IBM 5140 Pre Purchase Evaluation

[lucasdaytona]

Hello to everyone.

I'm in the position to buy this 5140, base unit only, no power supply, maybe a bad LCD. It's a few cities away, can't have a look on it. The price is okay (around 60 USD, very good for anything from IBM around here, especially from this age). Worth the risk ? My main concern is the LCD. There's no way I will be able to source a CRT adapter around here.

Please ignore the Microsoft Windows paper... just some bad idea from the seller.


Thank you!

 

[IBMMuseum]

Hello to everyone.

I'm in the position to buy this 5140, base unit only, no power supply, maybe a bad LCD. It's a few cities away, can't have a look on it. The price is okay (around 60 USD, very good for anything from IBM around here, especially from this age). Worth the risk ? My main concern is the LCD. There's no way I will be able to source a CRT adapter around here.

Please ignore the Microsoft Windows paper... just some bad idea from the seller.


Thank you!

Yes, the LCDs in these go bad, and the seller could be trying to mask that (it also has the single slider, meaning the oldest vesion). I have two box of new screens from Computer Reset, and it appears that most are bad. For an external display, you need the 'CRT Slice' for composite video or CGA on pin-headers with a known pin-out (conversion to a DE-9 are easy to find); I connect mine to an RGB2HDMI. The PSU is the same as for the PS/2 L40SX, and easy to replace.

 

[IBMMuseum]

Yes, that screen is definitely bad - 640Kb on the unit (3x 128Kb + 1x 256Kb), which is the maximum. Have you been shown whether the battery has leaked?

 

[NeXT]

I have two box of new screens from Computer Reset, and it appears that most are bad.

Having dealt with a number of machines with LCD screens from Japan I've noticed that prolonged storage in environments with extreme amounts of heat and humidity causes the polarizers and glue to rapidly deteriorate. Computer Reset that I've heard was pretty nasty in the warehouse. It's usually fixable but it's probably one of the more delicate tasks I've ever needed to perform on an LCD.

 

[lucasdaytona]

Yes, that screen is definitely bad - 640Kb on the unit (3x 128Kb + 1x 256Kb), which is the maximum. Have you been shown whether the battery has leaked?

Yes, that screen is definitely bad - 640Kb on the unit (3x 128Kb + 1x 256Kb), which is the maximum. Have you been shown whether the battery has leaked?

No, the seller doesn't seem to have basic knowledge from this period. He states the laptop came with some newer printers lot. If the screen is definitely bad, maybe I should give up. A CRT slice will be very hard and costly to find. The problem here is purely emotional, my first computer was a T1000SE from Toshiba, that was somewhat "taken back" by an uncle. So I have a soft spot for 808x laptops.

 

[NeXT]

At $60 with good plastics, maxed memory and notably the keyboard I'd almost ask $50 and hold it for parts until another one shows up where someone's swiped the keyboard, however Brasil isn't really a place where I can assume there are many 5140's still floating around.

 

[Eudimorphodon]

For a period after the Computer Reset liquidation it was pretty easy to get the CRT slice for around $20 or so (I bought one myself... which I'll shamefully admit I don't even know if it works, I haven't found time to get back to *that* project), but I guess being in Brazil might make getting one a lot harder even if they're still available.

FWIW, the original LCDs are *terrible* even if they aren't ruined. If the unit I have is typical it's *way* worse than even just slightly newer laptops, like the Toshiba 1100 Plus I had once upon a time.

 

[lucasdaytona]

however Brasil isn't really a place where I can assume there are many 5140's still floating around.

Yep. For comparasion, I'm into vintage computers since 2000s, never saw a single 5150 or 5160 around here. I hear from friends about 4 or 5 in Brasil, but only saw a single pic of a 5150 base unit. I know a guy that have a PCJr although.

 

[Eudimorphodon]

This is a vague recollection, but didn't Brazil have some pretty draconian import restrictions or tariffs on foreign computers in the 1980's? (Leading to a lot of interesting Brazilian clones of things like Apple IIs and TRS-80s?)

 

[lucasdaytona]

This is a vague recollection, but didn't Brazil have some pretty draconian import restrictions or tariffs on foreign computers in the 1980's? (Leading to a lot of interesting Brazilian clones of things like Apple IIs and TRS-80s?)

From 1965 to 1988, during the military dictatorship all the imports were forbidden. So we did have some awesome clones from everything. I have a 8088 clone that have a body that looks like a 5170 in terms of design and size.

 

[Eudimorphodon]

FWIW @NeXT is probably right that the machine might be worth $50 in parts. As he notes, a lot of the Computer Reset units got their keyboards nabbed, if it really turned out to be a complete basket case you might be able to get the money back from just that. If the LCD is electrically okay and it's *just* failed adhesive on/a warped polarizer sheet there are DIY fixes for that, so if you're up to tinkering you might be able to nurse it back to health.

I don't know if these are common problems with them, but the unit I have needed a lot of random TLC like reseating connectors, cleaning connectors, and disassembling some of the keyboard switches (HUGE PITA to get them back together) to get it running. I mean, some of this is normal for machines this old, but... I dunno, there's something about the 5140 that gave me a greater impression of fragility than usual. Maybe it's just how many moving parts they have. (Which is a *lot*; physically the case has that weird double-hinged design that lets the drives and keyboard pop up, and inside it has oddities like all those memory boards plugged into each other.) Maybe you'd be better off looking for an old Toshiba or something instead if you just want an XT laptop, but it must be said that issues with LCDs and aging components affect pretty much any portable of this vintage. (Toshibas in particular seem to like just "bricking" themselves; that's what happened to my 1100 Plus when its internal battery got old.)

 

[lucasdaytona]

The 5140 is here, got a good price. It's very good looking, but made my generic PS short (fortunately an intelligent one, no harm is done). It have the Serial/Parallel port adapter, but no CRT adapter. In the next week will take it apart and search for PSU problems. The plastics are in awesome condition, the drives still have the cardboard protection and the keyboard is flawless. The LCD is in terrible shape, zero hopes on it. Now is time to take everything apart and begin the hunt for parts. Will start a new thread for all the help I will need.