31 Oct
2006
31 Oct
'06
3:34 p.m.
> > * In 1982 IBM PCs were advertised at
"from 2,800 pounds" (at about 2 dollars
> > to the pound, I think) for a dual floppy machine with monitor.
> Hmm, I have two, an original PC and an XT. *one* of those cost around 4000
> pounds circa 1984, but unfortunately I don't know which.
On Mon, 30 Oct 2006, Stan Barr wrote:
I was quoting from an advert in "Practical
Computing", April 1982.
I well remember the sharp intakes of breath at IBMs prices at the time,
but I imagine they dropped sharply if you bought enough machines.
They were certainly cheaper a year or so later when our firm bought
their first few.
For comparison, a 48K Apple II cost 650 pounds, a double floppy 550
pounds and a monitor 99 pounds - 1299 pounds total, plus the dreaded VAT.
A 128K ACT Sirius with CP/M86 or MSDOS was 2395 pounds + VAT, so IBMs
prices weren't really _that_ outrageous.
IFF you bought a fully expanded machine from IBM, THEN the prices were
high. Our college negotiated a "great deal", but even with deep
discounts, by the time that you added in all the other CRAP that was
included (including many software packages), the price was terrible.
From the time that it was introduced (August 1981), the
IBM PC 5150 was
also available bare for about $1360 (USD). If you put in your own
Tandon
TM100 drives at ~$150 each, instead of IBM's at ~$500 each, put in your
own RAM at ~$75 per 16K v IBM's at $300 per 16K, added a serial card for
~$150?, added an FDC board for ~$300, a video board for ~$300, and your
own monitor for ~$100 v IBM's at ~$600, etc. you ended up with a machine
at comparable prices to an Apple ][.
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com