Did I get a good deal?

[pingmaster]

IBM Model F XT. 200$

....Also..... IBM PC 5150
And Monitor
And Printer
And Software
And Disks
And And Manuals.

I took it.

[JP!]

Sounds like a good deal, especially considering the price of shipping. Heck, look at the prices just the XT keyboards bring. Does the 5150 turn on? Also I would love to see some pictures whenever you have a chance.

[pingmaster]

1: Craigslist, so no shipping hassle!

2: Here are le pictures: http://i.imgur.com/ex62Bpu.jpg

[depletedvespene]

Excellent deal.

[JP!]

Wow, very nice!

[andrewjoy]

it was a crappy deal , i will help you cover your losses by paying you 150 USD for it so you only lost 50

[DustGod]

Nice deal! Also, nice that you can pick it up; got a 5291 two days ago, and I was fearing that the shipping expenses would've kill it. Luckily I ended up paying 35€, which is quite reasonable for shipping it from Spain to Italy.

[Clavius]

Nice deal! Also, nice that you can pick it up; got a 5291 two days ago, and I was fearing that the shipping expenses would've kill it. Luckily I ended up paying 35€, which is quite reasonable for shipping it from Spain to Italy.

That's a pretty good deal too. What website do you check? I find that eBay rarely list items from Europe, which usually means I end up buying something from the US and having to stomach horrendous shipping costs.

[DustGod]

That's a pretty good deal too. What website do you check? I find that eBay rarely list items from Europe, which usually means I end up buying something from the US and having to stomach horrendous shipping costs.

Yes, European listings are significantly rarer. I found it on eBay. Gave 70€ for a 5291 terminal, the monitor and the matching bigfoot Model F (minus 3 keycaps).

[JP!]

Although that monitor is not the original IBM one, I really like the amber color of the text. I bet that was an expensive kit in it's day. Also it is a really nice bonus that you have one with a working hard drive. You got a good one for sure.

[pingmaster]

Original owner said it was 6000$ paid over a 20 year loan.

[depletedvespene]

Sounds about right. Computers were quite expensive back in the day, even the "home computers" of the time.

[depletedvespene]

Perhaps this weekend I'll go to my basement, take out some of my COMPUTE! magazines from the mid-80s and scan/photograph some of the advertisements inside. When it comes to computers, it never ceases to be impressive to compare numbers (RAM, speed, disk sizes, price...).

[DustGod]

Perhaps this weekend I'll go to my basement, take out some of my COMPUTE! magazines from the mid-80s and scan/photograph some of the advertisements inside. When it comes to computers, it never ceases to be impressive to compare numbers (RAM, speed, disk sizes, price...).

Yes please!

[Chyros]

Depends. If you want just the F XT keyboard, not very good. If you like vintage computing, pretty excellent .

Man, those good old IBM PCs are just so awesome, IMO the absolute most interesting computer system of all time. For anyone who's interested, give the wikipedia article on it a go sometime, it's an absolute cracking read crammed with superlatives: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer . There was nothing about this thing or even IBM in general at that time that wasn't amazing!

[pingmaster]

Depends. If you want just the F XT keyboard, not very good. If you like vintage computing, pretty excellent .

Man, those good old IBM PCs are just so awesome, IMO the absolute most interesting computer system of all time. For anyone who's interested, give the wikipedia article on it a go sometime, it's an absolute cracking read crammed with superlatives: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer . There was nothing about this thing or even IBM in general at that time that wasn't amazing!

I got it for the WHOLE machine. The keyboard just happened to come along for the ride.
Awesome things about this machine no modern machine does:
1: power switch feels like its from a nuclear power plant.
2: hard drive geos whirr.
3: the bright light dot that occurs when turnng off the display
4: 16.8 millions colors, more like 1
5: Floppy disk goes wobbly!
6: plz enter time and date
7: BASIC PROGRAMMING
8: keyboard that weighs more than a "brick shithouse" so I tell people pick it up and they are super confused why its so heavy
9: dir /w
10:......
11:*insert herE*
.............
45061: Upgradable CPU!
45062: 125LBS OF DOT MATRIX

Yeah, the org. IBM PC is quite a machine alright!

[ideus]

I consider the XT layout the more ergonomic option for those that want an ISO enter along with an ANSI US layout.

[pingmaster]

I consider the XT layout the more ergonomic option for those that want an ISO enter along with an ANSI US layout.

True.