Kaypro Advert - May 1986
From Personal Computer World
Kaypro PC
The earlier Kaypro 2 luggable, built by Andrew Kay's Non-Linear Systems as a direct competitor to the Osborne 1, was very successful, selling around 10,000 units a month at one point[1]. Its popularity was even said to have contributed to the collapse of Osborne.
However, Kaypro was said to be slow in adapting to the IBM PC, and it faded away under the mass of mostly-identical IBM clones in the latter half of the 1980s, eventually going bust in 1992.
This advert is for the company's imaginitvely-named Kaypro PC - a fairly standard IBM compatible, with a claimed 100% compatibility with the IBM PC or newer XT. It did however have more than the usual number expansion slots available, at nine.
Keeping up with the same business model established by Osborne, that of bundling in free software - a move which significantly helped the popularity of the luggable machines - the Kaypro PC comes with "a generous collection of quality business software", including WordStar.
The floppy-disk version of the Kaypro PC retailed for £1,250 + VAT, or about £4,860 in 2024.
Sources
Text and otherwise-uncredited photos © nosher.net 2024. Dollar/GBP conversions, where used, assume $1.50 to £1. "Now" prices are calculated dynamically using average RPI per year.