Files
website/content/museum/dynalogic-hyperion.md
T
yann64andClaude Opus 5.5 b274874139 All machines linked to their forum thread (full comment import)
1,289 discussions, 9,527 archived comments; pages no longer carry the comments themselves.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YDRjtmAiNpo5mK5N3d7QwZ
2026-10-13 17:26:43 +02:00

185 lines
7.2 KiB
Markdown
Raw Blame History

This file contains invisible Unicode characters
This file contains invisible Unicode characters that are indistinguishable to humans but may be processed differently by a computer. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.
---
title: DYNALOGIC HYPERION
categories:
- Computers
types:
- Transportable
origins:
- Canada
years:
- '1983'
cpus:
- Intel 8086
params:
name: HYPERION
image: /media/museum/photos/dynalogic_hyperion_system_s1.jpg
company: /companies/dynalogic
company_name: DYNALOGIC
specs:
- label: NAME
value: HYPERION
- label: MANUFACTURER
value: Dynalogic
- label: TYPE
value: Transportable
- label: ORIGIN
value: Canada
- label: YEAR
value: January 1983
- label: END OF PRODUCTION
value: '1984'
- label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE
value: None
- label: KEYBOARD
value: Full-stroke 83 keys PC-style keyboard with numeric keypad
- label: CPU
value: Intel 8086
- label: SPEED
value: 4.77 MHz
- label: CO-PROCESSOR
value: Socket for a 8087 Math coprocessor
- label: RAM
value: 256 KB (up to 640 KB)
- label: VRAM
value: 16 KB
- label: ROM
value: 8 KB
- label: TEXT MODES
value: 40 or 80 characters x 25 lines
- label: GRAPHIC MODES
value: 320 x 200 / 640 x 200 / 640 x 400 pixels
- label: COLORS
value: Monochrome. 16 levels of grey
- label: SOUND
value: built-in loudspeaker
- label: SIZE / WEIGHT
value: 46.4 (W) x 28.8 (D) x 22.3 (H) cm. / 18 pounds
- label: I/O PORTS
value: RS232, Centronics, Modem, Network, Telephone handset, expansion connector
- label: BUILT IN MEDIA
value: Two 5.25'' 360 KB disk drives
- label: OS
value: MS-DOS, CP/M-86
- label: POWER SUPPLY
value: Built-in switching power supply unit
- label: PERIPHERALS
value: IN:TOUCH telephone magement system, internal 300-baud modem, RAM extension
- label: PRICE
value: C$4,955
tabs:
- photos
- adverts
- hardware
- links
forum_thread: 343
photos:
- title: LARGE VIEW
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/photos/dynalogic_hyperion_system_2.jpg
- title: LEFT SIDE
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/photos/dynalogic_hyperion_leftside_s1.jpg
- title: RIGHT SIDE
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/photos/dynalogic_hyperion_rightside_s1.jpg
- title: FRONT VIEW
subtitle: ''
text: When the Hyperion has to be carried, the keyboard slides in a special housing under the machine.
image: /media/museum/photos/dynalogic_hyperion_frontview-s1.jpg
- title: TOP VIEW
subtitle: ''
text: The keyboard has the same layout as the original IBM PC keyboard except for the function keys which are located at the top part.
image: /media/museum/photos/dynalogic_hyperion_topview_s1.jpg
- title: 'REAR SIDE #1'
subtitle: ''
text: |-
From left to right:\
• 110V AC mains supply plug. Can be changed to 220V internally.\
• Composite video output RCA jack\
• Telephone handset RJ11 plug\
• Local network RJ11 plug\
• External modem RJ11 plug\
• Parallel DB25 connector\
• Serial DB25 connector\
• 50-pin memory expansion/HDD connector
image: /media/museum/photos/dynalogic_hyperion_rearside_s1.jpg
- title: 'REAR SIDE #2'
subtitle: ''
text: |-
The white box on the right of the case is the memory expansion.
Thanks to **Bob Shapton**
image: /media/museum/photos/hyperion_back.jpg
- title: FLOPPY DRIVES
subtitle: ''
text: |-
Faulty floppy drives shipped with the computer did a lot of damage to the Hyperion reputation.\
At least two versions were released:\
**(1)** First version with Mitsubishi drives\
**(2)** Second version with US drives. Notice that the contrast and brightness knobs which were really not convenient on the first version were slightly modified\
**(3)** In the third version, the user changed original drive for Chinon models and made two additional holes for the drive Leds
image: /media/museum/photos/dynalogic_hyperion_fddrives_s1.jpg
- title: 'INSIDE #1'
subtitle: ''
text: |-
**(1)** The twin logic boards are mounted vertically at the rear side of the machine\
**(2)** The switching power supply comes from Aztec, Hong-Kong\
**(3)** The fan has dual speed, low speed for normal use, high speed when the floppy drives are in use.
image: /media/museum/photos/dynalogic_hyperion_inside_s1.jpg
- title: 'INSIDE #2'
subtitle: ''
text: Notice the optional modem card mounted onto the main board.
image: /media/museum/photos/dynalogic_hyperion_inside_s2.jpg
- title: RUNNING SYSTEM
subtitle: ''
text: Boot up screen of the Digital Research CP/M-86 OS.
image: /media/museum/photos/dynalogic_hyperion_cpmscreenshot_s1.jpg
- title: 'TRANSPARENT HYPERION #1'
subtitle: ''
text: |-
**Eric des Courtis**, the proud owner of this unique machine says:\
This Hyperion was made in 82, before it's release to the public It was made to show off the technology inside the Hyperion.\
This unit was never sold to the public, and it\`s the only one in existance today. It the oldest IBM PC compatible portable in existance. And probably the first.
image: /media/museum/photos/dynalogic_hyperion_transparent_s1.jpg
- title: 'TRANSPARENT HYPERION #2'
subtitle: ''
text: Thanks to **Eric des Courtis**
image: /media/museum/photos/dynalogic_hyperion_transparent_s2.jpg
adverts:
- title: US AD. JUNE 1983
subtitle: ''
text: |-
Advert said:
Hyperion is a true portable weighting in at only 18 pounds. It is light on the eyes with its European amber screen and styling. But heavy on performances with many standard features which are expensive necessities for other personal computers. And all for a price that's less that you'd expect...
image: /media/museum/pubs/dynalogic_hyperion_pub_1.jpg
- title: UK ADVERT (JULY 1984)
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/pubs/hyperion_pub_july-84.jpg
hardware:
- title: PHONE COUPLER
subtitle: ''
text: ''
image: /media/museum/hardware/dynalogic_hyperion_phonecoupler_1.jpg
links:
- title: Hrothgar's Cool Old Junk Page
url: http://www.total.net/~hrothgar/museum/Hyperion/index.html
text: Some infos here
oc_id: 339
source:
url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230401022800/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=339
date: '2023-04-01'
---
The Hyperion was produced by the **Infotech Cie**. of Ottawa, a subsidiary of **Bytec Management Corp**. It was the first portable IBM-PC compatible computer, released three months earlier than the [Compaq Portable](/museum/compaq-portable/).
The machine offered powerful features for a 1982 computer, including dual 360K 5.25" disk drives, built-in 7-inch amber CRT and a video out jack for displaying CGA graphics. The keyboard slides underneath the main unit and locks into place. It was delivered along with a suite of standard software: word processor, data base and communications.
Although it was significantly lighter and handy than the Compaq, the Hyperion suffered from reliabilty problems, specially from disk drives. Furthermore it was only 95% PC compatible. For these reasons, Compaq definitively took the lead of portable sales.
The Hyperion sales continued in Canada and USA for two year. A few of them were also sold in Europe from September 1983 by the German **Anderson Jacobson** Cie, under the name **Ajile**.