Brand NEW IBM PC AT + Model M! Unboxing & Setup

Greetings and welcome to an LGR thing. And look what I’ve got today...Cardboard boxes!

More specifically, IBM cardboard boxes, as you might be able to tell from the little logos here and there. And what’s inside there? Well... It’s something super cool and something I’ve always dreamed of doing, and that is getting a vintage IBM computer, a PC 5170 AT, in this case... and opening it! Setting it up!

And— and powering it on for the first time... since it left the factory decades ago. And so I actually was able to find this...from a guy on eBay who apparently has access to a warehouse of these things. It just looks amazing! What I would give to walk through there and see a sight like that just...holy crap.

But yeah, I bought one, and here it is. It’s all right here. This one in particular was made in 1988 We’re gonna open it up and set this thing up in a moment. But just in case you’re not familiar with these machines, it’s a 286 machine running at 8 MHz. This one has 512K of RAM. I think a 30 meg hard disk...1.2 meg disk drive, and...The thing is, this one doesn’t actually have...a video card.

Or even an operating system. According to the seller... when the IBM dealer or authorized reseller installed additional options...and set up the product for the end user. So, if you were wanting to buy an IBM AT– in 1988 in this case– then you wouldn’t actually got to IBM directly. You would go to some sort of middle man, service dealer, or authorized retailer and... they would catch on from IBM, set it up for you with all the choices that you simply chose.

And this is how it came, before it got to the end user. So, I’m gonna sort of play the part of that middle man, authorized IBM person and...install a video card, an operating system, some other software...I don’t even know what else yet. I am so excited! So let’s do this. I am SO ready... to dive into this thing! Let’s do it!

Okay, I’ve got a box within a box here. Nice. I like that little message there:

Units manufactured for USA and Canada...require UL listed accessories. The other things, which is in the other box, we’ll be opening after this. I see the, uh...tape is starting to deteriorate. Which makes sense, it’s been on there so long. It’s a really cool IBM box, though. Look at that: Personal Computer AT System Unit. This one was made in the UK. One of their Scotland...assembly plants, if I am correct. I am keeping this box. It’s so cool.

Oh, this is a magic moment. It really is. This is the...first time...it’s been opened since assembled. Oh my goodness. The Styrofoam has actually melted to the cardboard a touch. There we go. Looks like a couple of elements have gotten in here and just kind of ...you know, leaked onto that but...not bad. Here we go.

First up, we have the IBM Inventory Checklist. And, yeah, confine mind, this wasn't gonna go on to the end user, this was, you know, for...distributors and retailers and stuff like that. So, it says what it’s supposed to come with. Which it should. And yeah, it’s just in a bunch of different languages. That’s it, really. It’s just a list of... three things.

If anything is missing or damaged, please consult your place of purchase. So we have this little back plate... thing here. Well, it’s not little, its friggin huge. And it’s got some Velcro– Velcro-branded Velcro on the back here. Looks like this goes over the I/O plate and just kind of covers up, like, the screws and sort of extraneous...stuff?...Yeah. That’s new to me. I’ve never seen one of these.

Okay. That was simple enough. And the rest of its still stuck in the bottom there. Maybe its glued in place, I’m not sure. How cool is this?

Three decades. Close enough to it. So, yeah, you can actually see here, there’s the Made in U.K. sticker, which is of course gonna be removed...you know, by the time it gets to the user, I might assume. And a pleasant little key lock here, indicators ...And, yeah, it does have a touch little bit of ...not damage, it’s just gonna need ...cleaning. Because I assume in whatever conditions it had been stored in, it just got this type of modeled effect happening. Which happens any time something is stored multiple decades and isn’t a perfectly sealed box, because you could see that tape...was perishing.

This right here is a wonderful moment though, So, this disk drive...they always came with this little bit of cardboard in there. First time it’s been taken out since leaving the factory. This is to stay the heads from knocking around ...and getting damaged during shipment I’m gonna put that back There’s that delightful power switch, mmm. Brand new, like it had an extra. It has now been de-clicked The glue hasn’t completely melted away...Some of it has started to...Ok, this is interesting, So it is of course manufactured in the U.K., made for sale in the U.S.,

This is getting to need to be switched to ... there we go ... U.S. voltage. That 230 volt, question mark. Huh?

Yeah, so you can switch it back and forth. Between the voltages of the different countries 5170 little logo right here is sort of sliding downward. The glue didn’t quite hold...But everything else looks to be absolutely...I mean brand new, perfect condition, nothing else seems to be melting, which is good!

I assume that it maybe got some sort of heat exposure over time.

But yeah, I mean it’s a good sign though. Things aren’t completely, you know, melted. It was made in Greenock, Scotland, United Kingdom. Interesting too that it doesn’t actually have this plate filled, it leaves it open...I assume that’s where they expect the video card to go because that’s kind of a necessary thing...It doesn't have any video output, it just has the essential serial interface up here.

And being the age that this is often, albeit it's fresh ...I still want to see the insides to form sure that nothings like...You know, burst, or falling apart, and I assume it has an internal battery right here...I’m gonna check that as well. And capacitors, things like that. I mean, it’s been 3 decades, there’s no telling what’s gone on inside of this...Especially if some sort of exposure happened because of that tape failing on the box...Its locked. So, the key lock is engaged which means I can’t actually take the case off it...So, I guess were gonna go and open the accessories pack.

Building a Bigger, Badder MIDI Mountain

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