--- title: Polymorphic System 8813 categories: - Computers types: - Professional Computer origins: - U.S.A. years: - '1977' cpus: - Intel 8080A params: name: System 8813 image: /media/museum/photos/pub_polymorphic.jpg company: /companies/polymorphic company_name: Polymorphic specs: - label: NAME value: System 8813 - label: MANUFACTURER value: Polymorphic - label: TYPE value: Professional Computer - label: ORIGIN value: U.S.A. - label: YEAR value: '1977' - label: END OF PRODUCTION value: Unknown - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE value: None - label: KEYBOARD value: Full-stroke keyboard - label: CPU value: Intel 8080A - label: SPEED value: 2 MHz 8080A, running at 1.8432 MHz (so that it could be easily divided to produce standard baud rate clocks) - label: RAM value: 48.5 KB (512 bytes for CPU + 48KB for S100 bus) - label: ROM value: 3 KB (monitor) - label: TEXT MODES value: 64 characters x 16 lines - label: GRAPHIC MODES value: 128 x 48 using block-graphics - label: COLORS value: Monochrome - label: SOUND value: Unknown - label: SIZE / WEIGHT value: About 6 kg (main unit) - label: I/O PORTS value: S100 Bus - label: BUILT IN MEDIA value: 5.25'' disk-drives - label: OS value: Polymorphic OS - label: POWER SUPPLY value: Built-in power supply unit - label: PERIPHERALS value: S100 bus cards - label: PRICE value: Unknown tabs: - photos - adverts - emulators - links forum_thread: 67 photos: - title: 8810 MODEL subtitle: '' text: |- The 8810 seems to be a cut down version of the 8813 offering only one built-in floppy disk drive. More information needed! Thanks to **John Woodall** for the 8810 pictures image: /media/museum/photos/polymorphic_8810_system_s1.jpg - title: INSIDE THE 8810 subtitle: '' text: |- **(1)** Power supply unit\ **(2)** 5.25" floppy disk drive\ **(3)** Electronic cards slotted into a vertical backplane. image: /media/museum/photos/polymorphic_8810_inside_s1.jpg - title: PSU CLOSE-UP subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/polymorphic_8810_psu_s1.jpg - title: 8810 ELECTRONIC CARDS subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/polymorphic_8810_leftside_s1.jpg - title: 8810 PLATE subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/photos/polymorphic_8810_plate_s1.jpg adverts: - title: U.S. ADVERT (1978) subtitle: '' text: |- The advert said : The 8813 was built with you, the professional, in mind... Using the 8813, one person can process what would normally require many secretaries, several bookkeepers and a great deal of time... The 8813 slashes the professional's overhead. It's a powerful time and money-saving ally. Prices for complete system including printer start at less than $8,000. image: /media/museum/pubs/polymorphic_8813_pub_1.jpg - title: U.S. ADVERT (1979) subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/pubs/polymorphic_8813_pub_2.jpg emulators: - title: Bob Bybee's PolyMorphic Emulator program url: http://www.bybeeweb.com/pm.htm platform: MS DOS text: Polymorphic systems emulator ! links: - title: Polymorphic documentation url: http://www.hartetechnologies.com/manuals/PolyMorphic/ text: '' - title: www.retrotechnology.com url: http://www.retrotechnology.com/restore/poly_restore.html text: A page dedicated to the restoration of a Poly 88 related: - /museum/polymorphic-poly-88 oc_id: 51 source: url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230608092941/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=51 date: '2023-06-08' --- The Polymorphic System 8813 was the larger brother of the [Poly 88](/museum/polymorphic-poly-88/). **William Davis** reports :\ This unit could connected to an add-on unit (MS 88) that consisted of two 8" Shugart DSDD disk drives. Near the end Polymorphic System also featured a 10 MB hard disk and a unit called the "Twin Systems" which allowed two simultaneous users on a shared bus. I had all the above, buying the first of three 8813 in 1978 and continuing to use it until 1987 when I switched to a series of Kaypro machines. As a last attempt to stay alive Poly tried to market a CP/M based version. I also had one of these which was an unmitigated disaster. The software sold by Polymorphic Systems consisted of a Word Processor (very much like the early WordStar), a data base program and their OS. **Kyle York** reports us :\ It doesn't use a specific operating system. It could add/extend, delete files but the filesystem was a linked-list. To recover disk space you had to run a utility. Best use was a business-basic package that was incredible. **Charles A Thompson** reports:\ with respect to memory, the Poly was capable of handling 64K -- of which about 8K was for the operating system roms. I have (still have!) several 8813s. One of them has a 48K memory board and an 8K memory board, which placed the upper end of memory at about 56K. It took some time for the IBM PC-type of machine to catch up to the capabilities Poly already had when the PC was first introduced (such as subdirectories). Poly could have lengthy file names (up to 32 characters, as I recall, which included any subdirectory names), plus a two-character extension. I still run several Poly programs, which I significantly wrote, such as General Ledger and Payroll (that is, I got some very crude programs, and rewrote them extensively). In addition to their Word Master word processing program, PolyMorphic Systems also sold programs entitled Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Inventory Control, Mailist, Plan (Polymorphic Language for ANalysis), Universal Plotter, and Loan and Investment Analysis. There were probably others -- those are just the ones I have in my collection. Poly also made available a Field Service manual, which contained a significant amount of technical data (I have one of these, also). Most of the programs were dated 1978, and it's my understanding that these were spruced-up versions of programs originally written for internal purposes by Interactive Products Corporation (aka PolyMorphic Systems). **Nick Taylor** reports:\ I bought a used Poly 8813 from my friend Stuart Woods, who is now a famous writer, in about 1979. It came with an IBM Selectric typewriter that had been converted to a printer and sat atop a massive cabinet full of wires. Its WordMaster word processor was the best around at the time, but the only tech support came from other PolyMorphic users. One of these was Mark Sutherland, Atlanta's resident PolyMorphic genius, whom I bothered on an almost daily basis. I was still using the Poly when I moved to New York in 1984, and found a fanatic Poly user on Long Island whose name I don't recall, but who was kind enough to answer my usually dense questions. He was using Polys and WordMaster to produce newsletters including one for Poly users, and continued to do so into the late 1980s. I produced my first book, Bass Wars, on the Poly but the support problems became too much for me to overcome. I sold my Poly for parts to the fellow on Long Island and switched to PCs, but I remember it fondly, kind of like a difficult love relationship.
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