Today we are addin this gem to our collection. The IBM Personal Computer XT, often shortened to the IBM XT, PC XT, or simply XT, is a version of the IBM PC with a built-in hard drive and floppy drive. It was released as IBM Machine Type number 5160 on March 8, 1983. Apart from the hard drive, it was essentially the same as the original PC, with only minor improvements. The XT was mainly intended as an enhanced IBM PC for business users. XT stands for eXtended Technology.
This IBM Personal Computer XT came with 512 KB of RAM, a 360 KB double-sided 5¼ inch floppy disk drive, a 10 MB Seagate ST-412 hard drive with Xebec 1210 Modified Frequency Modulation (MFM) controller, an Asynchronous Adapter (serial card with 8250 UART), and a 130-watt power supply. The motherboard had an Intel 8088 microprocessor running at 4.77 MHz, with a socket for an optional 8087 math coprocessor which I have yet to find if is installed here.
Above is the floppy drive that looks like it was molded in lava, it got slick black textures and reeks og quality build. And it also is, nearly 38 years later this drive performs like it was made yesterday. But that was the quality IBM introduced in the 80´s home and business market. These computer were not cheap either, this computer setup would have cost around $7000 at that time.
The IBM we got here did have a special keylock system that was locked over the power button. So there is no other way to power up the computer without a key. It´s like powering up a car and it feels awesome. The keylock option also locked the system unit cover, but I will be showing this in more detail in an upcoming video soon.
One of the most awesome thing about this computer we got is that included an IBM Color Monitor 5153 and inside the computer is also IBM's first graphics card and first color display card. The Color Graphics Adapter (CGA), originally also called the Color/Graphics Adapter or IBM Color/Graphics Monitor Adapter introduced in 1981, which became that computer's first color computer display standard.
The standard IBM CGA graphics card was equipped with 16 kilobytes of video memory and could be connected either to a dedicated direct-drive CRT monitor using a 4-bit digital (TTL) "RGBI" interface, such as the IBM 5153 color display, or to an NTSC-compatible television or composite video monitor via an RCA connector. The RCA connector provided only baseband video, so to connect the CGA card to a standard television set required a separate RF modulator unless the TV had an RCA jack though with the former combined with an amplifier sometimes was more practical since one could then hook up an antenna to the amplifier and get wireless video.
We also got some floppy disks which included some games and programs. In there I saw Flight Simulator 1.0 and I can confirm that it worked !
The operating system usually sold with the XT was PC DOS 2.0 or, by the time the XT was discontinued in early 1987, DOS 3.2. Like the original PC, the XT came with IBM BASIC in its ROM. Despite the lack of a cassette port on XTs, IBM's licensing agreement with Microsoft forced them to include BASIC on all their PCs, and the BASIC program that was included with DOS depended on the BASIC ROM. The XT BIOS also displayed a memory count during the POST, unlike the PC. Here are both DOS 2.0 and DOS 3.10.
And also we got empty unused floppy´s, so we could make copy´s of DOS and other important software and keep the Masters stored elsewhere.
IBM Proprinter with software and manual. The Proprinter is a dot matrix printer designed and manufactured by IBM in the 1980's. The Proprinter was designed to be a low cost printer for use with the IBM personal computer (IBM PC). It embodies a new design trend in industry - developing products without screws, springs, pulleys, or belts; and with as few parts as possible. These steps make manufacture on an automated assembly line possible.
The new design has translated into lower manufacturing costs, higher reliability, and increased capabilities over existing printers in the market. Not only did the Proprinter win numerous awards; but also, became the best selling printer in the personal computer printer market. We have yet to test this one !
The new design has translated into lower manufacturing costs, higher reliability, and increased capabilities over existing printers in the market. Not only did the Proprinter win numerous awards; but also, became the best selling printer in the personal computer printer market. We have yet to test this one !
Above is the original boxes the machine and monitor came in ! We will release a video with a little more in depth on this computer and we are also going to look inside the monster and poke it :) You can look at our youtube page and check if it is out yet. : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrY-jHwWg7iCPZ8scdlXXgw
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