July 22, 2010
IBM PC 5150 Computer System Review – Lazy Game Reviews
Posted by: admin : Category: pc computer games
Review from the perspective of a casual collector of video games: is the first “PC”, the IBM 5150, worth buying today? A run-down of the history, pros and cons of the system and games, what to look for and be aware of when buying, as well as some of the other 8-bit computers and revisions in the 5150 lineage. MS-DOS has never been so fine.
Paratrooper
Alley Cat
PC-Man
Pharaoh’s Tomb
Wheel of Fortune
Ikari Warriors
Arkanoid
Set the Hostages Free
Battlezone
Galaxian
Game footage recorded using CGA composite-out with a mic directed toward the PC speaker!
Lots more information and troubleshooting at:
http://www.ibm5150.net/
Duration : 0:10:58
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
wow, i remember the …
wow, i remember the old IBM’s our school had when I was in elementary… that red power switch was the shit!
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
@Johfunu I did a …
@Johfunu I did a Speccy 48k review, you may have seen it by now. I don’t yet have an Amstrad machine but am always hopeful to find one sometime, I’d love to review one.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
Your reviews are …
Your reviews are interesting man good job..did you ever get any of the Amstrads by any chance or the Spectrum? that was sorta my first game system with games like Postman Pat, Looney Toons i think and Werewovles of London any tons of others but if you have it you think you can review it? if you already have sorry ill go have a look
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
@badnewswade Sound …
@badnewswade Sound advice! However, with no MFM hard drive in mine there’s no worries
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
Don’t forget to …
Don’t forget to DISKPARK before you switch it off!
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
@christo930 The …
@christo930 The reason I said this is: from my experience, the majority of games I’d play on the 5150 do not require more than 384k. The ones that do also require a faster processor and/or higher-tier graphics to make the game playable. Apart from system use and office programs and utilities, I see no need for 640k for what I think a 5150 is best for – that is, programs made for an 8088 at 4.77mhz, mono/CGA graphics and <256k RAM
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
I can’t believe …
I can’t believe that you actually said that 640k was overkill for this machine unless you had it loaded with upgrades. Even a 5150 with 5 1/4 disks can run dos 6.22. There is no such thing as too much ram, remember that. Keep in mind that your PC on your desk is a glorified IBM 5150 and can most likely boot dos 3.3 and run dos software.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
@phreakindee yeah …
@phreakindee yeah my current problem is getting the files on the Floppy. I tried putting i tried to put a 5¼ floppy drive in my main pc and it kept saying there was no floppy in the drive when I had it set as a 1.2mb one and when I had it as a 360k drive it just gave a error… but I was trying this on a computer with a motherboard from 2007. and I have no clue what format my 5 ¼ drive uses. and I look forward to see your review for the tandy 1000! I will know if I am getting one tomorrow.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
@DylanMayhew If you …
@DylanMayhew If you need some other versions of DOS in other disk formats, try the Vetusware website. They’ve got plenty.
And check back in a couple of weeks for a Tandy 1000 review, even if you haven’t gotten one by then! It’s a great machine and I’ll be doing a full review
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
@phreakindee well I …
@phreakindee well I been real busy with it last night and I found a keyboard that it liked, and I fixed that problem just to have the computer tell me it has to formate it’s hard drive, now I am trying to find a old copy of dos, I got my hands on a dos 5 disc but it’s formated to 1.2mb I don’t know if this computer uses 360k or 1.2mb i stuck it in and it more less ignored it. and I tried another drive same thing. so I have my work cut out for me. I also might by a tandy 1000 not sure yet.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
@DylanMayhew Well …
@DylanMayhew Well without knowing a bit more specifics it’s hard to say, but it’s certainly possible it could require an older XT-style keyboard.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
what you said about …
what you said about the keyboards has really got me thinking. I have this Old IBM clone that I got for free and a monitor and a random old keyboard that plugs in but it’s one of the more newer keyboards with the same plug. could my IBM clone be having the same problem the old Real IBM’s have with the newer keyboards? cause I’d really like to have this up and running everything seems to work fine and I’d like to finally use it. what do you think? wont buy one if it wont help.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
@Lachlant1984 there …
@Lachlant1984 there were plenty of games available at the time for the IBM PC’s, a lot of adventure games were in their prime like Monkeys Island, Police Quest, Kings Quest, Loom, and even games like prince of persia.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
damn I remember …
I remember paratrooper, i been looking for this game forever.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
Do you have Klax …
Do you have Klax for MS-DOS?
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
@ …
@CreationistVotebot99 amen
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
alley cat was my …
alley cat was my favorite in the ‘90
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
OK, the PC was an …
OK, the PC was an option for games if you had the money back then, but personally I think back then if you really wanted to play games with good graphics and sound, get an Atari VCS 2600 and some good games, please understand this is simply my opinion, if you want one of these that’s fine if you’re into that sort of thing.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
@TheMrolive I …
@TheMrolive I usually use v3.3 on mine but originally, of course, it had v1.0 or v1.1
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
what DOS verson is …
what DOS verson is the IBM 5150?
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
I had an XT, …
I had an XT, previously owned by Volkswagen of America that I bought in 1997. It came with everything. Even a printer. Did homework/spreadsheet/graphs on it for years till the 14 meg HD died. Awesome.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
Agreed that it’s …
Agreed that it’s more than nostalgia, these games were actually fun.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
the apocolypse is …
the apocolypse is coming! at least, now that they have officially stopped mass production of floppy disks.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
Don’t forget, that …
Don’t forget, that IBM intended the PC to be a closed proprietary platform like everyone else. It was Compaq that made the first clone and opened the market for the x86 standard we still use today.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:52 am
@VintageJunior I …
@VintageJunior I hope so too. That’s one of my most-wanted monitors. Just about to get a 5151 here soon, so I need the EGA to complete the set!