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eBay this appears to be a IBM 5150 Rev A.

Jimmy

Jimmy

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Fort Walton Beach, Fl
eBay item number 110841990657 appears to be an IBM 5150 PC Rev A. It was hard to determine from the photos, so I questioned the seller about the number of screws that held the case in place and what was on the motherboard. It does appear to be in pretty rough shape and the starting bid in $70.00 plus $45.00 for shipping.
 
Well $70 is not an "as is" price without a picture of the inside. What's with the bolted on axillary fan? Is it just a quick fix, or is the PS the wrong one or what? One wouldn't have to ask all these questions from a conscientious seller. There's too much wrong here.
 
Judging by the serial number sticker, it would have had an early model (16kb-64kb) board in it, but who knows what its got now becaise the power supply has obviously been changed (silver vs black).
How do floppy drives "spin up" I've got hard drives that spin up, but none of my floppies do.
It would be nice if the photographer wasn't partially blind, and maybe had a light bulb he could shine on it - then again, with more light you might see a bunch of stuff he doesn't want you to see, or you might not want to see.
It could obviously use a new set of cork pads. :)
 
$80 to ship it here :) But that motherboard model is the one that had a huge price craze a few years ago. Not sure if it's still the case today but would be interesting to watch.
 
$80 to ship it here too, but I'm in New Zealand, would've thought more like 200-300. Not sure if that's right or if I bid I'd run in to trouble.
$70 + $80 = $150USD delivered which is less than I paid for my 5160 (base unit only).

So not a bad deal for me, but sounding like it's almost a 'rip' for you guys haha
The fact the floppy light comes on indicates to me that the motherboard boots, PSU works, FDD controller works and the case looks good, so for me I'd pay that no problem.
 
I would be worried about finding an original motherboard in there, I own a Turbo-Cool Powersupply and it's an AT power supply. I'm not sure what the XT one was, but I'm fairly certain it wasn't AT style.
 
They are "AT" style. Not sure why they're called AT power supplies because they're no different to what is in my 5150 or 5160 except a higher wattage output. Plugs are all the same, and form factor is the same. Upgrading the PSU would have made sense because you're not supposed to run hard drives off the original 5150 63W power supply.

But you are correct, a non-original motherboard is still a concern, even if it's a turbo XT clone replacement :/
 
SpidersWeb said:
But you are correct, a non-original motherboard is still a concern, even if it's a turbo XT clone replacement :/
Click to expand...

But an aftermarket XT/Baby AT-type motherboard wouldn't fit into a 5-slot 5150 case, at least not without some serious cutting and trimming of the case's metal to accomodate the differences in keyboard port and ISA slot placement.

There may have been a rare handful of aftermarket motherboards specifically designed to fit in a 5-slot IBM 5150 case (I have not seen proof; I'm just guessing about the possibility) -- in which case the collector's value of the board would easily equal or exceed that of the original IBM motherboard it replaced.

A much more likely chance is that the motherboard was swapped out for a 64-256KB board at the same time the aftermarket power supply was installed. Or at the very least, it could still be the original 16-64KB board, but with the newer 1982 ROM chips installed.

The only way to tell for sure would be to kindly ask the seller to remove the cover and take some photos of what's inside!
 
I asked the seller a couple of questions and he responded very quickly, I just emailed him and asked if he could post some pictures of the inside of the case. I asked for a closeup of the motherboard and the cards that are installed.

I do not need the motherboard,power supply, case or any of the cards, but do need a case cover. If someone just wanted it for parts, I could ease some of the pain of the cost by purchasing the case cover, if it turns out to be a Rev A. motherboard
 
There was another 5150 Rev A listed on the auction site a week or so ago , but it was missing the case cover.
It had the black PS and correct motherboard..... I was tempted to buy it but I already have a Rev A.
 
I did buy it for parts, I have a Rev A. that I bought that I really did not know what I was buying. I wanted the black power supply and other parts, in case something failed on that machine. When I hooked a monitor and keyboard to the one without a cover, it booted to dos fine other than a 131 cassette error, which someone on here, pointed out was probably a stuck relay. It is missing the black card fillers panels and a case cover. Other than that it runs fine. After I found out it still boots, it seems a shame not to try and restore it. I guess I could paint some card filler panels black but the newer style chrome one are not as wide as the originals ones.
 
Good to hear that another forum member bought that ! It seemed like a fair price at the time.

Will the Rev B case cover fit on the Rev A frame ? I realize it has additional screws but
just wondering ......
 
yes, but he was not selling outside us.. :huh:
/cimonvg
mikey99 said:
There was another 5150 Rev A listed on the auction site a week or so ago , but it was missing the case cover.
It had the black PS and correct motherboard..... I was tempted to buy it but I already have a Rev A.
Click to expand...
 
Nice catch Lorne; I've noticed on E-Bay that when someone posts bad pics, they ARE trying to hide something. Usually though, I can use Photoshop to bring out the details they don't want you to see. Sometimes it's pretty obvious, sometimetimes even ugly, but in almost every case, they're hiding something.


Lorne said:
Judging by the serial number sticker, it would have had an early model (16kb-64kb) board in it, but who knows what its got now becaise the power supply has obviously been changed (silver vs black).
How do floppy drives "spin up" I've got hard drives that spin up, but none of my floppies do.
It would be nice if the photographer wasn't partially blind, and maybe had a light bulb he could shine on it - then again, with more light you might see a bunch of stuff he doesn't want you to see, or you might not want to see.
It could obviously use a new set of cork pads. :)
Click to expand...
 
Since we are on the subject of covers, would the cover for the 5162 fit a 5150? I have a spare 5162 chassis in my garage...
 
twolazy said:
Since we are on the subject of covers, would the cover for the 5162 fit a 5150? I have a spare 5162 chassis in my garage...
Click to expand...

Absolutely. The IBM 5150 Personal Computer, 5160 Personal Computer XT, 5161 Expansion unit, and 5162 - PC 286 all use the same case. All of the case parts are intercangable too, if I'm not mistaken. IBM had an expansion unit for the XT as well, but I forgot its model number. So all together there are five different models that used the same case design.

As an example; I actually had an empty non used 5160 case sitting around when I finally found the 5161 expansion unit. The expansion had a scratch that ran diagonally across the top, but everything else was in great shape, so I exchanged the case top from the XT and faceplate from the expansion unit. Now, my expansion is pristine! I honestly don't know if IBM had any more computers or accessories that used the same case though.

Hope this helps. I know there are a couple of people looking for a case for the 286. You might want to post something in the forums if you want to sell the case you have.
 
I can't remember who it was here in the forums who has a 5162 that he was willing to sell. If memory serves me correctly, all he had was the case, mobo and power supply with an ISA memory expansion and a VGA graphics adapter. He had the original keyboard too, but that was about it. I went through my old messages and couldn't find anything. Maybe I deleted it while cleaning house. If I remember, I'll shoot you both a line.

Personally, the seller on E-Bay seems like he doesn't know what he has. I guess the price is OK, since he's offering free shipping. I just wonder where he got XT from. Maybe the upper case is from an XT.

twolazy said:
Good info to know. I always thought the 2 were interchangeable, just never tried... Since we are on subject of 5150s, seems to be yet another on fleabay, this one case and mobo only... 67.96 shipped

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-IBM...692?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d3300335c

Shame it wasnt a 5162. I so need a mobo. :(
Click to expand...
 
I went and shot the guy on the 5150 some questions, mostly what model the board was. If it happens to be a 64kb system I might just bite on it. 68 shipped seems a pretty decent deal, provided the mobo works. I do have a spare 5162 case I can rob the psu from... hrm....
 
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