what is this? IBM powerstation

From: Philip.Belben_at_powertech.co.uk <(Philip.Belben_at_powertech.co.uk)>
Date: Wed Oct 1 09:44:29 1997

> I've started collecting old IBM machines, (brand loyalty) and today came
> across a machine called an IBM powerstation 550e. it looks very much like an
> apple /// except it has two floppy drives, a db9, rj11,.and 3 db25 ports on
> the back. i havent powered it up yet as i'm still trying to figure out how to
> open it. I'm off work this week, so I cant ask any of the old IBMers what
> this is. anyone know?

Rather than merely endorsing William D's comments, I think I have one or two
things to add...

1. The keyboards on our RS/6000s at work look exactly like PS/2 keyboards
except there is an ID number printed in the margin of the Num Lock lamp sticker.
It does not have the huge quantity of extra keys found on the 3270 workstations
that I used to work with.

2. The RS/6000 are not very closely related physically to the 6150 (RT PC)
family. Certainly neither our model 320 nor 375 have ISA slots - the slots are
much more like the ones you describe.

3. However, I am puzzled by your physical description. I too expected a large
tower for a 500 series powerstation. In fact I cannot think of any IBM product
that looked like an Apple /// except possibly the Datamaster. Could the name
Powerstation have been used for something other than RS/6000s?

Philip.
Received on Wed Oct 01 1997 - 09:44:29 BST