IBM 5110

The system came with both the monster IBM printer (not pictured) and an even bigger dual 8" disk drive cabinet."

I haven't had a chance to plug this beast in for testing and play yet, but I hope to soon!

(Submitted February 19, 2008 12:15:56 by Steve Armstrong)

I spent a year working on one of these. I programmed an apartment management system for a fellow in BASIC. The model we had had 16K (5K of which was OS) I came within 59 bytes of using all memory on one of the programs -- I hadn't learned to modularize programs too well at that point.

(Submitted October 27, 2007 03:48:18 by (a href=mailto:alex.rosser.NOSPAM.at.gmail.com)Alex(/a))

APL was a most interesting language. Those who learnt it became quite addicted. Plusses - Very powerful and compact. Several pages of FORTRAN or COBOL or BASIC became only a few lines in APL. Minuses - Very steep initial learning curve. Special character set.

(Submitted October 16, 2007 12:08:21 by John V.)

These photos bring back memories for me, as well. When I was in high school my father company bought one. I learned BASIC programming on it. I seem to remember it even had a rocker switch that was used to select APL or BASIC.

(Submitted November 27, 2006 09:11:31 by Freshi)

WOW! I remember that monster! I learned some APL (A Programming Language) on the good old 5110. I can not remember having seen my teacher so excited as on the day the 5110 was delivered. We had some real good times together exploring the secret system-monitor (found accidently when pressed pressed some keys while turning on the machine).

*sigh* these must have been the good old days LOL

Btw. Nice site. I enjoyed looking at some ancient computers i have known myself!

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Description
Manufacturer	International Business Machines Inc.
Model	5110
Date Announced	1978
Date Canceled	1982
Number Produced	Thousands
Country of Origin	USA
Price	$9,000 to $20,000 depending on configuration
Current Value	$250 to $1,000+

Specifications
Processor	IBM Processor card - no microprocessor - called "PALM" (Put All Logic in Microcode)
Speed
RAM	16-64K in 16K increments
ROM	18K to 96K depending on language options
Storage	1.2MB 8" floppy drives or 1/4 tape drives, depending on model"
Expansion	None internally aside from memory
Bus	N/A
Video	16 lines x 64 characters on a 5" screen"
I/O	Proprietary
OS Options	N/A

Notes	The IBM 5110 followed the IBM 5100 with the intention of bringing the "IBM Portable Computer" to the mainstream - i.e. to allow it to be used for business applications as well as scientific ones.

Related Items in Collection	Printer, disk drive cabinet, IBM PC, IBM PC AT etc.
Related Items Wanted	Software, IBM 5100, etc.