LANPAR Personal Computer
Dublin Core
Title
LANPAR Personal Computer
Subject
hardware: personal computer
Description
Historical context:
LANPAR Technologies Inc. (also known as Les Technologies LANPAR Inc.), was a company founded in 1970 (as LANPAR Ltd.) by Rene Pardo in Markham, Ontario. Six years later, the company changed its name to LANPAR Technologies Inc. Prior to LANPAR's incorporation, Pardo and Remy Landau developed the first commercial electronic spreadsheet and named it LANPAR (LANguage for Programming Arrays at Random).
Until the early 1980s, LANPAR was Canada's largest independent distributor of computer terminals. Its main line of business was the sale, rental, and service of computer terminals (mostly the products of Digital Equipment Corporation) and printers.
Between 1982 and 1988, the company was involved in the distribution and manufacturing of personal computers. In 1982 and 1983, the company was selling the Osborne 1 computer (developed by California-based Osborne Computer Corp.) through Osborne Canada owned by LANPAR. Before the introduction of its own IBM XT-compatible computer--the LANPAR PC--in 1986, the company was also distributing IBM PC and -XT compatible computers from the American AT&T and Eagle Computer manufacturers. As a service-oriented company, LANPAR offered their services in most major Canadian cities (it had 15 service centers in 1986).
The highly competitive PC market of the 1980s eventually forced the company to shift its corporate focus to sales and service of PC networking products. The company was dissolved in January 2003.
LANPAR PC technical specifications:
LANPAR Technologies Inc. (also known as Les Technologies LANPAR Inc.), was a company founded in 1970 (as LANPAR Ltd.) by Rene Pardo in Markham, Ontario. Six years later, the company changed its name to LANPAR Technologies Inc. Prior to LANPAR's incorporation, Pardo and Remy Landau developed the first commercial electronic spreadsheet and named it LANPAR (LANguage for Programming Arrays at Random).
Until the early 1980s, LANPAR was Canada's largest independent distributor of computer terminals. Its main line of business was the sale, rental, and service of computer terminals (mostly the products of Digital Equipment Corporation) and printers.
Between 1982 and 1988, the company was involved in the distribution and manufacturing of personal computers. In 1982 and 1983, the company was selling the Osborne 1 computer (developed by California-based Osborne Computer Corp.) through Osborne Canada owned by LANPAR. Before the introduction of its own IBM XT-compatible computer--the LANPAR PC--in 1986, the company was also distributing IBM PC and -XT compatible computers from the American AT&T and Eagle Computer manufacturers. As a service-oriented company, LANPAR offered their services in most major Canadian cities (it had 15 service centers in 1986).
The highly competitive PC market of the 1980s eventually forced the company to shift its corporate focus to sales and service of PC networking products. The company was dissolved in January 2003.
LANPAR PC technical specifications:
- CPU: NEC D8088D, 16-bit, 5MHz
- ROM: BIOS by Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
- RAM: up to 640KB
- hard-drive: 20 MB (optional)
- keyboard - IBM-style
- display: choice of 12" monochrome or composite monitor
- external storage: one or two 5.25" floppy disk drives
- ports: serial and parallel
- expansion slots: 8
- 8087 coprocessor
- IBM XT-style keyboard
- integrated tape back-up unit
- 13" full-color monitor
- communication board
- operating system: MS-DOS 3.2
- optional software: the computer's IBM XT compatibility allowed to use a large library of software written for the IBM XT platform.
Creator
LANPAR Technologies Inc.
Date
1986
Coverage
Canada, 1986-88
Files
Citation
LANPAR Technologies Inc., “LANPAR Personal Computer,” York University Computer Museum Canada, accessed July 18, 2025, https://museum.eecs.yorku.ca/items/show/199.