Another IBM Day/Evening - with a bonus!

[Harshmallow]

Bonjour!

So I've come to find that I have a knack for getting lucky whenever I find a new IBM system in my local listings, as this is now the third time that I've gone out to purchase an IBM system (This time a wonderful 5160 with two 5 1/4" floppy drives and a 10mb HDD, a 5151 monitor and model F XT) and come back with more than I expected. The first time was when I purchased my 5155 portable and ended up getting 2 Kaypros for free from the seller, the second time was a few weeks back when I bought my P70 8573-121 portable and ended up getting a Panasonic Exec. Partner portable as well.

This time around, I traveled west to a not-so-distant burrough to pick up said 5160 IBM PC system for an agreed upon sum of $170 CAD - not bad considering it is complete, in great condition, has 3 drives in it AND the HDD is loaded with lots of software. I got there and told the guy what kind of stuff I collect, and he went downstairs and came back up with 3 more keyboards! I ended up leaving the NEC APC-H412 there as I already have one in much better condition, this one was missing a key cap and the guy had cut the connector off previously and then reattached a different 5 pin DIN connector. So he sold me the second F XT for $25 and the Zenith 'Eazy PC' keyboard for $20 =D So I have inadvertently gotten my Zenith keyboard with green alps now, and I really like the layout on this. Considering it's an XT board, it has no stepped keys and even has a 2u backspace.

20170519_213530.jpg (4.48 MiB) Viewed 2329 times

[jerue]

Nice find, how do you like green alps? There should be a switch for that Zenith board that'll work in AT mode

[DeChief]

Oh man, and I thought I was lucky getting a Commodore PC 20-II set for free! I would kill for an XT set that cheap.. (hell, I would even pay $170 for the monitor alone!)

[seebart]

Nice catch congrats. Show us that Zenith when you're ready.

65117447.jpg (12.67 KiB) Viewed 2277 times

[Redmaus]

Very impressive. I had a chance to buy a whole Zenith system once with box and all but parents blocked it

Always have loved the beige look of these monsters.

[Harshmallow]

Thanks - I will definitely take more photos once I've taken the time to clean these out and make em spiffy again. Yeah, patience really does pay off from time to time - or maybe I just have a knack for finding vintage IBM systems. I've got this, my P70 and my 5155 Portable...all I really want now is a complete 5140 'convertible' and an AT system to go along with my F AT board and my life would be complete

BTW - I weighed both XT boards and the top right one in the photo is 2 ounces heavier than the one below it - bringing its weight to an even 6lbs, while the other one is 5lbs 14 ounces. I wonder if that's extra weight in the inner plate, back plate, or elsewhere.

[alienman82]

removed.

[Harshmallow]

did you test that zenith? I found the grey label EAZY PC one, cannot get it to work with all sorts of tricks.

Not yet - I'm going to test it on the 5160 itself tomorrow most likely. I plugged it into my current PC with a standard AT to PS/2 adapter for shits and giggles - the red lock lights came on and stayed on but the keyboard was otherwise unresponsive. I wasn't really expecting different results, but the lock lights work lol.

Also, the Zenith is another birthday month/year board for me at May 1987

[paecific.jr]

If you are looking at converting the Zenith this post may be helpful. keyboards-f2/xt-zenith-z-150-converter-t12972.html

[Harshmallow]

If you are looking at converting the Zenith this post may be helpful. keyboards-f2/xt-zenith-z-150-converter-t12972.html

Thanks for the info - I'm not sure I'll do anything to it apart from cleaning it up. I have yet to order a Soarer's Converter, but if it doesn't work with that either, I'll likely just use it with this with the 5160 when I want a change from the model F XT.