How did portable computers gain a place in our lives? What did the laptops we use today when we go to a coffee shop and check our e-mails actually look like 40 years ago? Exactly 40 years ago today, the IBM Portable Computer was introduced. Details of the computer that will be considered the ancestor of laptops are in our news…

IBM Portable Computer features and story!

When laptops were mentioned years ago, IBM came to mind, not MacBook. IBM, the top personal computer brand of its time, introduced the IBM Portable Computer computer exactly 40 years ago today.

As the name suggests, the emphasis on “portable computer” is very important. However, do not think of a very light device. The device weighed 30 Pounds in total. This corresponds to approximately 14 kilograms. When we compare the price of the device, which was sold for 4 thousand 225 dollars at the time, with today’s exchange rate (inflation, purchasing power, etc.), it means approximately 12 thousand 390 dollars.

If we make a small comparison to explain how valuable computers were at that time, we can say that you could buy an IBM Portable Computer 5155 for 12 MacBook Airs. The device competed with Compaq Portable when it was released and managed to keep its price lower because it had a less complex structure.

The device has a 9-inch monochrome CRT monitor and a keyboard that acts as the computer cover when not in use. So if you were using IBM, you were turning off your keyboard, not the screen. The device had dual 5.25-inch floppy disk drives. IBM Portable 5155, which had an Intel 8088 processor running at a clock speed of 4.77 MHz and 256 KB of RAM, was challenging the desktop computers of that period.

Although the device had really good features for that period, its lifespan was not very long. In 1986, IBM turned to newer models aimed at meeting the ever-increasing demands of the computing market. The story of IBM Portable Computer 5155 ended here.