IBM 5120

From: Richard A. Cini, Jr. <rcini_at_classic.msn.com>
Date: Thu Sep 18 07:32:41 1997

On Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 21:59:50 Grant Zozman <gzozman_at_escape.ca> wrote:

>>My second job as a computer programmer put me in front of an IBM 5120.
>>It was a desktop model which incorporated a B&W monitor, keyboard, and
>>two 8" floppy drives in the main cabinet.

        Sounds like an early Datamaster to me. I have a Datamaster (5123), but it has
a green-screen, not a B&W one. Otherwise the description matches.

        As I understand the Datamaster, it really was the predecessor to the PC. It
was desktop based, although you needed a large desk <g>. It had an ISA-like
bus into which you could plug-in cards. My guess, from talking to someone who
worked on the project, that it was a business machine (A/P, billing, word
processing, etc.) that fell out of favor when IBM introduced the PC in 1981.
The PC was 1/3 the size, probably 1/4 the weight, much faster, and used 5-1/4"
diskettes.

        There are several Datamaster owners here who can fill in more about the
actual specs. I don't use mine much because I have a blown ROM chip that
prevents me from booting...


-------------------------------------------------
Rich Cini/WUGNET
 <rcini_at_msn.com>
 - ClubWin Charter Member (6)
 - MCP Windows 95/Netowrking
Received on Thu Sep 18 1997 - 07:32:41 BST