The Golden Age of Compaq Computers

In early 1982, three veterans of Texas-Instruments joined forces to start Compaq, a firm that within a year would produce a groundbreaking IBM PC compatible machine, and within a decade would rewrite the PC compatibles industry in its own image.

We would not know the name Compaq today without the launch of the IBM Personal Computer in August 1981. The bulky but capable machine was Big Blue's first entry into the personal computer market, and from IBM's clout alone, vendors lined up to support what many presumed would become the new standard for the PC industry. They turned out to be right.

Within a year of the IBM PC's launch, new firms sprung up that sought to cut into IBM's business by producing computers capable of running the same software as the IBM PC but with either faster, cheaper, or more versatile hardware than IBM offered. Compaq was one of those companies, and it found a niche immediately by producing a portable version of the IBM PC (at 28 pounds, it was "portable" by the standards of the time).

Compaq's portable was wildly successful, and it set the stage for the young firm to grow in revenue faster than any previous computer company. IBM continued to guide the PC market by example with its XT and AT machines through 1984, but after that, the clones began to pull ahead.

With that in mind, let's take a look at seven notable machines from what I will call Compaq's "Golden Age"—roughly its first 10 years in business. Looking back, it's amazing how Compaq was able to consistently innovate so quickly, and it's amusing to see how it pulled the rug out from under IBM in the PC compatibles market that IBM itself created.

1. Compaq Portable (1982)

CPU: 4.77MHz Intel 8088
Price: $2,995-$3,590 (about $7,242-$8,681 today, adjusted for inflation)
The debut Compaq machine made waves as a capable and relatively inexpensive alternative to IBM's official Personal Computer—and it did it all in a portable package the size of a large suitcase. In a time before practical high-resolution LCDs, the Portable gained much of its 28-pound weight from the inclusion of a 9-inch monochrome CRT monitor. It sold very well (over 50,000 units in its first year), setting the stage for Compaq's continued success.

(Photos: Steven Stengel)

2. Compaq DeskPro (1984)

CPU: 7.14MHz Intel 8086
Price: $2,495-$7,195 (about $5,783-$16,678 adjusted)
As Compaq's Portable machines continued to sell briskly, the firm dipped into the desktop PC clone market with the DeskPro, an IBM PC XT compatible unit that shipped in three models with varying memory and storage configurations (the top-of-the-line model included a 10MB hard drive, a 10MB removable tape drive, and 640K of RAM). The DeskPro was well-received by critics in the increasingly crowded PC compatible market.

(Photo: Compaq)

3. Compaq Portable II (1986)

CPU: 6 or 8MHz Intel 80286
Price: $3,499-$4,999 (about $7,689-$10,985 adjusted)
As a follow-up on the original Portable, the Portable II continued Compaq's successful streak in the transportable PC compatible space. It included a faster 286 CPU and the option for an internal hard drive, but still shipped with a 9-inch monochrome CRT. On the bright side, the II weighed a mere 26 pounds and was somewhat smaller (but still roughly suitcase-sized) than its predecessor.

(Photo: Compaq)

4. Compaq DeskPro 386 (1986)

CPU: 16MHz Intel 80386
Price: $6,499-$7,299 (about $14,281-$16,040 adjusted)
Compaq blew the lid off the PC compatibles market with the release of the DeskPro 386, the first computer in the world to use the then-supercharged Intel 386 CPU. With the capacity for up to 10MB of RAM (huge at the time) and that blazing 16MHz CPU, the DeskPro 386 initially outperformed every PC in the world. Arriving at a time just before IBM chose to steer its PC products in a different direction with the PS/2 line, the DeskPro 386 provided the template for 32-bit IBM compatibles that many firms immediately copied, permanently placing the destiny of the PC market out of IBM's hands.

(Photo: Compaq)

5. Compaq Portable III (1987)

CPU: 12MHz Intel 80286
Price: $4,999 -$5,799 (about $10,598-$12,294 adjusted)
With the Portable III, Compaq continued its record of producing ever-smaller, ever-lighter and yet more powerful portable machines. Like its precursors, the III was tethered to a wall outlet and was definitely not a laptop (it weighed 20 pounds) But it included a 20MB hard drive, a 286 CPU, and a 10-inch monochrome plasma display with an impressive 640-by-400 resolution. In other words, it put a lot of power in a small package.

(Photos: Steven Stengel)

6. Compaq SLT/286 (1988)

CPU: 12MHz 80C286
Price: $5,399 (about $10,992 adjusted)
Only a year after the Portable III, Compaq shipped its first laptop computer, the SLT/286, which was possibly the first laptop in the world to ship with a VGA resolution LCD screen (monochrome, 640 by 480). This 14 pound, 4.1-inch-thick portable included a detachable keyboard, a 20MB hard drive, and a three-hour battery life, which was seen as good at the time.

Compaq was proud of its ever-shrinking portables, as can be seen in the ad in the upper-left (it shows the Portable I, II, III, and SLT/286) sitting next to each other. Other firms had already produced smaller PC-compatible machines, but the SLT/286 was more powerful.

(Photos: Compaq)

7. Compaq SystemPro (1989)

CPU: Single or Dual 33MHz Intel 80386
Price: $15,999-$51,498 ($31,075-$100,027)
At the close of the 1980s, Compaq continued its tradition of pushing the limits of the PC market by releasing what some consider to be the first IBM-compatible mainframe-replacement PC. As such, the SystemPro carried a hefty, mainframe-like price and shipped with capabilities practically unheard of in the PC space: a dual CPU option, redundant disk array support (four hard drives tied together in a precursor to RAID), and the new EISA bus, intended as an industry-standard alternative to IBM's Micro Channel architecture. The high-end price configuration seen here included two 386 CPUs and 36MB of RAM.

Over the next 13 years, Compaq continued its successful streak as one of the dominating PC clone makers. It merged with Hewlett-Packard in 2002, and HP finally put the Compaq brand to rest in 2013. Today, many remember still Compaq as the firm that out-maneuvered IBM at its own game.

(Photo: Compaq)