---
title: Kaypro 16
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Transportable
origins:
- U.S.A.
years:
- '1985'
cpus:
- Intel 8088
params:
  name: Kaypro 16
  image: /media/museum/photos/kaypro_k16_1.jpg
  company: /companies/kaypro
  company_name: Kaypro
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: Kaypro 16
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Kaypro
  - label: TYPE
    value: Transportable
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: U.S.A.
  - label: YEAR
    value: September 1985
  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
    value: None
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: detachable 83-key IBM compatible keyboard, function keys and numeric keypad
  - label: CPU
    value: Intel 8088
  - label: SPEED
    value: 4,77 Mhz
  - label: RAM
    value: 256 KB (512 KB max. on the main board)
  - label: ROM
    value: Phoenix Rom Bios
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: 40 or 80 columns x 25 lines
  - label: GRAPHIC MODES
    value: |-
      320 x 200, 640 x 200\
      CGA and MDA modes
  - label: COLORS
    value: built in 9 inch monochrome green monitor
  - label: SOUND
    value: Beeper
  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
    value: 46 (W) x 38 (D) x 20.5 (H) cm / 16kg
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: 1 IBM expansion slot, Parallel, Serial, external monitors (color and monochrome)
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: One 5''1/4 disk-drive (360k) + Second FDD or 10 MB hard-drive
  - label: OS
    value: MS-DOS
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: Built-in PSU
  - label: PRICE
    value: $2295 (dual FDD) - $3295 (10 MB HDD)
  tabs:
  - adverts
  adverts:
  - title: NEW-ZEALAND ADVERT (OCT. 1985)
    subtitle: ''
    text: from Bits & Bytes magazine
    image: /media/museum/pubs/kaypro_16_pub_nz_1.jpg
  comments:
  - author: Derek A (MIAMI USA)
    date: Saturday 9th December 2017
    text: At the age of 14 I was writing about video games for a local paper and was sent a Kaypro 16 to review. I was so amazed by this machine and connected to the internet for the first time on this machine. CompuServe charged $6 an hour and my parents killed me for the CompuServe bill they had to pay. It was a gateway to a great love and career in technology.
  - author: Bill C (US)
    date: Tuesday 14th May 2013
    text: The Kaypro 16 was our first family computer and I logged so many hours on it that it gave me a true love for computing. Between programming and gaming I put this machine through hell and the nice thing is that I still have it after all these years. It still works too.
  - author: Victor Paul
    date: Friday 8th April 2011
    text: I called the Kaypro 16 that I had ''My kickstart computer''. It had a 10MB (RLL) harddrive that would stick when you turned the computer off. You had to give the case a slap to get it to start spinning again.
  - author: Karolyn Kelly-O'Keefe (USA)
    date: Friday 29th August 2003
    text: Thank you for the “walk down Memory Lane.” I enjoyed your page on the Kaypro 16, my first computer (“portable” or otherwise). I bought it for $800 from the Home Shopping Network in 1989. It worked like a champ for five years. The only problem was that the metal case made static electricity a real problem and the system would lock up on me.
  oc_id: 519
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230530203125/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=519
    date: '2023-05-30'
---

The Kaypro 16 was the first Kaypro model to use MS-DOS and Intel 8088 CPU instead of the good old CP/M - Z80 couple. It was thus a machine that represents the new direction taken by Kaypro and the technological evolution in general.

The **Kaypro 16/2** is a Kaypro 16 with two 5''1/4 floppy drives and no hard drive. Both versions shipped with a large bundle of software: MS-DOS, WordStar, MailMerge, CalcStar, InfoStar, MITE, GW-Basic, tutorials and... 13 manuals!

---

The following info is provided by **Joe Rigdon**:\
The model 16 had a detachable IBM compatable keyboard, one 360 K disk drive and a 10 Meg hard drive. It also has a built in 9 inch monochrome green monitor with a 25 x 80 display. It had an Intel 8088 CPU running at 4.77MHz. It used a 8237A DMA, an 8253-5 timer, an 8255-5 peripheral interface, an 8259A interrupt controller, an 8284A clock and an 8288 bus controller. The standard system had a motherboard and three cards and one open expansion slot.

The mother board was socketed for 512K of memory but only 256 K was installed from the factory. The motherboard contained the circuitry that decodes RGB video into gray levels of monochrome. Also on the motherboard was a WD1002 disk controller board.

One of the cards was the processor card. It contained the keyboard interface, the clock, the timer, the bus controller, the DMA, the programmable peripheral interface and the programmable interrupt controller. It also contained a socket for a math coprocessor.

The second cards was the floppy-RAM-I/O card. It contained a DB-25S connector for the parallel port and either a DB-9S or DB-9P connector for the serial port. The third card was a color graphics card for use with an external RGB or monochrome monitor. It had a DB-9S connector for the RGB monitor and a jack for a monochrome monitor. Both used standard cables.