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The IBM Luggable PC
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Louis Ohland
Mar 27, 2016, 11:06:23 AM3/27/16
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http://www.oocities.org/siliconvalley/lakes/5705/p70.html
"While PS/2-P70 was the official name, everyone called this machine the
"Luggable." It came along around 1988 or so. This model has an Intel 386
CPU; there was also a 486 version. This one has 4MB of memory and a 30MB
hard drive, and a 3.5" diskette drive. The display, which folds out from
the unit, was monochrome, with a weird orange color (like this.) IBM
called it a "Gas Plasma Display." This system was "portable" if you had
a strong back (it weighs about 20 lbs.) and a place to plug it in --- no
batteries here! I used it as an upgrade from the PC XT to connect from
home to the host e-mail system at work, and to connect to the cc:mail
system at LANDA. (Any former LANDA members out there, please say hello.)
Some genius IBM engineers in Poughkeepsie, working under Head Genius
Bill Beausolleil, made up a version of the 486 model that had a S/370
co-processor card. It could actually run mainframe programs, as well as
PC software. Incredible but true!
They've come a long way from this early "mobile" PC to today's ThinkPads!"
"While PS/2-P70 was the official name, everyone called this machine the
"Luggable." It came along around 1988 or so. This model has an Intel 386
CPU; there was also a 486 version. This one has 4MB of memory and a 30MB
hard drive, and a 3.5" diskette drive. The display, which folds out from
the unit, was monochrome, with a weird orange color (like this.) IBM
called it a "Gas Plasma Display." This system was "portable" if you had
a strong back (it weighs about 20 lbs.) and a place to plug it in --- no
batteries here! I used it as an upgrade from the PC XT to connect from
home to the host e-mail system at work, and to connect to the cc:mail
system at LANDA. (Any former LANDA members out there, please say hello.)
Some genius IBM engineers in Poughkeepsie, working under Head Genius
Bill Beausolleil, made up a version of the 486 model that had a S/370
co-processor card. It could actually run mainframe programs, as well as
PC software. Incredible but true!
They've come a long way from this early "mobile" PC to today's ThinkPads!"
gfre...@aol.com
Mar 27, 2016, 1:31:16 PM3/27/16
to
On Sun, 27 Mar 2016 10:06:22 -0500, Louis Ohland <ohl...@charter.net>
wrote:
I carried one for years. The number was 8573. I think the 486 was 8575
with a SCSI bus, but I never saw one.
The most popular configuration for IBM road warriors was a short T/R
card and a long memory expansion card. I was a DOS guy so I used a
SCSI card instead of the memory card and put a bigger disk drive in
it. That also let me use an external CDROM, scanner or whatever. I
used the 900meg Elite drives in an AS400 shoe box like diskettes for
porting over data.
The first luggable was the 5161, an XT with a handle on it and a small
mono display. That also came out later as an AT (6162) with the short
(height) version of the 16 bit cards.
Compared to those, the Convertible was down right tiny but hampered by
the 8 bit processor and no hard drive.
The strange thing was my Thinkpad, in the case with everything I
carried, weighed about the same as the 8573.
wrote:
with a SCSI bus, but I never saw one.
The most popular configuration for IBM road warriors was a short T/R
card and a long memory expansion card. I was a DOS guy so I used a
SCSI card instead of the memory card and put a bigger disk drive in
it. That also let me use an external CDROM, scanner or whatever. I
used the 900meg Elite drives in an AS400 shoe box like diskettes for
porting over data.
The first luggable was the 5161, an XT with a handle on it and a small
mono display. That also came out later as an AT (6162) with the short
(height) version of the 16 bit cards.
Compared to those, the Convertible was down right tiny but hampered by
the 8 bit processor and no hard drive.
The strange thing was my Thinkpad, in the case with everything I
carried, weighed about the same as the 8573.
WBSTClarke
Mar 27, 2016, 1:56:29 PM3/27/16
to
gfre...@aol.com
Mar 27, 2016, 2:09:28 PM3/27/16
to
On Sun, 27 Mar 2016 10:56:29 -0700 (PDT), WBSTClarke
<wbstc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I carried one for years. The number was 8573. I think the 486 was 8575
>> with a SCSI bus, but I never saw one.
>
<wbstc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> I carried one for years. The number was 8573. I think the 486 was 8575
>> with a SCSI bus, but I never saw one.
>
>The portable P75 486 was 8573-401 with the same 400MB SCSI HD as in the 8595.
I knew there was a "75" in there somewhere ;-)
I ended up with the 1gig AS400 drive in mine. I started with the 320m
"lightning" but that was also known as the "bonger" after the
recalibrate sound they made when they failed. It sounded like dropping
a ball bearing on a marble table.
WBSTClarke
Mar 27, 2016, 2:23:03 PM3/27/16
to
gfre...@aol.com
Mar 27, 2016, 6:44:43 PM3/27/16
to
On Sun, 27 Mar 2016 11:23:02 -0700 (PDT), WBSTClarke
Somebody here got my 8573 but by then I think it had the F2DBA 120 in
it. Right at the end, I was using the long slot for something else.
Maybe a faster modem or something. It was over 20 years ago and things
are a little fuzzy. ;-)
it. Right at the end, I was using the long slot for something else.
Maybe a faster modem or something. It was over 20 years ago and things
are a little fuzzy. ;-)
ekb...@vnet.ibm.com
Mar 29, 2016, 8:35:00 AM3/29/16
to
Sorry, the 5155 was the true "IBM Luggable PC" -- larger, heavier, and the handle was in no way "ergonomic".
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