I have an IBM Plotter, can't remember the part number exactly. It's a large contraption, about 5' long. It works, powers up at least. I was able to job the carriage some or whatever lead me to believe it's at least partially operational. It's actually made by HP I was told. I unfortunately do not have any software or drivers to operate it. I need to find some.
The reason there isn't a lot of activity is these were usually found in architetural/engineering environments. I worked as a EMI technician in 2 different companies years ago. I believe, not even sure, I operated a small plotter once, maybe once. And we had tons of HP test equipment, computers, all sorts of stuff. They're seldom seen, talked about, because they're pretty rare pieces. Most people may not even have any interest as they weren't exposed to them.
One last edit. The only practical use I have for one, and I'd never let mine go (I payed 5$), is for drawing large schematics. I had a semi large format HP printer that I found on the road, tossed it, too much stuff, but the plotter could work on larger paper then that. Of course any modern ink jet printer could be converted to print on large paper w/some ample fenagling.
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