• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

value of an IBM PC + Expansion unit, no monitors

LittleBlackDuck said:
I'll put my hand up and say I bought one of the two this seller had up for auction. I grabbed mine a few weeks ago and it was a similar config, though mine also included the connecting cable too.

I justified the price given how hard it is to find a complete set of Extender + Receiver + Cable, and also the cost of 2x ST-412's... I'd actually planned on purchasing a working ST-412 as the one in my XT had recently died, but those were going for anything from US$150-500 depending on the seller. This extender came with two drives in unknown condition, so I took a gamble. The seller was really helpful with shipping (I'm in Sydney Australia) and it arrived in one piece.

To my surprise, once I completely disassembled the thing and removed the inch-thick layer of brown smelly dust off everything, it worked perfectly when put back together. Both ST-412's were flawless too (not even a hint of dry bearings). When plugged into my XT booted to a DOS prompt off one of the drives. The seller told me this had been sitting idle in the back of his repair shop for around 20 years, so it is impressive the HDD platters kept their data for that long. The top cover was pretty scratched and marked, but that's to be expected for an item this age. I was also surprised at the length of the connecting cable... I've read elsewhere they're usually short only allowing the extender to stack on top; the IBM-branded cable this came with allowed the units to sit side-by-side with ample length to spare.

I'm very happy with the extender; I hope another member of these forums managed to grab the other extender he had up for auction, and had similar success. As everyone mentioned it was a pretty steep price, but I've been wanting one of these for over a decade, and the price was off-set when you factor in the cost of two working ST-412's.

Now all I need to find is a working 130w 240v power supply for this thing (currently it's plugged into a 110v step down transformer, but it works).
Click to expand...

Congratulations :) .

You should still make sure that the HDDs don't suffer from bad sectors due to disk-crash. When I bought mine 5161, each of the two HDDs had one bad sector each due to this. The only way to note is that some sectors may be unaccessible, and you may get errors when you try to read files located in those sectors. To prevent disk-crash when you move the unit, the R/W heads in the drive has to be "parked" (there is an option that does this on the IBM PC/XT diagnostic disk). Allthough you may not have bad sectors, I would still suggest to low-level format the drives and reformat/repartition them just in case (also with respect to the privacy of the previous owners).

The process involved in low-level formating depends on what HDD controller you have. Se here for more information: http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcf...e=How+To:Low+Level+Format+XT+Class+Hard+Drive
 
Last edited:
I don't know how you had it listed, but whenever I searched for 5150, or 5161, or anything to do with IBM and expansion unit, my results didn't show anything. Is it possible there was something goofy with the auction so that people didn't see the listing? Because if the listing isn't visible with simple searches, they won't see it. They can't bid on something they can't see.



tipc said:
I put the 5150/5161 combo on ebay. No one offered anything, so there it is. Pictures are not great, but I'm not pulling the stuff out if there is no interest.
Click to expand...
 
bettablue said:
I don't know how you had it listed, but whenever I searched for 5150, or 5161, or anything to do with IBM and expansion unit, my results didn't show anything. Is it possible there was something goofy with the auction so that people didn't see the listing? Because if the listing isn't visible with simple searches, they won't see it. They can't bid on something they can't see.
Click to expand...
He didn't list it.

He doesn't have it.

It's all a crock.

Did you see the pics he said he was giong to post here?

Need I say more?

I don't know what game he's playing but I think someone should remove his posts and ban his account.
 
Well, let's give it a few hours and see what he does. There may be a delay on the time he submitted the auction and the time it actually displays. (I've never listed stuff on Ebay before.) I wouldn't immediately go to a ban statement.

SpidersWeb, is that a Chinese haiku?:D (What is it?)
 
Well, I think we should give him a day or so to post pics or a link or something. He's not even online right now, and I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.
 
DOS lives on!! said:
Well, let's give it a few hours and see what he does. There may be a delay on the time he submitted the auction and the time it actually displays. (I've never listed stuff on Ebay before.) I wouldn't immediately go to a ban statement.

SpidersWeb, is that a Chinese haiku?:D (What is it?)
Click to expand...

It's an angry man throwing a table a.k.a. 'tableflip'
I think it's quite amusing, so am always looking for fitting reasons to use it :D

I like to give people the benefit of the doubt where possible, but this thread does seem kind of odd.
Surely he must've had the parts to trade, can't imagine why someone would fake that? Hopefully he posts back up.
 
Hi there LBD.

The web site I bought my cable from has different lengths of connecting cable. The shortest they have is 3 feet long which allowed my to seperate the expansion unit from my PC on the portable desk I'm using. (I'm attaching a pic to show my setup again for those who are interested.

I guess I have really been extremely lucky because I' have hear of users in the forums who have been looking for an expansion unit for anywhere from 5 to 10 years! To be completely honest, ole juul is the member who gave the an extra set extender and receiver cards. It was up to me for the rest. Ole couldn't verify the cards either. If they worked, great, but if they didn't, well then I was on my own. Luckilly for me the rest of the main expansion unit basically fell in my lap just a coupe weeks later.

Ole doesn't have any more parts for the expansion unit, so I really do have to give him credit for gettin me on my way.

The thing I find funny is that once I got my expansion unit and got it up and running, that there have been no less than three of these expansion units pop up either here in the forums, or on E-Bay. I only have a total of about $125.00, to $150.00 in mine, including shipping, so I know I got a fantastic deal. That includes purchasing 2 full height MFM drives which the seller indicated were installed int eh expansion unit to begin with. Oh well, I can't, and won't complain.

Final update on my system. My best friend is taking my system to the college for a complete diagnostic run in prerparation for the final installation and configuration of all of the remaining hardware. That is going to be another juge savings. Edward promised me that he will have the system brougt back to me with everything working like it's supposed to. When I get Alice back, I should be able to boot her up, and do whatever I want, from connecting to my network, and being able to dial out using a phone line.

My dream computer will be complete. Then I'll have to find another project. Any ideas?


LittleBlackDuck said:
I'm very happy with the extender; I hope another member of these forums managed to grab the other extender he had up for auction, and had similar success. As everyone mentioned it was a pretty steep price, but I've been wanting one of these for over a decade, and the price was off-set when you factor in the cost of two working ST-412's.
Click to expand...
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0026.jpg
    IMG_0026.jpg
    91.5 KB · Views: 1
Oh, I'm already using it. But when it's actually complete, I'll be using it a lot more as my own vintage gaming system. I'll also be using it for writing, and possibly even taking over my banking records. The checkbook program I have for the IBM PC is in many ways better than most of the new progs out there.

Besides, I don't get anything unless I have the intention of using it. One of the worst things you can do to any old PC like this, is to put it away. After long periods of storage, that's when most of the bad things happen.

Any more ideas though?

bettablue said:
Hi there LBD.

The web site I bought my cable from has different lengths of connecting cable. The shortest they have is 3 feet long which allowed my to seperate the expansion unit from my PC on the portable desk I'm using. (I'm attaching a pic to show my setup again for those who are interested.

I guess I have really been extremely lucky because I' have hear of users in the forums who have been looking for an expansion unit for anywhere from 5 to 10 years! To be completely honest, ole juul is the member who gave the an extra set extender and receiver cards. It was up to me for the rest. Ole couldn't verify the cards either. If they worked, great, but if they didn't, well then I was on my own. Luckilly for me the rest of the main expansion unit basically fell in my lap just a coupe weeks later.

Ole doesn't have any more parts for the expansion unit, so I really do have to give him credit for gettin me on my way.

The thing I find funny is that once I got my expansion unit and got it up and running, that there have been no less than three of these expansion units pop up either here in the forums, or on E-Bay. I only have a total of about $125.00, to $150.00 in mine, including shipping, so I know I got a fantastic deal. That includes purchasing 2 full height MFM drives which the seller indicated were installed int eh expansion unit to begin with. Oh well, I can't, and won't complain.

Final update on my system. My best friend is taking my system to the college for a complete diagnostic run in prerparation for the final installation and configuration of all of the remaining hardware. That is going to be another juge savings. Edward promised me that he will have the system brougt back to me with everything working like it's supposed to. When I get Alice back, I should be able to boot her up, and do whatever I want, from connecting to my network, and being able to dial out using a phone line.

My dream computer will be complete. Then I'll have to find another project. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
 
I don't get anything unless I have the intention of using it
Click to expand...
That is exactly my philosophy. You could try networking it and using the Arachne browser for 8088s. I am currently attempting to do just that with my 5160.
 
If you're looking for a next project, I think a Compaq Deskpro 386* (if you can find one) is both historically interesting and would let you play the next era of games. My next project is a 5170 but for the x86 game generation I tend to end up using my 386SX/33 all the time, even though it's assembled from cheap clone parts and looks like the rear end of a donkey.

If you wanted to play the same games, but with better graphics, a Tandy 1000 or IBM PCjr could be another option.

Just some ideas anywho.

* interesting because Intel went 'sole-supplier' on the 386 and IBM said no, then Compaq said 'oh hell yes' and were ahead of the game. IBM 'closed up' a little with the PS/2 range for their 386's. With the two things combined IBM ended up adhering to industry standards rather than defining them in the long term (although we did keep a few bits from the PS/2)
 
Last edited:
Well, waddaya know! I think I speak for stone and everybody else in this thread when I say I am sorry for doubting you.
 
Calling people a dingleberry isn't nice, but since he suggested you be banished, I think you both are at a neutral standpoint now. I can now see the 5161 on Ebay.
 
lol!

Looks like a pretty nice set, if someone gets that for $100 they should be stoked, will be watching to see what it ends up selling for. (I'd be interested too, but postage to here would be like $400).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top