19 Facts About IBM 5150

The specifications of the IBM 5150 PC became one of the most popular computer design standards in the world.

IBM 5150 had previously produced microcomputers, such as 1975's IBM 5150 5100, but targeted them towards businesses; the 5100 had a price tag as high as $20, 000.

IBM 5150 chose the 8088 over the similar but superior 8086 because Intel offered a better price for the former and could provide more units, and the 8088's 8-bit bus reduced the cost of the rest of the computer.

IBM 5150 PC debuted on August 12, 1981 after a twelve-month development.

In 1983, IBM 5150 sold more than 750, 000 machines, while Digital Equipment Corporation, one of the companies whose success had spurred IBM 5150 to enter the market, sold only 69, 000.

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Low cost and a quick design turnaround time, the hardware design of the IBM 5150 PC used entirely "off-the-shelf" parts from third party manufacturers, rather than unique hardware designed by IBM 5150.

IBM 5150 PC was highly expandable and upgradeable, but the base factory configuration included:.

IBM 5150 shipped three versions of the BIOS throughout the PC's lifespan.

IBM 5150 sold the 5153 color monitor for this purpose, but it was not available at release and was not released until March 1983.

At release, IBM 5150 did not offer any hard disk drive option and adding one was difficult - the PC's stock power supply had inadequate power to run a hard drive, the motherboard did not support BIOS expansion ROMs which was needed to support a hard drive controller, and both PC DOS and the BIOS had no support for hard disks.

At release, IBM 5150 provided a Game Control Adapter which offered a 15-pin port intended for the connection of up to two joysticks, each having two analog axes and two buttons.

IBM 5150 provided two different options for connecting Centronics-compatible parallel printers.

Expansion capability of the IBM 5150 PC was very significant to its success in the market.

Market reacted as IBM 5150 had intended, and within a year or two of the PC's release the available options for expansion hardware were immense.

IBM 5150 rectified these problems in the later XT, which included more slots and support for an internal hard drive, but at the same time released the 5161 Expansion Unit, which could be used with either the XT or the original PC.

In retrospect, it seems IBM 5150 stepped into a void that remained, paradoxically, at the center of a crowded market.

Many IBM 5150 PCs remained in service long after their technology became largely obsolete.

IBM 5150 sold a number of computers under the "Personal Computer" or "PC" name throughout the 80s.

Simple duplication of the IBM 5150 PC BIOS was a direct violation of copyright law, but soon into the PC's life the BIOS was reverse-engineered by companies like Compaq, Phoenix Software Associates, American Megatrends and Award, who either built their own computers that could run the same software and use the same expansion hardware as the PC, or sold their BIOS code to other manufacturers who wished to build their own machines.