HI! Im new to the list...

From: Don Maslin <donm_at_cts.com>
Date: Tue Sep 28 00:52:53 1999

On Tue, 28 Sep 1999 Glenatacme_at_aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 09/27/1999 7:58:32 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> DD950_at_prodigy.net writes:
>
> > Welcome to the list. I and the other three people here besides myself that
> > are interested in KayPro welcome you.
>
> Make that four! I bought a Kaypro 10 recently (after seeking advice from
> people on this list) and I like it!
 
________O/_______
        O\

> > I have thought of trying to collect some information on KayPro and make a
> > dedicated Web page. Problem is I do not have any material or knowledge of
> > the company and can't find any here in the boonies.
>
> Don't feel bad -- I'm in the giant megalopolis of Orlando Florida and there's
> no abundance of information here, either.
   
Perhaps the attached 'history' will help.

> there was very little third-party hardware sold for the Kaypro, and they were
> not exactly designed to be modified (people on the list, please correct me if
> I'm wrong ;>)

There were a variety of third-party add-ons produced for the Kaypros,
but few sold in great quantity. Likely amongst the most common was the
Co-Power 88 board set which added an 8088 processor and memory to a
Kaypro. The set could be used as a RAM disk (512k) or could run 'pure'
MSDOS programs. It was definitely not PC compatible!

                                                 - don

'History' follows:

 
        Following up on Don Maslin's reply, I've attached a message I
posted last September when someone else asked a similar question about
Kaypro models. If things ever calm down, I can try and write up
something similar about the IBM compatible machines, ranging from the
16, 16/2, 286, 2000, 2000+, PC (many many versions, not all really
made by Kaypro), PC/XL, PC-286, 386, etc.
 
                        Gregory Watson
                        gjw_at_access.digex.net
 
 
 
 
        Here's a rough list of the differences between the different
machines. I may have missed one or two machines, I don't have my old
Kaypro brochures with me (in storage), so this is all from memory. I
used to work in a computer store which sold a lot of Kaypros. (I'm
also limiting this to the Kaypro CP/M machines.)
 
        There were various ROM upgrades throughout this.
 
        In the beginning there was the Kaypro II (aka II'83 later).
It came with 2 SS/DD full-height floppies, a 2.5 MHz Z-80, one serial
port, and bundled software from Perfect Software. Introduced late 82.
 
        Next was the original Kaypro 10. It came with 1 DS/DD floppy
drive, a 10 meg HD, a 4.0 MHz Z-80A, two serial ports, light pen port,
rudimentary graphics, a real time clock, and software from Perfect
Software and dBase II. Introduced mid-83.
 
        Then there was a Kaypro IV (aka IV'83 later). It was a II,
but with DS/DD full-height floppy drives. Wordstar started being
included in addition to the Perfect Software suite. Introduced in
mid-83. (Same goes for the II'83, late versions included Wordstar
also.)
 
        1984 rolls around, and some changes made.
 
        The 4 (aka 4'84) is introduced. It now has two DS/DD
half-height floppy drives, a Z-80A at 4.0 MHz, 2 serial ports,
internal 300 baud modem, a real-time clock, rudimentary graphics.
Software is from Micropro (Wordstar, Calcstar, etc.) Early 1984.
 
        The 2 (aka 2'83) is introduced. It has two SS/DD half-height
floppy drives, a Z-80A at 4.0 MHz, 2 serial ports, rudimentary
graphics. Software is from Micropro. Slightly later in 84.
 
        The 2X is introduced. This is closer to an old IV, or a 2
with DS/DD half-height drives. Again a Z-80A running at 4.0 MHz, 2
serial ports, rudimentary graphics, software from Micropro. Early 84.
 
        The Kaypro Robie is introduced. This is the first
non-portable machine, a black desktop. This has 2 2.6 Megabyte (not a
typo) floppy drives. Motherboard is basically the same as a 4, with
the 300 baud modem, rough graphics, etc. (late 84?)
 
        1985 arrives. Kaypro upgrades most of the machines to the
"Universal ROM", so a boot disk for one can be used in another.
 
        The 4'84 is renamed the 2X (sometimes known as 2X MTC). Old
2X, 2'84, 4'84 are all dropped.
 
        The "New 2" is introduced. This is basically an old 2X
motherboard, but with just one DS/DD floppy drive. It comes with just
CP/M and Wordstar for software. (early 85?)
 
        Kaypro starts producing the II'83 again, with Perfect software
as opposed to Micropro software. (early 85).
 
        The Kaypro 4X is announced. It's a Robie but in the standard
portable case. I also have seen reference to the 12X, which was going
to be a Kaypro 10 but with a Robie floppy drive. (I've never actually
seen a 4X or a 12X. The store where I worked might have sold only one
or two Robies, so it wasn't a big seller.)
 
        1986 or so arrives.
 
        The Kaypro 1 (yes one) is introduced. It's equivalent to the
old 2X, with 2 DS/DD floppies, 4.0 MHz Z-80A, 2 serial ports, etc.
The floppies are vertical as opposed to horizontal. It comes with
CP/M and Perfect Writer for software.
 
        At this point, Kaypro is producing just the 1, 2X MTC, 10 and
Robie basically. This continued until they got out of the CP/M
machines.
 
        There were also a few variations on some of these machines,
such as the 4+88, which had a SWP (?) co-processor board with an 8088,
256K of memory (which could be a ramdisk under CP/M), and could run
some MS/Dos software.
 
        But that's the basic list. Anyone know if I've missed
anything?
 
                        Gregory Watson
                        gjw_at_access.digex.net
 
(My parents are still holding onto our 2 II'83s, and one Kaypro 1.)
 
 
 
Received on Tue Sep 28 1999 - 00:52:53 BST