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Is an IBM 5155 Motherboard JUST an XT Motherboard or just equivalent?

cr1901

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Exactly like the title says...

I've heard that an IBM 5155 is essentially an XT with a built-in monitor and smaller form factor. However, what I'm not sure of is the following:

Did manufacturers make motherboards specifically for the IBM 5155, or did they just simply produce XT motherboards to be placed in 5155 cases to be shipped to customers (with the relevant expansion cards)?

If yes, I've half a mind to buy just the 5155 case/CRT, an XT motherboard, and "create" a 5155 of my own :p.*

*Not really, but those things are expensive- and they typically don't even come with the keyboard!
 
Your right. The 5155 is the same motherboard as the IBM 5160.

The 5155 has only a different case for easy transportation. It has less rome for expansion cards so its a bit less practical but they are both the same computers.
 
IBM should've called it the Portable XT, because calling it the Portable PC led a lot of people to mistakenly believe that it had the 5150 PC motherboard inside. And it really deserved a better video card, because its grainy, snowy monochrome CGA display put it at an immediately noticeable disadvantage compared to the Compaq Portable's crisp, clear, MDA/EGA-quality text display.
 
Of what I've heard, the XT was advertised as an improvement over the PC mainly by the inclusion of the HDD. The IBM 5155 didn't ship with a HDD, so if they called it a Portable XT people would get less than they'd expect.
 
If yes, I've half a mind to buy just the 5155 case/CRT, an XT motherboard, and "create" a 5155 of my own :p.*
If you happened to find a 5155 case/CRT without a motherboard, that would work fine and would be relatively authentic.
 
If you happened to find a 5155 case/CRT without a motherboard, that would work fine and would be relatively authentic.

Sounds good! Except then I'd have to find the keyboard as well, since it appears to use an RJ11 connector. How does the keyboard connector on the XT connect to the front of the case of a Portable?
 
My understanding is that auto-parking drives didn't arrive until significantly after the 5155 was released, hence the FDD only option.
 
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