Amkly Systems Introduces Its First PCs : Technology: The Irvine-based company’s three new machines will be available in April.

Amkly Systems Inc., the start-up computer firm headed by Albert C. Wong, entered the personal computer business Monday with the introduction of its first family of PCs.

The Irvine-based company said it has produced three PC systems that are easy to use and feature modular architecture that can be upgraded to meet a customer’s technological requirements.

“We want to take the hassle out of installing, configuring, maintaining and upgrading a PC--for all users, regardless of their technical or mechanical orientation,” Wong said.

Wong, who co-founded AST Research Inc. but resigned in a dispute with his partners in November, 1988, founded Amkly in January, 1990. The privately held company focused on producing memory-expansion boards for IBM-compatible machines as its initial product line.

But the new line of computers--the AMKLY 386/25E, 386/33E and 486/25E--will put Wong into competition with his old firm, which has become Orange County’s biggest computer company with more than $500 million in sales. AST officials declined to comment.

“With my abrupt departure from AST, I felt there was something unfinished, and I needed to do something more in computers,” Wong said.

The Amkly PCs, based on a method of processing data within the computer known as Extended Industry Standard Architecture, range in price from $3,995 to $10,995 and cover the higher end of the spectrum of performance.

Christine Comoford, computer consultant with Kuvera Associates in Sausalito, said the prices for the machines were high, and Amkly will have to prove its computers’ features are worth their price.

“History has shown it’s almost always a good time to enter the computer market,” Comoford said. “If people can find clone computers that are 100% IBM-compatible and good on price and performance, they will buy them.”

Wong said he expected to report sales of $12 million to $17 million this year. He said the company will double its work force to 60 people by September and introduce another family of computers later this year.

He said the machines will be sold through a variety of retail dealers and computer resellers. The computers will be available in April.