30 Sep
1997
30 Sep
'97
1:14 p.m.
I've started collecting old IBM machines, (brand
loyalty) and today came
across a machine called an IBM powerstation 550e. it looks very much like an
apple /// except it has two floppy drives, a db9, rj11,.and 3 db25 ports on
the back. i havent powered it up yet as i'm still trying to figure out how to
open it. I'm off work this week, so I cant ask any of the old IBMers what
this is. anyone know?
It is probably an older RS/6000 - however, I have never heard of a 550e
(then again, IBM makes a lot of weird stuff). The 500 series RS/6000s are
largish deskside towers. The desktop machines are the 200 and 300 series.
Open the thing up! If it is an old RS/6000, it will have a processor board
with eight or so big nasty looking chips - the Power RISC processor. The
only thing that may give you trouble is that the key (if it has one) must
be in the service position to get the cover off.
The RS/6000s really are nice machines, even oldies like the 320s and 930s.
William Donzelli
william(a)ans.net