Kaypro IV Portable Computer
date: label: Date made
content: 1983
name: label: maker
content: Kaypro Corporation
notes: label: Description
content: Kaypro was a manufacturer of portable microcomputers running the CP/M operating system. Its first commercial model, Kaypro II, was launched in 1982. The Kaypro IV was introduced in 1983. Surprisingly, it is not the same as the Kaypro 4, which was released in 1984.
label: Description
content: The Kaypro IV was basically a Kaypro II with added Double Sided/Double Density Drives. It had a Z80 microprocessor that ran at 2.5 MHz. The memory included 64 KB of RAM and 2 KB of ROM. Kaypro IV had a 9" monochrome monitor and a built-in speaker. The operating system was CP/M 2.2. The Kaypro IV included the word processor Wordstar, which was included in the Perfect Software Suite.
label: Description
content: The introduction of the IBM PC in 1981 led to the rapid growth in popularity of the MS-DOS operating system for personal computers. Software developers migrated to writing for MS-DOS instead of CP/M. Kaypro was slow to make the transition in their machines, and the company never gained the kind of prominence in the MS-DOS arena that it had enjoyed with CP/M. A prime competitor for the MS-DOS portable market was Compaq, which sold an "all in one" computer that was similar to its own CP/M portable. In March 1990 Kaypro filed for bankruptcy.
label: Description
content: This Kaypro IV was purchased with funds from a research grant obtained by Robert M. Smith, of the Department of Space History of the National Air and Space Museum. Smith's book, <I>The Space Telescope</I>, was written in part on this computer. The object was received as a transfer from the Natonal Air and Space Museum.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Computers
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content: Family & Social Life
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content: Work
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content: Computers & Business Machines
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1992.0522.01
label: catalog number
content: 1992.0522.01
label: accession number
content: 1992.0522
objectType: label: Object Name
content: microcomputer
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 21.5 cm x 48 cm x 43 cm; 8 7/16 in x 18 7/8 in x 16 15/16 in