website/content/museum/dulmont-magnum.md

title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
DULMONT Magnum	Computers	Portable	Australia	1984	Intel 80186	name image company company_name specs forum_thread oc_id source Magnum /media/museum/photos/dulmont_magnum_system_1.jpg /companies/dulmont DULMONT label value NAME Magnum label value MANUFACTURER Dulmont label value TYPE Portable label value ORIGIN Australia label value YEAR 1984 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE No language but a software package label value KEYBOARD Full-stroke 76 keys with function and arrows keys label value CPU Intel 80186 label value SPEED Unknown label value RAM 96 KB up to 384 KB label value ROM 128 KB up to 384 KB label value TEXT MODES 40-80 characters x 8 lines label value GRAPHIC MODES Unknown label value COLORS Monochrome label value SOUND Internal speaker label value SIZE / WEIGHT 32(W) x 27,5(D) x 5,5(H) cm. / 4.8 Kg label value I/O PORTS 2 x ROM cartridges, 2 x Serial, Parallel, Composite video, Expansion port label value BUILT IN MEDIA C-MOS battery-backup RAM label value OS MS-DOS label value POWER SUPPLY External power supply unit, Ni-Cad battery label value PERIPHERALS 2 x 5.25'' 360 KB F.D. unit label value PRICE Unknown 745 764 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230329003534/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=764 2023-03-29

Like the HP-110 or the Sharp PC-5000, the Dulmont Magnum belongs to the first family of notebook computers with LCD screen (not yet back-lighted). Moreover, it was the first computer conceived and manufactured in Australia. It was also called Kookaburra (an Australian bird) for some export markets.

The Magnum was a PC-compatible system featuring an Intel 80186 processor, 96 KB of RAM, an 8 line LCD screen and several management software in ROM: word processor, spreadsheet, telecommunication, file manager, and appointment. Additional ROM software could be added thanks to two 128 KB cartridge slots. A rechargeable Ni-Cad battery pack allowed ten to twelve hours of continuous use, and a lithium battery kept the content of the RAM memory when the system was turned off.

Due to various RAM/ROM configurations in the system, the drive letters assignation was specific to the Dulmont: drive A corresponded to the software in ROM, drives B and C, to each optional ROM expansion, D to the internal C-MOS RAM, E and F to the external floppy disc drives.

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Chris Todter adds:
I was the engineering manager for this project. Most of the information is accurate, although it actually came out about 2 years earlier, and definitely pre-dated the Sharp 5000, and the HP-110.
The speed got up to 8MHz, and the display was up to 40 lines by the time the company folded. It also contained patented power saving features whereby it would put the processor to sleep between keystrokes.