The first IBM PC was released 35 years ago today

[silicon_toad2000]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/08/12/the-first-ibm-pc-was-released-35-years-ago-today---how-it-change/



On this day 35 years ago the first modern computer was released to the public. It was the IBM 5150 and the pioneer of personal home computing, thanks to its innovative design, specifications and price tag.

Costing a hefty $1,565, which is the equivalent of $4,150 today (£3,200), the IBM 5150 wasn't necessarily affordable. But its small size and IBM's ability to produce a a high volume of them made it the first accessible computer on the market.

"This is the computer for just about everyone who has ever wanted a personal system at the office, on the university campus or at home," said C. B. Rogers, then-IBM vice president, at the 5150's launch. "We believe its performance, reliability and ease of use make it the most advanced, affordable personal computer in the marketplace."

Within two years of its release tens of thousands of homes and businesses were fitted with an IBM PC and rival companies such as Dell and HP started to developing the machines that would become the computers of today.

[wonderer]

even more fun to tell my 5151 is still working
amazing how the floppy drives are still able to read and write the single sided 5 1/4" floppy disks with astonishing 160Kb storage

[silicon_toad2000]

ok now that needs some pictures

[wonderer]

lol yes I have the old systems ready to run...
but once and a while about every two years I check them out. hard disks tend to rust and give up soon when idle, floppy disks need special care to prevent from electrical radiation
or will suffer data loss, but give me a few days of good health and I will get it up and ready for pics.

[silicon_toad2000]

that would be awesome,

I wonder how many other people in the community have some old museum peices still functional

[White Stripes]

I wonder how many other people in the community have some old museum peices still functional

other than my commodore 64 i dont have anything older than a 60mhz first gen pentium in proper storage.... i need to rescue and clean up my tandy 1000 RL from storage shed hell... the last XT class machine i have that really works properly and has quality of-the-era parts.. there were a lot of really cheap ways to expand on the IBM PC/XT so putting one together with quality parts would be a nightmare.. many of the memory upgrade cards were down right terrifying as to their build quality...

[wonderer]

I was wrong and forgot I have replaced the dual floppy 5150 with the 5160 xt build 1983
working to get all pieces together, heaviest is the base, close to a megaton.

[silicon_toad2000]

thats cool, what operating system runs on it at the moment?

[White Stripes]

thats cool, what operating system runs on it at the moment?

a machine with a harddrive would need DOS 3.2 or newer...

@wonderer if you have a OS besides DOS on there .... can we have screenshots?

whats the hardware config? i see floppy and harddrive controller cards but the other two full length cards could technically be anything but im guessing CGA and memory?

[wonderer]

lol as soon as I dug out the screen some where on the attic I can tell more
OS will be pc dos or ms dos 2.5 or 2.6 ms basic and pascal standard included
but as said, the screen opens it all, cga of which I must have one working
key board the original one somewhere in the pile

[wonderer]

btw the original matrix line printer sold with the system has gone long time ago as the matrix needles tended to lock and break very easy, new printer head was very expensive and I have had a good income from repairing them until IBM stopped selling the separate needles.