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You are here: Home / History of portable computers with a rugged bias / IBM Portable 5155 – questionably rugged, questionably portable

IBM Portable 5155 – questionably rugged, questionably portable

IBM Portable Personal Computer 5155 model 68

IBM Portable PC 5110 Model 58

IBM Portable PC 5110

I am really not sure what happened to the other 67 versions of the IBM portable.  IBM must have been very thorough.

Original press release: “The IBM Portable Personal Computer 5155 Model 68 consists of a lightweight case with a carrying handle containing a built-in. 9-inch, amber composite display, one 5 1/4-inch double sided diskette drive (with space for an optional second drive), and two IBM Personal Computer attachment options (diskette adapter and colour/graphics adapter).

The unit also has a new, lightweight keyboard and a universal power supply. The system board is the same as that of the IBM Personal Computer XT with 256Kb of memory that is expandable to 512Kb using the memory expansion option.

Five expansion slots are available for the connection of most IBM Personal Computer options. The system has identical function and performance characteristics to an equivalently configured IBM Personal Computer.”

 

Specs

Basically an IBM PC-XT – Intel 8088 @ 4.77MHz

256K of memory.

Twin Floppy disk drive (or single)

80 x 25 Text display (CGA)

Weighed 30lb.

US $4225 at launch

Rear panel of IBM portable

Original IBM portable rear

Expansion slots in IBM Portable PC (ISA)

Expansion slots – ISA

 

I never owned one of these, and frankly never wanted to.

Wikipedia entry

Youtube video of one

Alex at “Geek with Laptop” described the 5155 as hideous in this article

“But what did they [IBM] get so hideously wrong? Nothing much, apart from the fact that its “Portable” weighed in at a breezy 13.6 kilograms had a 9-inch screen that did little of great note and costed a very generous $ 4000. More to it,  you had to plug it in for charge as it had no batteries inside. Okay, so the 5155 was in fact just a movable desktop and thankfully IBM put an end to this monstrosity within a year”

<<1983 TRS-80 Model 100 – 1984 – Osborne Vixen 1985>>

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Previous posts:

  • Contact
  • First Garfield comic strip
  • History of portable computers with a rugged bias
    • AGS MilPAC-III C4ISR Portable with 3 x 17.3″ displays
    • AGS-MRPC-4 – Lunchbox Computer – 2011
    • Compaq Portable III lunchbox computer
    • Dolch FlexPAC
    • Fieldworks FW7500 – 1994
    • Getac A320 Rugged Notebook
    • Getac B300
    • Getac Z710 – Rugged Android Tablet
    • GRiD Compass – 1982
    • IBM Convertible PC
    • IBM Portable 5155 – questionably rugged, questionably portable
    • IBM Portable PC 5110
    • IBM ThinkPad 700
    • iTronix GoBook XR-1 (General Dynamics)
    • Kontron IN-Lite
    • Kontron IP-Lite
    • Kookaburra PC / Dulmont Magnum 1983
    • Osborne 1 – The first portable PC
    • Osborne Vixen rugged luggable
    • Panasonic CF19
    • Panasonic Toughbook CF-25
    • PSION Series 5
    • Sharp PC-1211
    • TRS-80 Model 100 (Radio Shack)
    • TRS-80 Tandy/Radio Shack
  • Rugged Handheld Computers

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