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Looking for more info: Toshiba T-1500

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nollkolltroll

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Feb 19, 2015
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I just got a Toshiba T-1500 desktop PC/XT. Unfortunately the only info I found on the web is this:
http://www.todocoleccion.net/catalo...30-x-21-desplegado-60-x-21-muy-raro~x18475339

Specs:
4.77MHz 8088 (white ceramic Fairchild, soldered)
640k RAM on-board
CGA with RCA composite video on-board (tested to work, no color though)
female 9-pin D-sub, probably CGA RGBI
male 9-pin D-sub, possibly MDA
female 25-pin D-sub, possibly parallell port
three horizontal ISA slots
one 5.25" 360k floppy, with physical sliding locks for the drive door

There are two 3-pin jumpers marked CRTC, and one 8-bit DIP-switch. No info on these.

A WD1002-WX2 harddrive controller boots a Seagate ST-251. Unfortunately it is configured to use only 10mb of the 42mb available. I will have a go at modifying the ROM to get correct parameters for the drive.
Also present is a clock/RS-232 card, without any manufacturer markings. 8250 serial chip, 8255 chip that accesses the clock. Separate battery in holder. I guess I need some specific software to read the clock.

So my question is simply: can anyone tell me more about the computer itself. Specs, jumper settings etc?
I'll make some other thread for the ISA-cards.
 
Hello nollkolltroll,

I just registered myself here to answer to your thread because the T1500s are indeed rare and so are their owners obviously. I got one, a European model, from a teacher during IT school many years ago. One day he opened the trunk, loaded with (more or less) vintage machines (a Commodore PC, mousy 386ers, socket-7 machines, etc.) and gave them to the students. I grabbed the T1500 and didn’t regret it. It’s a nice, rare and beautiful machine. Unfortunately the keyboard suffered really bad from yellowing.

I can confirm your specs although I’ve never seen a ceramic 8088 inside, iirc. I always wondered about the RCA output not having color which—on the other side—is reasonable due to the known problems with 80 character text on composite monitors. I never managed to try out other than the RCA video output since I don’t have the appropriate monitors. And I was surprised by all the extensions the pre-owner made: extra RAM, the CGA and (!) MDA/Hercules (?) card, only to see now in your post that it seemed to be in series.

About two weeks ago the Boeing, erm… NEC hard disk finally gave up the ghost. Last time it worked I always had to manually wind the head’s stepper motor a little before the main motor started. Now it’s finally broken and I think the head already touched the non-rotating disk. I’m currently looking for a contemporary replacement.

Things I found on the machine when I first got it:
  • DOS 3.3,
  • GEM,
  • MS Word for DOS.
Things I successfully tried out:
  • CP/M-86,
  • SCO Xenix.
Things I still want to try out:
  • VGA graphics,
  • ISA ethernet card and mTCP,
  • browsing the web through terminal emulator,
  • UUCP over serial connection in Xenix.

Another obscure thing: Together with the PC there was a strange homebrew-like DB-9 to DIN 5-pin adapter cable—maybe for displaying the RGBI output of the CGA card on one of those Philips homecomputer monitors popular at the time? I got two of them (color and monochrome) but neither of them has a DIN 5-pin input but I’m sure there were suitable models for Amigas.
 
Hello Dulange, thanks for your input!
My case and keyboard has also got the classic retro-yellowing going on :)
I think the monochrome video is just a case of economics, it is far easier and cheaper to build a composite mono output compared to NTSC.
Long ago I had a Commodore 1081 monitor with an RGBI DIN-connector, so that might work with your converter.

I've found out some more about this meachine:
* The 8-pin DIP has the same meaning as the IBM 5160 (http://www.howard81.co.uk/upload/vcf/xt/xtdips.gif)
* I've built and fitted a CFIDE to the machine, which works great. A silent HDD solution, and the need to use floppies is almost null thanks to the serial mount option.
 
Hi there!

I found one on eBay from Germany a few months back! Same specs as yours. I have added a vga card, ide interface and a sound blaster. Most games run really slow, but some such as "Silpheed" work surprisingly good!

if only i could find more information about it, cant find any manuals or anything!

Its nice to have though, and a well built xt clone!
 
Well, it is a classic 4.77MHz XT, so slow is only the beginning :)
You managed to add the really relevant cards in the 3 available slots, I am a bit envious!
 
Just got a copy of Planet X3 from the 8 Bit Guy, (a brand new game for the ibm pc) and that runs on the tosh no problem whatsoever :)

nollkolltroll, How is your toshiba doing?

:)
 
Hey folks, I haven’t checked out this thread in a long while but this looks like it could evolve to a serious T1500 owner thread. :)

PINBALLWIZARD said:
Just got a copy of Planet X3 from the 8 Bit Guy, (a brand new game for the ibm pc) and that runs on the tosh no problem whatsoever :)
Click to expand...

Very appropriate indeed. I’m also watching David’s videos routinely since his “USB RAID” experiment when he was still “The iBook Guy” and witnessed his whole transformation to “The 8-Bit Guy” and I really enjoy both his hardware restoration and game development videos.

From my side, there are basically no news about the T1500 since the day the hard disk died. :(

It is downright impossible to find an affordable ST412-compatible hard disk to replace my T1500’s dead NEC drive. I know most of us PC collectors tend to equip their machines with an XTIDE card and I should do it as well. Although, I will certainly miss the authentic (albeit noisy) sound of the spinning disk and the subtle head seeking beeps of the stepper motor that go in sync with the flashing LED on the front. It’s lovely.

By the way, does any of you guys have the original Toshiba-branded monitor to the T1500? I’ve seen it only on contemporary marketing material so far. I assume there must have been both an RGBI and a TTL-compatible monochrome monitor as it was usual in the mid-80s: Color for the home users, high-res monochrome text display for the business users. I imagine the T1500’s on-board CGA was the default selling configuration targeting the home users and the MDA card was the more expensive selling option for the business. Or maybe there was only one monitor that goes with the machine but capable of handling both modes.
 
Hi guys. I am collecting mostly old Toshiba Laptops but I am interested in T1500. I know it is a desktop computer but it is from the same time period as my laptops :)

Does anyone of you is willing to sell the T1500?

I am also happy to exchange it for some of my old laptops.

Cheers,
Branko
 
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