PolyMorphic Systems Poly-88

Manufacturer	PolyMorphic Systems
Model	Poly-88
Released:	April 1976
Price:	$595 to $1,750
CPU:	Intel 8080A @ 1.84MHz
Memory:	512B-16K RAM
Display:	32 x 16 text, 128 x 48 graphics
Ports:	Optional printer, cassette
Storage:	Cassette tape
OS:	Assembly, BASIC

The popular MITS Altair 8800 computer from 1975 created a market for similar computer systems based on the same technology, basically "clones". What made the Altair unique was its Altair bus, which allowed many different expansion cards to be installed, which created a market for the cards, and soon after a market for similar computers which could use the same cards. The "Altair bus" later became known as the S-100 bus.

First announced in April 1976 BYTE magazine, the PolyMorphic Systems Poly-88 was an early Altair clone - it was even offically called the "Micro-Altair", until MITS complained, that is. Henceforth it was called the Poly-88.

The Poly-88 was available in fully assembled, or in kit form which was cheaper, but took much more effort and skill to assemble.

PolyMorphic Systems actually started-out just making expansion boards for the MITS Altair computer, but eventually made their own complete computer systems. After the Poly-88, came the Poly-8813, which was similar to the Poly-88, but included three built-in floppy drives.

This system earned the nickname "orange toaster" due to its size, shape, orange metal cover, and the fact that the S-100 cards generated noticeable heat.

The Poly-88 is smaller and simpler than the Altair and other similar S-100 computers of the era - it only has five card slots, but it has a side-mounted connector for the purpose of joining multiple chassis together, up to four wide. It also lacks the typical front panel controls - but pressing <Ctrl><Z> on the terminal keyboard takes the system into a software front panel mode. To accomplish this, the Poly-88 CPU card contains a 1K ROM with a boot loader program called the "4.0 Monitor". The monitor contained drivers for the screen, keyboard, and cassette tape loader. But what is life like without a front panel? "Sheer joy, my friends, sheer joy" said Jef Raskin, an early contributer to the monthly magazine Dr. Dobb's Journal, Apple employee #31, and creator of the Canon Cat computer.

Originally, five versions were available:

System 1 - Kit version including 512 bytes RAM, 1K ROM monitor, 32 x 16 video interface, keyboard input port and power supply - $595.

System 2 - System 1, plus 64 x 16 video, and cassette interface kit - $690.

System 3 - System 2, plus 8K RAM, Basic and Assembler programs on cassette tape - $990.

System 4 - System 3, plus TV monitor, keyboard and cassette recorder - $1,350.

System 7 - System 4 assembled and ready to use - $1,750.

Individual options included:

System 1 (see above) could be purchased fully-assembled and tested for $795, versus $595 for the user-assembled kit version.

8K RAM card - $300 in kit form, or $375 assembled.

Cassette option - $90 for the kit, or $125 assembled.

VTI/32 - 32-character video interface - $160 kit, $230 assembled.

VTI/64 - 64-character video interface - $185 kit, $260 assembled.

ADA/1 - 1 analog output interface card - $135 kit, $175 assembled.

ADA/2 - 2 analog outputs interface card - $185 kit, $235 assembled.

By 1977, some versions were dropped, some were added. Here's a newer list of versions from a 1977 advertisement with updated prices:

System 0 - Circuit boards only in order to be compatible with Poly-88 software - CPU, video card, cassette interface - $525.

System 2 - Poly-88 with CPU, video card, cassette interface. Requires keyboard, TV monitor, cassette recorder - $735.

System 16 - System 2 with 16K RAM, keyboard, TV monitor, cassette recorder, 11K BASIC/assembler - $2,250.

The PolyMorphic Systems custom CPU circuit card is very advanced, with an Intel 8080A central processor, 512-byte RAM, space for 3K of PROM, vectored interrupt and real time clock, and a dual serial port with software-selectable baud rate.

The cassette interface (300, 600 baud "Byte" or "Kansas City standard", 1200, 2400 baud "Polyphase" or "Manchester" encoding) and printer interface (RS-232, current loop) don't take-up valuable expansion slots - they mount on the backpanel and connect via ribbon cable to the CPU board.

Although the Poly-88 can be programmed directly from the keyboard using special "machine language" codes, these are not tailored for easy use by anyone. The Poly-88 can instead be programmed in the "high level" BASIC computer language. But in order to run Poly's "11K BASIC", you'll have to greatly expand your system to at least 16K of RAM ($750), and install the "cassette" option ($125). There is no floppy drive support - all programs are saved and loaded from cassette tape, using a standard audio cassette deck.

Trivia: At some point, PolyMorphic Systems started running into financial problems that prevented them from buying the parts they needed. Roger Billings, the production manager for PolyMorphic Systems, started his own company - Lobo Drives - buying the parts and selling them to PolyMorphic.

As seen above, the Poly-88, as well as any other computer system with an 8080 CPU, can be converted to a Z-80 CPU, in order to run CP/M for instance. This is accomplished by installing the third-party Dutronic DZ80-80R piggy-back board in the 8080 CPU socket. Only one other connection is required to the original CPU board - hence the orange wire.


Related Links
Poly-88 review from "Dr. Dobb's Journal" - Nov. 1976 PolyMorphic Systems from DeRamp.com PolyMorphic Systems Poly-88 from vintagecomputer.net Poly documentation from BitSavers.org PolyMorphics 88 restoration from retrotechnology.com PolyMorphic Systems - wikipedia.org PolyMorphic Systems Documentation from hartetechnologies.com Poly-88 brochure from 1000bit.it Poly-88 raised from the dead from "Evan's Techie-Blog"

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