American Computer and Peripheral

{{multiple image|total_width=220|direction=vertical

| image1 = American 88.jpg

| image2 = American 286.jpg

| image3 = American 286-A.jpg

| footer = Various AC&P PC clones; from top to bottom: the American 88, the American 286, and the American 286-A

}}

American Computer and Peripheral was founded in Santa Ana in April 1985 by Alan Lau.{{sfnm|1a1=Pugila|1y=1987b|1p=20|2a1=OpenCorporates|2y=n.d.}} Among the company's first offerings were a duo of IBM PC clones: the American XTSR and the American 286. These clones were introduced in May 1986 and were clones of IBM's PC XT and 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}} AC&P hired Chi Yeung, previously a designer for Eagle Computer before the company went out of business in 1986, to design the 286-A.{{sfn|Obregón|1986|p=38}} Both it and the regular 286 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}} In June 1986, the company released the Abovefunction multifunction board that allows the PC, PC XT and compatibles to address up to 2 MB of RAM, as well as adding ports for joysticks and serial and peripheral devices.{{sfn|Staff writer|1986b|p=124}} A year later, the company introduced the American 386-16, an i386-based desktop computer that touted superiority over other 386 clones due to its use of zero-wait states when accessing video and making system calls to the BIOS for peripheral access.{{sfn|Pugila|1987b|p=20}} By the end of 1985, American achieved sales of US$7.5 million (equivalent to US${{inflation|value=7.5|start_year=1985|index=US|r=2}} million in {{Inflation/year|US}}).{{sfn|Breidenbach|1986|p=74}}

In June 1986, AC&P released the 386 Translator.{{sfn|Rhein|1986|p=38}} 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 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 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}}).}} The 386 Translator was designed by NDR, a electronics design firm located in 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 utilities 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 states 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|1988|p=68}} According to David Springer of NDR, the 386 Translator was also targeted at high-end users wanting to set up a file server on an AT-class machine.{{sfn|Rhein|1986|p=38}} Following the release of the 386 Translator, American projected sales of US$25 million (equivalent to US${{inflation|value=25|start_year=1986|index=US|r=2}} million in {{Inflation/year|US}}) and reportedly exhausted its storage facility in Santa Ana.{{sfn|Breidenbach|1986|p=74}}

File:American 386 Turbo.jpg

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 PC/ATs with the 386 processor, this time with the promise of increased speed over the AT's 286 processor.{{sfn|Staff writer|1986c|p=16}} The Turbo 386 also advertised compatibility with AT clones, although only clones whose motherboards had a socket for the pin grid array package of the 286 were supported.{{sfn|Pugila|1987a|p=63}} 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}}

AC&P recommissioned NDR for the design of the 386 Turbo.{{sfn|Rhein|1986|p=38}} It was comparable to 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 82786 graphics processing unit for use with CAD–CAM systems. Scheduled for release alongside the 386 Translator in November, it was ultimately shelved.{{sfn|Rhein|1986|p=38}}

Despite the company's strong sales for a small computer hardware company,{{sfn|Breidenbach|1986|p=74}} AC&P's peripherals received mixed reviews throughout the company's short life. Stephen Satchell of InfoWorld found that the Turbo 386 failed to double the performance of ATs with 6 MHz 286 processors, as claimed by the company, instead only increasing performance by 83 percent. He felt that this was the product's biggest downfall, because 6 MHz ATs had the slowest clock speeds of the AT class, and thus users with these computers would have been the perfect market for the Turbo. Satchell contrasted the Turbo with Intel's Inboard, which increased performance of 6 MHz ATs by 250 percent,{{sfn|Satchell|1987b|p=56}} surmounting even the Turbo's boost on 8 MHz machines.{{sfn|Satchell|1987b|p=57}} Howard Marks of PC Magazine found the increased performance adequate on his AT but panned the lack of memory beyond the 1 MB used for cache; access to memory on the computer's motherboard above 1 MB would be bottlenecked by the AT's 16-bit data bus, negating the processing speed of the 386.{{sfn|Marks|1987|p=245}} Satchell praised the company's Abovefunction as a bargain, on the other hand.{{sfn|Satchell|1987a|p=60}}

The poor quality of the documentation provided with the company's products was a source of frequent criticism. Of the Turbo 386, Satchell wrote that its manual was "lacking in several key areas. Both the wording and the diagrams are unclear, and a user could easily damage the system board by removing the 286 chip as directed in the manual".{{sfn|Satchell|1988|p=48}} Marks found an error in the same manual: a jumper on the board was factory-set to "slow mode" as stated in the manual, underclocking the 386 to be later configured for "fast mode" in a program provided with the Turbo 386. However Marks discovered that the Turbo 386 only worked on his PC AT with jumper configured for "fast mode"—the AT displayed nothing when he first turned it on with the Turbo 386 configured to "slow mode", leading him to believe that he had destroyed his computer.{{sfn|Marks|1987|p=245}} When the company released a mouse in 1987, Christopher Barr of PC Magazine found that it only worked with Mouse Systems drivers not included with the mouse, a trait not mentioned in its manual.{{sfn|Barr|1987|p=122}}

AC&P expected to file its initial public offering in 1987.{{sfn|Breidenbach|1986|p=74}} This was cancelled, however, the company remaining private for the rest of its existence. It declared bankruptcy in 1989, just four years after its incorporation.{{sfn|Staff writer|1989|p=C2}} It was suspended from the Franchise Tax Board of California in 1990.{{sfn|OpenCorporates|n.d.}}

{{notelist|colwidth=45em}}

{{reflist|colwidth=20em}}

{{refbegin|colwidth=30em|indent=yes}}

• {{cite book

| ref={{sfnRef|American Computer and Peripheral|1986a}}

| publisher=American Computer and Peripheral

| url=https://www.1000bit.it/js/web/viewer.html?file=%2Fad%2Fbro%2Famerican%2Famerican286%2Epdf

| title=American 286: An AT Compatible in an XT Chassis

| date=1986

| via=1000bit

}}

• {{cite book

| ref={{sfnRef|American Computer and Peripheral|1986b}}

| publisher=American Computer and Peripheral

| url=https://www.1000bit.it/js/web/viewer.html?file=%2Fad%2Fbro%2Famerican%2Famerican286%2Da%2Epdf

| title=American 286-A (Formerly American/AT): An Affordable Professional System

| date=1986

| via=1000bit

}}

• {{cite web

| ref={{sfnRef|OpenCorporates|n.d.}}

| url=https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ca/C1273406

| publisher=OpenCorporates

| date=n.d.

| title=American Computer and Peripheral

| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20211014023626/https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_ca/C1273406

| archivedate=October 14, 2021

}}

• {{cite journal

| last1=Amirrezvani

| first1=Anita

| last2=Rosenbaum

| first2=Daniel

| last3=Trivette

| first3=Donald B.

| title=The Next Baby Boom

| url=https://archive.org/details/pcworld410unse/page/91/

| date=October 1986

| journal=PC World

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=4

| number=10

| pages=91–93

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=the Internet Archive

| quote=Two obscure California firms appear to be the first to climb onto the 386 stage: American Computer and Peripheral with a plug-in board ...

}}

• {{cite journal

| last=Barr

| first=Christopher

| title=Mice for Mainstream Applications

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b4EFTpmTnFgC&pg=PA122

| date=August 1987

| journal=PC Magazine

| publisher=Ziff-Davis

| volume=6

| issue=14

| pages=243–268

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=Google Books

}}

• {{cite journal

| last=Breidenbach

| first=Susan

| title=American Deeply Cuts Prices on Its XT-, AT-Compatible Units

| url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A4297933/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=b73303c1

| date=July 7, 1986

| journal=Computer Retail News

| publisher=UBM LLC

| issue=160

| pages=74 et seq

| via=Gale

}}

• {{cite journal

| last1=Chabal

| first1=Priscilla M.

| last2=Ranney

| first2=Elizabeth

| title=First Micro to Employ 80386 Chip Due in Fall

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ti8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1

| date=July 14, 1986

| journal=InfoWorld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=8

| issue=28

| pages=1, 8

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=Google Books

}}

• {{cite journal

| last=Crabb

| first=Donald Evan

| title=80386 Accelerator Boards

| url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1987-08/page/n232/

| date=August 1987

| journal=Byte

| publisher=McGraw-Hill

| volume=8

| issue=28

| pages=1, 8

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=Google Books

}}

• {{cite journal

| last=Davis

| first=Stephen

| title=The No-Slot Alternative to Acceleration (and Why It Makes Sense)

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vcqI6sY2e-kC&pg=PA170

| date=September 16, 1986

| journal=PC Magazine

| publisher=Ziff-Davis

| volume=5

| issue=15

| pages=169–179

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=Google Books

}}

• {{cite journal

| last=Goering

| first=Richard

| title=Development Tools Support 80386 Applications

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=60A-AQAAIAAJ&q=%22Valid+Logic%22+80386+%22Daisy%22

| date=December 1985

| journal=Computer Design

| publisher=PennWell Publishing

| volume=24

| issue=17

| pages=33–34

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=Gale OneFile

}}

• {{cite journal

| last=Marks

| first=Howard

| title=The Turbo Board Shortcut to 386 Power

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jE2OlZ9PkrkC&pg=PA244

| date=October 27, 1987

| journal=PC Magazine

| publisher=Ziff-Davis

| volume=6

| issue=18

| pages=243–268

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=Google Books

}}

• {{cite journal

| editor-last=Miller

| editor-first=Michael J.

| title=Vendors Supplying 80386-based Products

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rDwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA77

| date=November 10, 1986

| journal=InfoWorld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=8

| issue=28

| pages=77–80

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=Google Books

}}

• {{cite book

| editor=Phillip Robinson

| last=Nelson

| first=Ross

| chapter=Programming on the 80386

| chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/drdobbstoolbooko0000unse/page/68/

| date=1988

| title=Dr. Dobb's Toolbook of 80286/80386 Programming

| publisher=M&T Books

| pages=61–72

| accessdate=June 23, 2022

| via=the Internet Archive

| isbn=0934375429

}}

• {{cite journal

| last=Obregón

| first=David

| title=New on the Market

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3w7d7yrrWvoC&pg=PA38

| date=April 15, 1986

| journal=PC Magazine

| publisher=Ziff-Davis

| volume=5

| issue=7

| pages=38, 44

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=Google Books

}}

• {{cite journal | last=Pugila | first=Vincent | date=May 12, 1987 | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_eweek_1987-05-12_4_19/page/63/ | title=80386-Based Accelerator Card Boosts AT's Speed to 16MHz | journal=PC Week | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=4 | issue=19 | page=63 71–72 | via=the Internet Archive | ref={{sfnRef|Pugila|1987a}} }}
• {{cite journal | last=Pugila | first=Vincent | date=June 23, 1987 | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_eweek_1987-06-23_4_25/page/n11/ | title='386 PCs Broaden Users' Choice of Systems | journal=PC Week | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=4 | issue=25 | page=20 | via=the Internet Archive | ref={{sfnRef|Pugila|1987b}} }}
• {{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 | journal=MIS Week | volume=7 | issue=32 | page=38 | publisher=Fairchild Publications | via=the Internet Archive}}
• {{cite journal

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

| last=Satchell

| first=Stephen

| title=Six Pack Premium: EEMS Superset Differentiates Add-in Board from Rivals

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56

| date=January 12, 1987

| journal=InfoWorld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=9

| issue=24

| pages=58–60

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=Google Books

}}

• {{cite journal

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

| last=Satchell

| first=Stephen

| title=Accelerator Board Disappointing on 6-MHz ATs

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xTAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56

| date=June 15, 1987

| journal=InfoWorld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=9

| issue=24

| pages=56–59

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=Google Books

}}

• {{cite journal

| last=Satchell

| first=Stephen

| title=386 Upgrade Boards: Accelerating XTs and ATs into the New Generation

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ED8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA48

| date=January 11, 1988

| journal=InfoWorld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=10

| issue=2

| pages=43–52

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=Google Books

}}

• {{cite news

| last=Shackelford

| first=Susan

| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/116126114/the-encore-shop-introduces-ibm-comaptibl/

| title=The Encore Shop Introduces IBM-Comaptible American XT

| date=June 9, 1986

| work=The Charlotte Observer

| page=12C

| accessdate=October 18, 2021

| via=Newspapers.com

| quote='We were looking for a good quality inexpensive PC-type machine', [Larry] Hansen said. 'It doesn't have a well-known name but anyone who tries it will like it'. Customers can learn more about the American XT—manufactured by American Computer & Peripheral, Inc., of Santa Ana, Calif.

}}

• {{cite journal

| ref={{sfnRef|Staff writer|1986a}}

| author=Staff writer

| title=Microcomputers: Systems

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zna2n1iKYH4C&pg=PA125

| date=May 12, 1986

| journal=Computerworld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=XX

| issue=19

| pages=125–126

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=Google Books

}}

• {{cite journal

| ref={{sfnRef|Staff writer|1986b}}

| author=Staff writer

| title=Board-level Devices

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Prl9-uRGaAgC&pg=PA124

| date=June 1986

| journal=Computerworld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=XX

| issue=24

| page=124

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=Google Books

}}

• {{cite journal

| ref={{sfnRef|Staff writer|1986c}}

| author=Staff writer

| title=Company to Ship Board for Enhancements of 286s

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jzwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA16

| date=November 3, 1986

| journal=InfoWorld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=8

| issue=43

| pages=16

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=Google Books

}}

• {{cite news

| author=Staff writer

| url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/272332713/

| title=Bankruptcies

| date=December 23, 1989

| work=Orange County Register

| page=C2

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=ProQuest

}}

• {{cite journal

| last=Warner

| first=Edward

| title=Compaq Introduces 386 PC, Challenges IBM to Match It

| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aS8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA1

| date=September 15, 1986

| journal=InfoWorld

| publisher=CW Communications

| volume=8

| issue=37

| pages=1, 8

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=Google Books

}}

• {{cite journal

| last=Whitmore

| first=Sam

| title=Product Lets Users Write Software for 80386 at Low Cost

| url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A4280128/GPS

| date=June 17, 1986

| journal=PCWeek

| publisher=Ziff-Davis

| volume=3

| issue=24

| page=11

| accessdate=October 14, 2021

| via=Gale OneFile

}}

{{refend}}

• [https://classictech.wordpress.com/computer-companies/american-computer-peripheral-inc-santa-ana-calif/ American Computer and Peripheral] at Michael Nadeau's Classic Tech

Category:American companies established in 1985

Category:American companies disestablished in 1990

Category:Computer companies established in 1985

Category:Computer companies disestablished in 1990

Category:Defunct computer companies based in California

Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States

Category:Defunct computer hardware companies

Category:Defunct computer systems companies