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I need help deciding which PC to keep

M

mac512

Experienced Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2012
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112
Location
Canada
Hi.
I'm running low on space and some of my vintage computers will have to go. I'm really overwhelmed trying to decide which IBM PC to keep. I need to choose between a 5150 and a 5162. The 5150 is the OG but, on the other hand, the 5162 is quite rare and special. I need to tell you that I'm in Chile, meaning that both machines are particularly rare down here. While I try to decide, I'd like to know what you guys think about which one should I keep.
Thanks
 
What other machines do you have in your collection? There's gotta be something less special you could get rid of to make room for both IBMs. If I had to pick between the two, it would be the 5162 because a 286 is going to be more capable, and it's more special.
 
I agree about the 5162. It looks almost identical to the 5150 but is a better class of machine. The only advantage to the 5150 is that is the original and may have more historical significance and value.

But you've only mentioned two machines? What kind of space are you talking about? I can stack these two computers and use a switch box to use the same monitor.

Seaken
 
Keep the 5162. It was the member of the IBM PC family produced in the lowest numbers. It will be a challenge to find another while the 5150 is much more common.
 
3lectr1c said:
What other machines do you have in your collection? There's gotta be something less special you could get rid of to make room for both IBMs. If I had to pick between the two, it would be the 5162 because a 286 is going to be more capable, and it's more special.
Click to expand...
Too many machines. I'm getting rid of about 80% of my collection.
 
Haven't made my mind yet, but it seems that the 5162 would be the logical choice...
 
Do you have the IBM monitors and keyboards ?
If you’ve got the model F /M or 5151 or 5153 keep the most complete system…
 
Funny, I would opt for the 5150 any time over the 5162. The 5150 is *the* PC, while the 5162 was just some odd and slow system with which IBM tried to sell the remaining XT cases with the more modern innards of the AT.

No matter how rare - the 5162 has no historical significance and most people agree that the 286 is the most useless CPU for retro gaming. Too fast for PC/XT games and too slow for anything else.
 
I think that the reason for the 5162 is that the 5170 cases were very much larger than those of the 5150 and 5160. Technology had progressed to the point where a 5170-compatible board could be fit into a 5160 case, so why not?
 
Chuck(G) said:
I think that the reason for the 5162 is that the 5170 cases were very much larger than those of the 5150 and 5160. Technology had progressed to the point where a 5170-compatible board could be fit into a 5160 case, so why not?
Click to expand...
My belief is that it was a marketing thing, the aim being to suggest to a subset of buyers that the 5162 was a high performance XT. I.e. Purchase options became, 'standard' XT, 'high performance' XT, and AT.
 
In IBM's own annoucement a side-by-side comparison is done with the frank admission that the 5162 is faster than the 5170 239, although slower than the 5170 339. Still with more on-board memory.
I'm guessing that it was offered at a lower price than the 239.

Did IBM ever use the AT case for any other system, other than the 5170?
 
I’d have to find something else to get rid of and keep them both! I totally get not wanting a massive, overwhelming collection, but two old IBMs isn’t unreasonable in my opinion.
 
Timo W. said:
Funny, I would opt for the 5150 any time over the 5162. The 5150 is *the* PC, while the 5162 was just some odd and slow system with which IBM tried to sell the remaining XT cases with the more modern innards of the AT.

No matter how rare - the 5162 has no historical significance and most people agree that the 286 is the most useless CPU for retro gaming. Too fast for PC/XT games and too slow for anything else.
Click to expand...

I'd say the 5162 is relevant as the last stop if you want a "maintainable" true-IBM machine. You can reasonably put in commodity parts if you need to fix or extend it, and the mainboard looks like it's pretty much all through-hole.

While the PS/2 25 and 30 had ISA slots, they also hard unconventional disc drives, a fairly nonstandard PSU and motherboard form-factor, and a much higher degree of integration that's sort of a hindrance to fat-fingered people with soldering irons.

IMO, the 5150 is perhaps better as a showpiece and the 5162 as a usable plaything. Early 5150s have the issues of small memory sizes and limited/buggy early BIOSses. Even late ones are still hamstrung by five slots, a tiny PSU, and having to deal with XT-compatible keyboards. The 5162 has none of these faults, and is amenable to a lot of affordable quality-of-life expansions (high density floppy drives! Cheap random 16-bit VGA cards! Hell, put in a 486 motherboard when people aren't looking and use Windows 95!)
 
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