IBM XT's I have a room full

[equate975]

Hello, I work for a company that has a whole room full of complete IBM XT's with manuals, keyboards, everything.

We are cleaning house and were going to throw them all away, but I noticed some may have a value online.

Could anyone tell me if there is a market for these? As it sits now I can have all of them for free since it will cost us money to dispose of them (I think its something like $4 a lb to recycle a computer and these are heavy!)

I saw one complete system selling for $125 on ebay, I also have boxloads or original "click" keyboards for them.

Anyone know what the going rate would be on one system?

Thanks for the help

[ahm]

It would be useful to know where the machines are located.

[Mike Chambers]

Hello, I work for a company that has a whole room full of complete IBM XT's with manuals, keyboards, everything.

We are cleaning house and were going to throw them all away, but I noticed some may have a value online.

Could anyone tell me if there is a market for these? As it sits now I can have all of them for free since it will cost us money to dispose of them (I think its something like $4 a lb to recycle a computer and these are heavy!)

I saw one complete system selling for $125 on ebay, I also have boxloads or original "click" keyboards for them.

Anyone know what the going rate would be on one system?

Thanks for the help

oh man, don't you dare throw those away or i might have to retaliate with physical force!! those are a true piece of history and a baby kitten is killed every time one is trashed.

yes they are worth a little money, and depending on how many you have... you could make a pretty darn decent buck.

btw, i sent you a PM!

[grant]

Hmmm... I want one... :)

[equate975]

They are in Rochester MN USA, I see a lot of people here are from the UK.

Is there anything I should look for in particular? I was reading around and it seems to me 5150's with early bios revisions seem to be more desirable.

If anyone would like to give me a hand sorting this out or giving me pointers on what to test and what to look for (since I don't know too much about computers THIS old ;) ) Also what things go with what, like monitors and keybaords go with which computer so I can get complete systems put back together. I will sell you guys some on the cheap.

Thanks a ton guys

[Erik]

The early PCs (not XTs) would have a 16-64K motherboard and will boot to BASIC version 1.0 if there is no disk in the drive. Those are somewhat rarer and more desireable in good condition.

They also have two screw cases and black power supplies.

The later machines had 64-256K motherboards, booted to BASIC 1.1 and had silver power supplies and 5 case screws.

Originally each machine would have come with an 83 key PC or XT keyboard with ten function keys down the left side. They would have either a CGA or Monochrome card and the corresponding monitor (5153 or 5151.)

Each would have shipped with a Guide to Operations (purple 3-ring binder in a gray slipcase) and a BASIC manual (green binder) and would have also come with some version of DOS (sold separately) with versions 1.1 or 2.0 common to the early PCs and versions 2.0-3.x common to the XTs.

1.0 versions of DOS (peach binder in a gray slipcase) are pretty rare and fetch quite a bit on eBay and the like - especially when they come with early model PCs with single sided drives.

One thing to be careful with is the CGA and Mono card/monitor differences. The CGA card had a 9 pin female connector on the card edge that come through the back of the machine. The Monochrome card also included a parallel port so it had the same 9 pin display connector but also sported a 25 pin parallel female port. It's best not to plug the wrong monitor into these ports although it probably won't blow anything up if you don't leave it plugged in.

Testing is simple. Plug in a keyboard and the appropriate monitor. Add power cables and turn the units on. After a long warmup with nothing but a blinking cursor the machines should beep twice and go for the floppies (or hard drives). Failures will include beeps and/or error codes on the screen.

If nothing at all happens you've got bigger problems.

Best of luck and take some pictures of the piles for us! :)

[equate975]

Great thanks for the info. I knew we had the computers for a long time, and I remember maybe... 8 years ago or so I was digging through them, I found a lot of old manuals for them and I took a couple apart and IIRC some had black PSU's. Ill go back tomorrow and check it all out.

Thanks again

Pics soon ;)

[retrocanyon]

Let me know what you've got. I may be able to make an offer. Thanks Sincerely, Todd

[mbbrutman]

I'm in Rochester MN - check your private messages and let's see what we can rescue.


Mike

[equate975]

Sorry for the late reply guys, I was out of town until now.

Unfortunately someone did not listen to me at work and started chucking all the XT's, I managed to save 2 complete systems but that was it.

I haven't had a chance to test them yet but I will let you know.

Thanks again for all the help.

[rmay635703]

If he did indeed chuck them you may find your trash won't get picked up as they must be recycled for metal generally in most areas. (you can get fined)

The most desirable and rare items would be the IBM 5154 EGA and 515? PGA monitors. Overdrives, external drives of any type are generally the most desireable, I live here in wisconsin and would have been willing to pick up some or all dep. on price and type.

Cheers
Ryan