PC Pioneer Kaypro Dies, Again

Premio kills the resurrected PC label, but will honor service and warranty agreements.

Tom Mainelli, PCWorld.com

Nostalgia isn't enough to make a PC brand profitable--just ask the folks at Kaypro. On June 1 the company--originally launched in 1982, then resurrected (at least in name) in 1999--expects to close for good.

PC manufacturer Premio, which owns Kaypro and builds its systems, will continue operations and will honor all Kaypro service and warranty agreements, says company spokesperson Laura Miller. Kaypro customers with warranty, service, or product questions can call a special phone number for answers: 800/777-6388.

Premio purchased the Kaypro name and relaunched the brand online as a built-to-order PC, parts, and peripherals business in 1999, Miller says. Since then, PC World has reviewed numerous systems from the company; a recent unit, the Kaypro 4110, made the Top 15 Home PC chart.

Profits proved elusive, however, so Premio--which builds and sells its own branded PCs through resellers and phone sales--opted to close the business, according to Miller.

The company will cease Kaypro operations on June 1, she says. However, the Kaypro CyberMall Web site is still up and running, and continues to take orders for PCs and other items. Premio will honor those new orders, Miller says.

Company Launched the Luggable

The name Kaypro stirs up some nostalgia for the earliest PC users, mostly because the company was among the first to offer a "portable" PC.

According to the company history on the Kaypro Web site, the business started in 1952 as Non-Linear Systems, the first manufacturer of digital voltmeters. It launched its first computer in 1982 "with great success."

That first PC was the Kaypro, a Zilog Z80-based portable unit that weighed a mere 26 pounds. It ran the CP/M 2.2 operating system.

The Kaypro II followed, offering 64K of memory, two Tandon SS/DD 5 1/4 drives, and a nine-inch green, CRT-based screen. The company shipped the unit with Perfect Writer and WordStar, and many considered it a rugged alternative to the well-known Osborne 1 portable PC. Despite its early success with portable PCs, the company eventually closed.

Interestingly, the resurrected version of Kaypro only built desktop PCs--it sold Fujitsu notebooks as its portable product line.