American Computer and Peripheral: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:51, 14 October 2021

Revision as of 04:34, 14 October 2021

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===Upgrade devices===

In June 1986, AC&P announced the 386 Translator.{{sfn|Whitmore|1986|p=11}} This was a module that could be inserted into the pin-grid array socket reserved for the 80286 microprocessor on the motherboard of IBM's PC AT or clones of the AT, in order to upgrade them to the newer [[Intel 80386|80386]] by [[Intel]].{{sfn|Chabal|Ranney|1986|p=8}} This product letallowed AC&P to beat [[Compaq]] by a slim margin in allowingoffering consumers the first means through which they could interact with the 386.{{sfn|Amirrezvani|Rosenbaum|Trivette|1986|p=92}} Compaq released the [[Compaq Deskpro 386|Deskpro 386]], the first PC clone that featured a 386—and which marked the first time a major component to the IBM PC standard was upgraded by a company outside IBM—in September 1986.{{sfn|Warner|1986|p=1}}{{efn|[[Advanced Logic Research]] had announced a PC clone with a 386 alongside AC&P's 386 Translator in the summer of 1986 ({{harvnb|Chabal|Ranney|1986|p=8}}). However, they were beaten to market by Compaq ({{harvnb|Warner|1986|p=1}}).}} AC&P promised to release the 386 Translator as soon as Intel started shipping the chip out to computer vendors like AC&P,{{sfn|Whitmore|1986|p=11}} which occurred in mid-July, along with Intel shipping production samples of the 386 to consumers.{{sfn|Chabal|Ranney|1986|p=8}}

Various companies such as [[Daisy Systems]] and [[Valid Logic Systems]] manufactured software development workstations equipped with the 386 microprocessor and running Intel's own assembler, compilers, and software utilties as early as December 1985, when pre-production batches of 386es were manufactured. However, these workstations were large, cumbersome to set up and expensive, costing several thousands of dollars.{{sfn|Goering|1985|pp=33–34}} The 386 Translator, by comparison, cost $895 (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|895|1986|r=0|fmt=c}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}) with a 386 included or $395 (${{Inflation|US|395|1986|r=0|fmt=c}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}) without.{{sfn|Chabal|Ranney|1986|p=8}} In addition, existing ATs could be equipped with the 386 using AC&P's module, avoiding the need for a dedicated workstation. Counter-intuitive to the nature of an upgrade module, however, the 386 Translator ran an AT computers 10 percent {{em|slower}} than a stock computer with a 286. This was due to the module inserting [[wait state]]s in order for slower AT-grade memory chips to work with the faster 386. Aside from this performance penalty, the 386 Translator allowed software developers with ATs to get a head start on learning 386's new [[virtual 8086 mode]].{{sfn|Nelson|1986|p=32}}