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laptop-pics-u7z4hz.txt (15538B)

      1 [1][laptop-pics]
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      3   • [2]Apple
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      5   • [4]Canon
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     14 
     15 [12]IBM PS/2 Model P70
     16 
     17   • [13]May 16, 2018
     18   • [14]Jack
     19   • [15]5 Comments
     20 
     21 
     22 Introduction
     23 
     24 It’s 1989. Most people are using 286 or 386-based systems with 2-4 MB of
     25 memory, and an EGA monitor. Some people are still using the IBM 5150 PC or 5160
     26 XT, likely paired with an MDA card and green-screen monitor (both of which were
     27 still sold new within the last 3 years). A few people have Amigas, Ataris,
     28 Macintosh IIs, or new 486 machines. The new [16]Atari Portfolio is sometimes
     29 used on the road, as well as the older Epson HX-20 and TRS-80 Model 100. Quite
     30 a few people are using 2400 baud external modems to connect to Bulletin Board
     31 Systems and download utilities like PKZIP or PKARC. But there’s one portable
     32 computer coming out that has everything you could ask for on-the-go – a VGA
     33 Screen, a 386 running at up to 20 MHz, and a hard drive with a size of up to
     34 120 MB (!).
     35 
     36 [17][p70-2-1024x941][18][p70-1-1024x914]
     37 
     38 Meet the IBM PS/2 P70. Not related to the modern ThinkPad P70 (which came out
     39 in 2015), the PS/2 P70 was a “luggable” Microchannel Architecture (MCA)
     40 computer, with an amber gas-plasma display similar to the [19]Toshiba T5200. It
     41 came with a truly pleasant fold-down mechanical keyboard, gorgeous display,
     42 3.5″ Floppy Drive (when many people were still using 5.25″), and, of course, a
     43 PS/2 Port for a mouse (when serial mice, InPort mice, and no mice at all were
     44 still very common).
     45 
     46 The only problem would have been the prohibitive cost. My model, when it was
     47 new, cost $7,695 as of the product announcement on May 9, 1989. If we convert
     48 this to 2018 dollars, we’re looking at $15,486. There are still new cars being
     49 sold for less than that.
     50 
     51 This computer might seem cumbersome, too big to use on the road, and not truly
     52 portable (since it didn’t run off batteries). But at the time, there were no
     53 equivalent offerings from Data General, Tandy, Toshiba, Bondwell, Magnavox or
     54 any other company that manufactured portables of the day. (Especially regarding
     55 the VGA screen and PS/2 Port.) Also remember that the original Nintendo Game
     56 Boy was just coming out at this time.
     57 
     58 The PS/2 Model P70 is essentially a portable version of the PS/2 Model 70,
     59 which was a horizontally-oriented Microchannel Desktop system of the time. I do
     60 have one of these, equipped with two 3.5″ Floppy Drives, 5 MB of RAM, and a 60
     61 MB ESDI Hard Drive. This particular desktop configuration cost $7,995 in August
     62 of 1988. I can confirm that the desktop behaves quite similarly to the
     63 portable, both in design and “mannerisms”.
     64 
     65 Working with old computers, and saving them from a trip to the trash, can be
     66 easier than it seems. I got my PS/2 P70 for fairly cheap, because it had three
     67 main show-stopping problems: No video (picture), bad CMOS battery, and
     68 completely missing floppy drive. I installed one of my spare PS/2 L40SX floppy
     69 drives, popped a new CR-P2 battery into the socketed CMOS Battery Holder, and
     70 used some DeOxit on the plasma display connector. Good as new.
     71 
     72 Note that a working floppy drive is necessary to enter the Configuration
     73 Utility and set the machine’s parameters, such as Hard Drive Type (otherwise,
     74 the computer will not know how to boot from it.) If the CMOS battery (6V CR-P2)
     75 runs out, the machine will “forget” this configuration, and will not boot from
     76 the hard drive until you run the configuration utility again. This doesn’t
     77 sound terrible at first, but the P70’s integrated floppy drive is notoriously
     78 unreliable for a few reasons. First, the vertical design causes dust to
     79 accumulate in it. Second, it’s semi-proprietary (as it carries power and data
     80 on the same cable). It’s possible to retrofit a regular IDE floppy drive, but
     81 this process requires modifications to the cable. Third, the P70’s factory
     82 floppy drive is prone to capacitor failure, which causes the drive motor to
     83 spin at full speed, making floppy drive file operations fail!
     84 
     85 Pictures
     86 
     87 Here are some extreme close-up shots of the interior, taken in 2019:
     88 
     89 [20][p70-2021-2-185x300] [21][p70-2021-3-3-300x219]
     90 
     91 And here are some action shots:
     92 
     93 [22][p70-3-1024x678] [23][p70-4-1024x678] [24][p70-5-1024x712] [25]
     94 [p70-6-1024x800] [26][p70-7-1024x678]
     95 
     96 [27][p70-2021-6-300x251] [28][p70-2021-7-300x225] [29][p70-2021-8-268x300]
     97 
     98 Here are some miscellaneous case shots:
     99 
    100 [30][p70-2021-5-300x225][31][p70-2021-4-1-300x274][32][p70-2021-1-225x300]
    101 
    102 And finally, a picture of the finished product, including the original
    103 enclosure (which took a while to find) around the Floppy Drive. The entire
    104 floppy assembly tilts outward when you push on it, and clicks back into place
    105 for storage:
    106 
    107 [33][p70-2021-9-1-300x280]
    108 
    109 Revised on June 29, 2021
    110 
    111 
    112 Category: [34]IBM
    113 [d63005]
    114 
    115 About the Author
    116 
    117 
    118 5 Responses to IBM PS/2 Model P70
    119 
    120  1. [10] [35]John Edwrd Harris says:
    121     [36]March 12, 2019 at 4:52 pm
    122 
    123     I acquired a used PS/2 P70 in the late 1990’s that I used for a few years.
    124     I used it primarily for word processing and email until I upgraded to used
    125     Toshiba satellite laptop. It was heavy, but portable enough that I could
    126     take it on the road when attending in-residence seminars. I have some fond
    127     memories of that work horse. Thanks for the background information and a
    128     trip down memory lane.
    129 
    130     [37]Reply
    131  2. [7b] [38]FANGXIANG says:
    132     [39]April 30, 2021 at 4:04 am
    133 
    134     Hello, I’m glad to see your introduction to the P70 computer, some of which
    135     I first learned about. I sent you a letter from China, P70 computer is very
    136     rare here. I’m lucky to have one. Thank you again for your photos. As you
    137     can see from the web page: [40]http://www.pcang.com/fang/
    138     ibm_personal_system-2_P70.htm
    139 
    140     [41]Reply
    141  3. [9f] Rita Graça says:
    142     [42]June 29, 2021 at 8:42 am
    143 
    144     How does one insert and remove disks in and from the floppy drive? Also, it
    145     looks like some sort of plastic should cover it.
    146 
    147     [43]Reply
    148       □ [d6] Jack says:
    149         [44]June 29, 2021 at 10:43 am
    150 
    151         The entire floppy assembly tilts downward (pops out) when you push on
    152         it. As mentioned in the article, I had to use a non-original floppy
    153         drive, so it didn’t have any plastic enclosure. However, I found one
    154         years later, and just uploaded a picture of the final assembly (at the
    155         bottom of the article.)
    156 
    157         [45]Reply
    158  4. [c7] PB says:
    159     [46]December 13, 2023 at 8:14 am
    160 
    161     I remember these laying around the IBM Rochester, MN AS/400 lab. They were
    162     useful to run the AS/400 terminal software.
    163 
    164     [47]Reply
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    309 References:
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    311 [1] http://laptop.pics/
    312 [2] http://laptop.pics/apple/
    313 [3] http://laptop.pics/atari/
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    315 [5] http://laptop.pics/dell/
    316 [6] http://laptop.pics/hp/
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    319 [9] http://laptop.pics/panasonic/
    320 [10] http://laptop.pics/sager/
    321 [11] http://laptop.pics/toshiba/
    322 [12] http://laptop.pics/ibm-ps-2-model-p70/
    323 [13] http://laptop.pics/ibm-ps-2-model-p70/
    324 [14] http://laptop.pics/author/jack/
    325 [15] http://laptop.pics/ibm-ps-2-model-p70/#comments
    326 [16] http://laptop.pics/atari-portfolio/
    327 [17] http://laptop.pics/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/p70-2.jpg
    328 [18] http://laptop.pics/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/p70-1.jpg
    329 [19] http://laptop.pics/toshiba-t5200100/
    330 [20] http://laptop.pics/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/p70-2021-2.jpg
    331 [21] http://laptop.pics/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/p70-2021-3-3.jpg
    332 [22] http://laptop.pics/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/p70-3.jpg
    333 [23] http://laptop.pics/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/p70-4.jpg
    334 [24] http://laptop.pics/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/p70-5.jpg
    335 [25] http://laptop.pics/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/p70-6.jpg
    336 [26] http://laptop.pics/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/p70-7.jpg
    337 [27] http://laptop.pics/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/p70-2021-6.jpg
    338 [28] http://laptop.pics/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/p70-2021-7.jpg
    339 [29] http://laptop.pics/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/p70-2021-8.jpg
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    342 [32] http://laptop.pics/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/p70-2021-1.jpg
    343 [33] http://laptop.pics/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/p70-2021-9-1.jpg
    344 [34] http://laptop.pics/category/ibm/
    345 [35] http://summitytoshore.blogspot.com/
    346 [36] http://laptop.pics/ibm-ps-2-model-p70/#comment-7083
    347 [37] http://laptop.pics/ibm-ps-2-model-p70/?replytocom=7083#respond
    348 [38] http://www.pcang.com/
    349 [39] http://laptop.pics/ibm-ps-2-model-p70/#comment-80270
    350 [40] http://www.pcang.com/fang/ibm_personal_system-2_P70.htm
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    356 [46] http://laptop.pics/ibm-ps-2-model-p70/#comment-97316
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    359 [58] http://laptop.pics/canon-notejet/
    360 [59] http://laptop.pics/atari-portfolio/
    361 [62] http://laptop.pics/poqet-pc/
    362 [63] http://laptop.pics/mitsubishi-amity/
    363 [64] http://laptop.pics/nec-ultralite/
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    365 [66] http://laptop.pics/lexmark-lexbook-mb10/
    366 [67] http://laptop.pics/toshiba-t3400/
    367 [68] http://laptop.pics/panasonic-toughbook-cf-m34/
    368 [69] http://laptop.pics/chandra/
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    372 [73] http://laptop.pics/panasonic-cf-41-toughbook/
    373 [74] http://laptop.pics/crt-cathode-ray-tube-monitors-overview/
    374 [75] http://laptop.pics/atari-portfolio/
    375 [76] http://laptop.pics/ibm-ps-2-model-p70/
    376 [77] http://laptop.pics/canon-notejet/
    377 [78] http://laptop.pics/ibm-transnote/
    378 [79] http://laptop.pics/apple-powerbook-180/
    379 [80] http://laptop.pics/hp-jornada-547/
    380 [81] http://laptop.pics/ibm-thinkpad-500/
    381 [82] http://laptop.pics/toshiba-libretto-70ct/
    382 [83] http://laptop.pics/lenovo-thinkpad-w700/
    383 [84] http://laptop.pics/ibm-thinkpad-770z/
    384 [85] http://laptop.pics/ibm-thinkpad-a31p/
    385 [86] http://laptop.pics/ibm-thinkpad-701c/
    386 [87] http://laptop.pics/ibm-ps2-l40-sx/
    387 [88] http://laptop.pics/ibm-workpad-z50/
    388 [89] http://laptop.pics/toshiba-t5200100/
    389 [90] http://laptop.pics/ibm-ps2-cl57sx/
    390 [91] http://laptop.pics/ibm-pc110/
    391 [92] http://laptop.pics/mitsubishi-amity/#comment-98870
    392 [93] http://laptop.pics/mitsubishi-amity/#comment-98869
    393 [94] http://laptop.pics/poqet-pc/#comment-98767
    394 [95] http://laptop.pics/mitsubishi-amity/#comment-98736
    395 [96] http://www.macdat.net/
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    425 [126] http://laptop.pics/category/nec/
    426 [127] http://laptop.pics/category/news/
    427 [128] http://laptop.pics/category/panasonic/
    428 [129] http://laptop.pics/category/peripherals/
    429 [130] http://laptop.pics/category/poqet/
    430 [131] http://laptop.pics/category/sager/
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    432 [133] http://laptop.pics/wp-login.php
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    435 [136] https://wordpress.org/
    436 [137] http://visitorcounterplugin.com/
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