IBM\'s first laptop, the 5140 Convertible laptop computer, vintage 1986 For Sale
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IBM\'s first laptop, the 5140 Convertible laptop computer, vintage 1986:
$79.00
IBM was beset by the reputation of having boring, slow computers that were ok for business use but had none of the appeal of Apple\'s products. Laptop computers had been a thing for a while - notably the GRID Compass - but neither IBM nor Apple had a true laptop computer. IBM had a suitcase-sized system (a la Compaq) but nothing truly portable.Beating Apple by three years, IBM came out with the 5140 PC Convertible, which got fairly bad reviews and very poor sales. The problems were that it was not much faster than the suitcase PC and IBM changed it\'s ports to remain proprietary (a defense against IBM clones. Even the keyboard was criticized as being loose, which was a result of it being easily removed to access the system\'s innards.
For what is it worth, this unit\'s serial number is 2683100-26-0090739.
