---
title: POLYCORP Poly 1 Educational Computer
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Professional Computer
origins:
- New Zealand
years:
- '1981'
cpus:
- Motorola 6809
params:
  name: Poly 1 Educational Computer
  image: /media/museum/photos/polycorp_poly1_1s.jpg
  company: /companies/polycorp
  company_name: POLYCORP
  specs:
  - label: NAME
    value: Poly 1 Educational Computer
  - label: MANUFACTURER
    value: Polycorp
  - label: TYPE
    value: Professional Computer
  - label: ORIGIN
    value: New Zealand
  - label: YEAR
    value: '1981'
  - label: END OF PRODUCTION
    value: '1989'
  - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
    value: BASIC interpreter + text editor
  - label: KEYBOARD
    value: Full QWERTY keyboard + function keys
  - label: CPU
    value: Motorola 6809
  - label: SPEED
    value: 1 MHz or 4 MHz (Unconfirmed)
  - label: RAM
    value: 64 KB
  - label: VRAM
    value: |-
      2 x 240x204 Display pages or\
      1 x 480x204 Display page – 48K\
      2 Text screens – 2K
  - label: ROM
    value: 16 KB BASIC + 4 KB BIOS
  - label: TEXT MODES
    value: |-
      Display 1 - 40x24 Text\
      Display 3 - 40x24 TeleText
  - label: GRAPHIC MODES
    value: |-
      Displays 2 & 4 – 240x204\
      Display 5 – 480x204
  - label: COLORS
    value: '16'
  - label: SOUND
    value: Clock chip (Unknown specs)
  - label: SIZE / WEIGHT
    value: Big & heavy
  - label: I/O PORTS
    value: DIN Network connector
  - label: BUILT IN MEDIA
    value: Proprietary Networking System to a CP/M based server (no internal storage)
  - label: OS
    value: FLEX
  - label: POWER SUPPLY
    value: Internal
  - label: PERIPHERALS
    value: None
  - label: PRICE
    value: \~NZ$4000
  tabs:
  - photos
  - emulators
  - links
  photos:
  - title: POLY 1 EDUCATIONAL COMPUTER
    subtitle: ''
    text: ''
    image: /media/museum/photos/polycorp_poly1_1.jpg
  emulators:
  - title: Poly and Proteus emulator
    url: http://www.cs.otago.ac.nz/homepages/andrew/poly/Poly.htm
    platform: Windows
    text: Emulates the Poly, Proteus, and Epson MX-80 Printer.
  links:
  - title: The Poly Preservation Project
    url: http://www.cs.otago.ac.nz/homepages/andrew/poly/Poly.htm
    text: ''
  comments:
  - author: lizardb0y (New Zealand)
    date: Saturday 28th August 2010
    text: |-
      I went to High School in New Zealand in the 80s. My school still had a computer lab with a dozen or so Poly 1 and a couple of Poly 2 computers. They were a strange looking machine, and very heavy. I remember the keyboards on the Poly 1 had copper plates at the sides to let you de-static yourself before using them. They were all networked, and shared a central "server" which looked like a large box with a couple of 8" floppy disk drives. The shared printers also plugged into the "server". Software was very simple - I remember a very basic word processor, and we were taught Pascal on it.

      One of the guys I went to school with is trying to preserve and document information about these machines: http://www.cs.otago.ac.nz/homepages/andrew/poly/Poly.htm
  - author: Diego (Earth)
    date: Wednesday 22nd August 2007
    text: The CPU speed has to be 1 Mhz, because the 6809 was never rated for 4 Mhz. (2 Mhz in Motorola made parts, 3 Mhz for some hitachi ones)
  oc_id: 1269
  source:
    url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230601001859/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=1269
    date: '2023-06-01'
---

The Poly was a home/educational computer platform developed in New Zealand in the early 1980s. It was marketed to schools, but because it was prohibitively expensive and somewhat idiosyncratic, the main customers seem to have been the Australian Army and somebody in China.

Perhaps its most remarkable feature was its ability for networking, which seems to have used a protocol all of its own. For a year or two it may have been the most network capable home computer in the world, before 3Com thought to make Ethernet cards for the Apple II.

It was named after Wellington Polytechnic, where it was developed.

---

**Contributor**: Tony Thompson

<table> <tr> <td></td> <td>We need more info about this computer ! If you designed, used, or have more info about this system, please send us pictures or anything you might find useful.</td> <td></td> </tr> </table>