The Kaypro is one of the earliest portable computers. The first model was called the "II" in order to appear one-up on it's biggest competitor, the Osborne-1. Some call the Kaypro an "Osborne Clone", however it did improve on the design substantially, the most notable being the 9" display (.vs. 5" on the Osborne).
Keypro computers were manufactured by Non-Linear Systems Inc. The name is most likely derived from Alan Kay, president of the company.
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Kaypro II - this machine was acquired in May 2004, and is in exceptionally good condition.
The keyboard is separate from the main unit, and clips onto the front of the machine for
storage and travel. It was designed such that the machine could sit up on the keyboard (as
shown) when in use.
A second Kaypro II was donated by Claude Roy.
Front view of the Kaypro. Note the "large" 9" screen (which is green phosphor), and the
dual 5.25" SS/DD diskette drives which have 195k of storage capacity each.
Closeup of Kaypro II keyboard.
View from the back. Clockwise from top left:
Reset switch, Serial port, Keyboard socket, Printer port, Brightness control, Power
socket, fuse, power switch. Note the handle in the center for carrying the computer.
Here the keyboard is clipped into place on the front of the machine.
Looking at at the top, we can see the diskette drives on the left (from rear), and the main
logic board in front of the monitor on the right.
From the left side, we see the video tube toward the front of the machine, the monitor's
analog board at the bottom, the power supply at the rear, and the main logic board on
top.
The right side view is mostly blocked by shielding for the diskette drives. Toward the
back we can see the power cord socket and fuse holder, with the power supply further in
behind.
Here are some of the original Kaypro manuals acquired with the machine.
And here are the rest - I have a complete set of
manuals and software for this machine.
Kaypro 4 - This is another Kaypro in exceptionally good condition. The 4
is virtually identical to the II, except that it has DS/DD drives which give
it four times the storage capacity. As this machine was released in 1984,
it is sometimes referred to as the Kaypro 4-84.
Donated by the estate of Robert Warren Bowman, PE.
Here is the Kaypro 4 with the keyboard clipped into position. Note that
the unlike the II, this machine has a stand so that it does not have to
rest on the keyboard when opened.
View from the back. Clockwise from top left:
Reset switch, Modem/phone connection, Printer port, Serial ports(2),
Keyboard socket, Brightness control, Power socket, fuse, power switch
and FAN filter. Note the handle in the center for carrying the computer.
Looking at at the top, we can see the diskette drives on the left (from rear),
and the main logic board in front of the monitor on the right.
From the left side, we see the video tube toward the front of the machine, the monitor's
analog board at the bottom, the power supply at the rear, and the main logic board on
top.
The right side view is mostly blocked by shielding for the diskette drives.
Toward the back we can see the power cord socket and fuse holder, with the
power supply further in behind. Note that the Kaypro 4 has a fan - just above
the power cord socket, and in front (in this view) of the power supply.
Here are some of the original Kaypro manuals acquired with the machine.
And here are the rest - I have a complete set of
manuals and software for this machine. Here are some
original software diskettes.
The Kaypro 4 came in this original Kaypro soft carry case.
