The 286i sold more and better than the Kaypro 16. The Kaypro 16 was an 8088, but no sales were going to stop the downward spiral. The 286i’s successor, the Kaypro 386, came in the last year that I was there.
(Interview with Marshall Mosley)

Marketing info

Info World March 4, 1985

Creative Computing July 1985

News

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 Corp., Solana Beach, Calif., said it had introduced a special, slimmed-down version of its 286i I.B.M. AT-compatible desktop computer, retailing for $2,995."
(New York Times, May 9, 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, January 1986)

The Kaypro EXTRA! EXTRA! desktop publishing system is now available in eight different configurations (see chart below for details). The basic system, available for $7,498, includes the Kaypro 286i Model C with 640K of RAM and 40 megabyte hard drive, EGA video card, high-resolution monochrome monitor, the 300 dpi Kaypro Page Printer II with Hewlett-Packard "B" fonts, an assortment of downloadable fonts, a mouse, and all interface cabling. ...
Two upgrades are also available through Kaypro. The first, which retails for $1,549, includes software (Ventura Publisher, version 1.1, GEM Desktop, GEM Paint, and GEM Draw+), and a mouse. The second upgrade, available for $4,544, includes the software, a mouse, and a laser printer.

(Profiles, September 1987)