Dulmont Magnum
| Also known as | Kookaburra |
|---|---|
| Developer | Dulmison Pty Ltd |
| Manufacturer | Dulmont Electronic Systems Pty Ltd |
| Type | Portable computer |
| Release date | September 26, 1983 (Australia) 1983 (International) |
| Discontinued | 1986 |
| Units shipped | 11000 + |
| Operating system | MS-DOS 2.11 |
| CPU | 8-MHz Intel 80186 |
| Memory | 96KB-384KB RAM, 128KB-384KB ROM |
| Storage | Optionally External Duel 5.25" floppy disk drives, or an External 10 MB hard drive |
| Removable storage | Dual 128K ROM cartridge slots |
| Display | 8 lines, 80 characters LCD screen (1982-1983) 16 lines, 80 characters LCD screen (1984-1985 international release) 25 lines, 80 characters LCD screen (1985-6 final version) Earlier versions were able to be upgraded to the larger displays. |
| Input | 76 key Keyboard |
| Power | Battery External Mains Power |
| Dimensions | 32 x 27.5 x 5.5cm |
| Weight | 4.8kg |
The Dulmont Magnum was an early laptop computer designed and marketed by Dulmison Pty Ltd in Australia in the early 1980s. The Magnum was also known internationally as the Kookaburra, and was sold from 1982 to 1986. The company found itself undercapitalized as it sought to enter the international market and faced increased competition from other laptops. It was taken over twice, with Dulmont eventually taken over by Time Office Computers (Manufacturing) Pty. Ltd, who marketed the Magnum internationally in 16 and 25 line LCD versions, and also introduced the brandname Kookaburra to emphasize its Australian origins.
The Magnum was one of the first computers to use the 16-bit Intel 80186 processor, and was sold in versions with 96K to 256K of RAM, and inbuilt LCD screens from 8x80 to 25x80 characters. It had a word processor, spreadsheet, telecommunications, file manager, and appointment programs burned into ROM. It also featured dual 128K ROM cartridge slots, which could be used for optional software including BASIC or assembler programming support, as well as serial and parallel modem and printer ports. The 1982 to 1983 prerelease and initial release versions included an 8x80 character LCD screen, whilst the 1984 to 1985 international release had a 16x80 display, and the final 1985-6 version had a 25x80 display and for international marketing purposes was given the new name "Kookaburra". Earlier versions were able to be upgraded to the larger displays, and a dual 5.25" floppy drive and memory expansion box provided access to up to 256KB of dynamic RAM. Applications were stored in ROM (A:) and also supported removable modules in expansion slots (B: and C:) that could be custom programmed EPROM or standard word processing and spreadsheet applications. However, the Magnum had no nonvolatile memory, but could suspend and retain memory in RAM, including a RAM Disk (D:). A separate expansion box provided dual 5.25" floppy or 10MB hard disk storage.
The Magnum was arguably the world's first laptop computer, and was to be enabled by a custom power management integrated circuit that was to be developed in the VLSI and Systems Technology Laboratory at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) over 4 months in early 1982 by Graham Hellestrand. However the ~10,000 transistor, 5μ nMOS technology chip never saw the light of day. Terry Crews was the initial Engineering Manager and contracted Barry Wilkinson to design the hardware based on discrete components as he had doubts about the custom chip. The form factor and cosmetic design was developed first and this then dictated the physical dimensions of the hardware. This was in contrast to the usual method of encasing the electronics as the last process and their subsequent bulkier designs.
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