American Computer and Peripheral: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:55, 8 November 2021

Revision as of 02:52, 15 November 2021

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==History==

===PC clones===

American Computer and Peripheral was founded in Santa Ana in April 1985 by Alan Lue.{{sfn|OpenCorporates|n.d.}} Among the company's first offerings were a duo of [[IBM PC compatible|IBM PC clones]]: the American XTSR and the American 286. These clones were introduced in May 1986 and were clones of IBM's [[IBM Personal Computer XT|PC XT]] and [[IBM Personal Computer/AT|PC AT]], respectively. The clock speed of the XTSR's [[Intel 8088]] microprocessor was selectable, allowing users to change it from 4.77 MHz to 7.37 MHz.{{sfn|Staff writer|1986a|p=125}} The module that allowed this selection of clock speeds was later sold separately as the American Turbo.{{sfn|Davis|1986|p=125}}{{efn|A version of the XTSR with the module removed, which limited the clock speed to 4.77 MHz, was sold as the American 88 ({{harvnb|Staff writer|1986b|p=124}})}} The American 286 featured a motherboard in the [[Baby AT]] form factor with five expansion slots house in the same case as the American XTSR.{{sfnm|1a1=American Computer and Peripheral|1y=1986a|1p=2|2a1=Staff writer|2y=1986a|2p=125}} AC&P later introduced the American 286-A, an AT clone with a full-sized AT motherboard, featuring eight expansion slots.{{sfn|American Computer and Peripheral|1986b|p=2}} TheAC&P 286-A was designed byhired Chi Yeung, who previously worked as a designer for [[Eagle Computer]] before theythe company went out of business in 1986, to design the 286-A.{{sfn|Obregón|1986|p=38}} Both the 286it and the regular 286-A ran the [[Intel 80286]], with clock speeds selectable from 6 MHz to 8 MHz.{{sfnm|1a1=American Computer and Peripheral|1y=1986a|1p=2|2a1=American Computer and Peripheral|2y=1986b|2p=2}}

===Upgrade devices===

In June 1986, AC&P announcedreleased the 386 Translator.{{sfn|WhitmoreRhein|1986|p=1138}} This was a module that could be plugged 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 allowed AC&P to beat [[Compaq]] by a slim margin in offering 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&PThe promised386 toTranslator releasewas thedesigned 386by TranslatorNDR, a electronics design firm located in [[Corona, California|Corona]], California.{{sfn|Rhein|1986|p=38}} Scheduled for release 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}} AC&P launched the 386 Translator ahead of time in late June.{{sfn|Rhein|1986|p=38}}

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 computer 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}} According to David Springer of NDR, the 386 Translator was also be targeted at high-end users wanting to set up a [[file server]] on an AT-class machine.{{sfn|Rhein|1986|p=38}}

[[File:American 386 Turbo.jpg|thumb|386 Turbo, showing ISA card with 386 and processor module connected via two ribbon cables]]

Just three months after the release of the 386 Translator, in November, AC&P introduced the 386 Turbo expansion board. Like the Translator, the Turbo board allowed users to upgrade their existing ATs with the 386 processor, this time with the promise of increased speed over the AT's 286 processor. The company touted a 400 percent increase in software performance and claimed that the Turbo could double the clock speeds of ATs running between 6 and 12 MHz.{{sfn|Staff writer|1986c|p=16}} The company later revised their claim to only double the clock speeds of 6 and 8 MHz 286s,{{sfn|Miller|1986|p=77}} as 386 processors at the time were not rated for 24 MHz.{{sfn|Satchell|1987b|p=56}} The 386 Turbo allowed users to switch the clock speed of the 386 on the fly, and it also included 1 MB of [[cache memory]].{{sfn|Staff writer|1986c|p=16}}

TheAC&P boardrecommissioned NDR for the design of the 386 Turbo.{{sfn|Rhein|1986|p=38}} It was comparable to Intel's [[Intel Inboard 386|Intel's Inboard 386]], which came out at the same time. Both boards plugged into one of the AT's 16-bit ISA expansion slots. While Intel offered a version of the Inboard that could work on XTs, the 386 Turbo could only be used by ATs.{{sfn|Crabb|1987|p=213}} The Turbo's 1 MB of memory was strictly used for cache, while the Inboard could accept up to 4 MB of memory chips to be used as conventional RAM, on top of having 64 KB of cache memory itself.{{sfn|Crabb|1987|pp=214–215}} The Turbo was to be accompanied by a graphics accelerator card, dubbed the "Turbo Graphics Adapter", which would have included a [[Intel 82786|82786]] graphics processing unit for use with [[computer-aided design|CAD]]–[[computer-aided manufacturing|CAM]] systems. Scheduled for release alongside the 386 Translator in November, it was ultimately shelved.{{sfn|Rhein|1986|p=38}}

==Reputation==

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| via=Google Books

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* {{cite journal | last=Rhein | first=Bob | date=August 11, 1986 | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_mis-week_1986-08-11_7_32/page/38/ | title=ACP Is Readying 2 Boards | work=MIS Week | volume=7 | issue=32 | page=38 | publisher=Fairchild Publications | via=the Internet Archive}}

* {{cite journal

| ref={{sfnRef|Satchell|1987a}}