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[12]IBM PS/2 Model P70

  • [13]May 16, 2018
  • [14]Jack
  • [15]5 Comments


Introduction

It’s 1989. Most people are using 286 or 386-based systems with 2-4 MB of
memory, and an EGA monitor. Some people are still using the IBM 5150 PC or 5160
XT, likely paired with an MDA card and green-screen monitor (both of which were
still sold new within the last 3 years). A few people have Amigas, Ataris,
Macintosh IIs, or new 486 machines. The new [16]Atari Portfolio is sometimes
used on the road, as well as the older Epson HX-20 and TRS-80 Model 100. Quite
a few people are using 2400 baud external modems to connect to Bulletin Board
Systems and download utilities like PKZIP or PKARC. But there’s one portable
computer coming out that has everything you could ask for on-the-go – a VGA
Screen, a 386 running at up to 20 MHz, and a hard drive with a size of up to
120 MB (!).

[17][p70-2-1024x941][18][p70-1-1024x914]

Meet the IBM PS/2 P70. Not related to the modern ThinkPad P70 (which came out
in 2015), the PS/2 P70 was a “luggable” Microchannel Architecture (MCA)
computer, with an amber gas-plasma display similar to the [19]Toshiba T5200. It
came with a truly pleasant fold-down mechanical keyboard, gorgeous display,
3.5″ Floppy Drive (when many people were still using 5.25″), and, of course, a
PS/2 Port for a mouse (when serial mice, InPort mice, and no mice at all were
still very common).

The only problem would have been the prohibitive cost. My model, when it was
new, cost $7,695 as of the product announcement on May 9, 1989. If we convert
this to 2018 dollars, we’re looking at $15,486. There are still new cars being
sold for less than that.

This computer might seem cumbersome, too big to use on the road, and not truly
portable (since it didn’t run off batteries). But at the time, there were no
equivalent offerings from Data General, Tandy, Toshiba, Bondwell, Magnavox or
any other company that manufactured portables of the day. (Especially regarding
the VGA screen and PS/2 Port.) Also remember that the original Nintendo Game
Boy was just coming out at this time.

The PS/2 Model P70 is essentially a portable version of the PS/2 Model 70,
which was a horizontally-oriented Microchannel Desktop system of the time. I do
have one of these, equipped with two 3.5″ Floppy Drives, 5 MB of RAM, and a 60
MB ESDI Hard Drive. This particular desktop configuration cost $7,995 in August
of 1988. I can confirm that the desktop behaves quite similarly to the
portable, both in design and “mannerisms”.

Working with old computers, and saving them from a trip to the trash, can be
easier than it seems. I got my PS/2 P70 for fairly cheap, because it had three
main show-stopping problems: No video (picture), bad CMOS battery, and
completely missing floppy drive. I installed one of my spare PS/2 L40SX floppy
drives, popped a new CR-P2 battery into the socketed CMOS Battery Holder, and
used some DeOxit on the plasma display connector. Good as new.

Note that a working floppy drive is necessary to enter the Configuration
Utility and set the machine’s parameters, such as Hard Drive Type (otherwise,
the computer will not know how to boot from it.) If the CMOS battery (6V CR-P2)
runs out, the machine will “forget” this configuration, and will not boot from
the hard drive until you run the configuration utility again. This doesn’t
sound terrible at first, but the P70’s integrated floppy drive is notoriously
unreliable for a few reasons. First, the vertical design causes dust to
accumulate in it. Second, it’s semi-proprietary (as it carries power and data
on the same cable). It’s possible to retrofit a regular IDE floppy drive, but
this process requires modifications to the cable. Third, the P70’s factory
floppy drive is prone to capacitor failure, which causes the drive motor to
spin at full speed, making floppy drive file operations fail!

Pictures

Here are some extreme close-up shots of the interior, taken in 2019:

[20][p70-2021-2-185x300] [21][p70-2021-3-3-300x219]

And here are some action shots:

[22][p70-3-1024x678] [23][p70-4-1024x678] [24][p70-5-1024x712] [25]
[p70-6-1024x800] [26][p70-7-1024x678]

[27][p70-2021-6-300x251] [28][p70-2021-7-300x225] [29][p70-2021-8-268x300]

Here are some miscellaneous case shots:

[30][p70-2021-5-300x225][31][p70-2021-4-1-300x274][32][p70-2021-1-225x300]

And finally, a picture of the finished product, including the original
enclosure (which took a while to find) around the Floppy Drive. The entire
floppy assembly tilts outward when you push on it, and clicks back into place
for storage:

[33][p70-2021-9-1-300x280]

Revised on June 29, 2021


Category: [34]IBM
[d63005]

About the Author


5 Responses to IBM PS/2 Model P70

 1. [10] [35]John Edwrd Harris says:
    [36]March 12, 2019 at 4:52 pm

    I acquired a used PS/2 P70 in the late 1990’s that I used for a few years.
    I used it primarily for word processing and email until I upgraded to used
    Toshiba satellite laptop. It was heavy, but portable enough that I could
    take it on the road when attending in-residence seminars. I have some fond
    memories of that work horse. Thanks for the background information and a
    trip down memory lane.

    [37]Reply
 2. [7b] [38]FANGXIANG says:
    [39]April 30, 2021 at 4:04 am

    Hello, I’m glad to see your introduction to the P70 computer, some of which
    I first learned about. I sent you a letter from China, P70 computer is very
    rare here. I’m lucky to have one. Thank you again for your photos. As you
    can see from the web page: [40]http://www.pcang.com/fang/
    ibm_personal_system-2_P70.htm

    [41]Reply
 3. [9f] Rita Graça says:
    [42]June 29, 2021 at 8:42 am

    How does one insert and remove disks in and from the floppy drive? Also, it
    looks like some sort of plastic should cover it.

    [43]Reply
      □ [d6] Jack says:
        [44]June 29, 2021 at 10:43 am

        The entire floppy assembly tilts downward (pops out) when you push on
        it. As mentioned in the article, I had to use a non-original floppy
        drive, so it didn’t have any plastic enclosure. However, I found one
        years later, and just uploaded a picture of the final assembly (at the
        bottom of the article.)

        [45]Reply
 4. [c7] PB says:
    [46]December 13, 2023 at 8:14 am

    I remember these laying around the IBM Rochester, MN AS/400 lab. They were
    useful to run the AS/400 terminal software.

    [47]Reply

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