Performa
Member
I've had an IBM PS/1 lying around for a while, and it's a great story, so here it goes!
The story of this machine goes like this. An IBM dealer in Mexico lists his Personal System 1 (stylized "PS/1) demonstration unit on eBay. It's roughly 4AM in the morning. I'm awake, as it's my day off. I see it- a good looking PS/1 at a decent price and free shipping? Sold!
I get a reply back from the seller in Spanish. Only then did I realize that "oh no, the computer I bought is in Mexico City and it has to somehow survive a trip across the continent." The seller packed it, and it spent about 4 months in transit.
When it arrived, unfortunately, the machine had been battered. IBM machines are generally made with metal casings, and this one was bent all over from multiple hits. The monitor (which is required to power the machine) looked like it had been through a storm, and didn't work. I figured "someday" I'd fix them, and stuffed the whole thing into storage where it's sat... until now!
Today, @PS2it stopped by my messy shop, and together we were able to get this battered assortment of parts working... kind of. The machine is still in pretty terrible cosmetic shape, but it seems that in terms of it's "guts" the machine actually works pretty good when hooked up to a second monitor! I've passed this neat piece of hardware into PS2it's capable hands, and I'm excited to see what he ultimately does with this interesting old machine! Hopefully some day down the line we'll see it at one of the WCC shows!
For some tech specs, the IBM PS/1 line of computers were designed for the home market, and to compliment their more powerful PS/2 computer line at a more affordable price in 1990. Powered by a Intel 286 processor, these things are not fast nor terribly powerful- though their interesting design and built-in software makes them stand out from other machines of the time. Not too many of these things survive today- though one could argue what "survive" means in this case.
Stay tuned, as I expect there's a really happy ending to this story yet to come!
Out of storage!
The worst of it.
Running!
The story of this machine goes like this. An IBM dealer in Mexico lists his Personal System 1 (stylized "PS/1) demonstration unit on eBay. It's roughly 4AM in the morning. I'm awake, as it's my day off. I see it- a good looking PS/1 at a decent price and free shipping? Sold!
I get a reply back from the seller in Spanish. Only then did I realize that "oh no, the computer I bought is in Mexico City and it has to somehow survive a trip across the continent." The seller packed it, and it spent about 4 months in transit.
When it arrived, unfortunately, the machine had been battered. IBM machines are generally made with metal casings, and this one was bent all over from multiple hits. The monitor (which is required to power the machine) looked like it had been through a storm, and didn't work. I figured "someday" I'd fix them, and stuffed the whole thing into storage where it's sat... until now!
Today, @PS2it stopped by my messy shop, and together we were able to get this battered assortment of parts working... kind of. The machine is still in pretty terrible cosmetic shape, but it seems that in terms of it's "guts" the machine actually works pretty good when hooked up to a second monitor! I've passed this neat piece of hardware into PS2it's capable hands, and I'm excited to see what he ultimately does with this interesting old machine! Hopefully some day down the line we'll see it at one of the WCC shows!
For some tech specs, the IBM PS/1 line of computers were designed for the home market, and to compliment their more powerful PS/2 computer line at a more affordable price in 1990. Powered by a Intel 286 processor, these things are not fast nor terribly powerful- though their interesting design and built-in software makes them stand out from other machines of the time. Not too many of these things survive today- though one could argue what "survive" means in this case.
Stay tuned, as I expect there's a really happy ending to this story yet to come!
Out of storage!
The worst of it.
Running!
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