Epson Equity

The Epson Equity series of IBM Compatible Personal Computers was manufactured from 1985 until the early '90s by Epson Inc. Epson was well known for its dot matrix printers at the time and the Equity series represents their entry into the growing PC compatible market. The Equity I was the first system introduced, equipped with an Intel 8088 CPU and one or two 5.25" floppy disk drives.

The original Equity was a no-frills offering. It ran at the PC's standard 4.77 MHz clock rate, came with 256 KB RAM, expansion above 512 KB required an expansion board, displayed CGA video, had few available expansion slots, only two half-height drive bays, and lacked a socket for an 8087 math chip. Subsequent versions, the Equity I+ and Apex 100, upped the clock rate to 10 Mhz, the standard RAM to 640 KB, supported 3.5 inch floppy drives and hard disks, sported an 8087 socket, and had display circuitry for the monochrome Hercules Graphics Adapter. Epson bundled some utility programs that offered decent turnkey functionality for novice users. The Equity was a reliable and compatible design for half the price of a similarly-configured IBM PC. Epson often promoted sales by bundling one of their printers with it at cost. The Equity I sold well enough to warrant the furtherance of the Equity line with the follow-on Equity II, Equity III, and others based on the i386SX.

Models
  • Equity I, (8088)[1]
  • Equity Ie (8086 (only known IBM clone with MCGA video)[2][3]
  • Equity I+, Equity Apex 100[4]
  • Equity II (V30)[5][6]
  • Equity II+ (80286)[7]
  • Equity III (80286)[8][9][10]
  • Equity IIe (80286)[11]
  • Equity III+ (80286)[12]
  • Equity LT (V30)[13]
  • Equity 286
  • Equity 386SX
  • Equity 386DX

References
  1. Lombardi, John (1986-02-10). "Epson's Equity I: Inexpensive Clone, Infoworld, February 10, 1986, page 48". books.google.com/books. International Data Group. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  2. https://files.support.epson.com/pdf/e1e___/e1e___ps.pdf
  3. "Epson Equity Ie". ancientelectronics.com. justinwl. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  4. "Apex 100 User Manual" (PDF). Epson Inc. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  5. "InfoWorld". 1986-09-08.
  6. Lombardi, John (1986-09-08). "Revved Up Equity II Offers Bargain Speed, Infoworld, September 8, 1986, page 49". books.google.com/books. International Data Group. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  7. "U.S. News & World Report". 1988.
  8. "InfoWorld". 1987-03-23.
  9. Lombardi, John (1986-06-09). "Epson Equity III Competes as a Low-Priced Clone, Infoworld, June 9, 1986, page 43". books.google.com/books. International Data Group. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  10. Rosch, Winn (1987-02-24). "PC Magazine, Epson Does It Again, February 24, 1987, page 265". books,google.com/books. Ziff Davis. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  11. "Epson Equity IIe Product Information". 1989.
  12. "PC World". April 1987.
  13. "InfoWorld". 1987-10-05.
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