Researching IBM PC 5150 model numbers

An IBM PC 5150

Michal Necasek for the OS/2 Museum that there is remarkably little detailed original information from the early days if the IBM PC (the original 5150).

A major problem hindering research is that there are no mentions of the IBM PC 5150 in the IBM announcements archive prior to 1983. The announcement letters are usually a very reliable source of information as to what IBM released when, but for about the first year and a half of the IBM PC’s life, there’s just nothing.

Sure, there’s a list of IBM PC models on Wikipedia… but the table doesn’t even always match the provided references, and the references are woefully incomplete anyway because, again, there’s apparently no official data from the 1981-1982 period.

Check out Michal’s research on the model numbers in the post here.


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