IBM 5150 maximum memory?

But with the 5150, the diskette drive (160K format) was optional. All you really needed was a CGA card to get going. You had BASIC in ROM and a cassette tape interface. The CGA card could be hooked to a modulator and make pretty pictures on your TV. IIRC, that's one of the configurations described in the IBM literature. As another poster has mentioned, it really did seem like the target was the Apple II and TI 99/4 type of market, rather than the higher- end "office" machines like the Morrow or Eagle. I almost bought a NEC APC after I first saw a 5150, thinking that I'd completely misunderstood IBM's marketing objectives. Those "pick your poison" expansion slots are what saved that box, which succeeded, sometimes it seems, in spit of IBM's worst efforts. Maybe someone remembers that the US 120v 60Hz models were availble quite a bit before the 220v 50Hz models were--and IBM charged a premium for the 220v models. I remember going to the local sales office on Arques and trying to place an order for a dozen of the 220v models. "Not available yet" was the answer. So, says I, "How about buying some US models and running them at 120v 50Hz via a transformer?" "That would void the warranty" was the response. Apparently IBM also refused to support US systems sent overseas to 50Hz land. It was very strange. We bought a bunch of US 5150s and shipped them anyway. They ran fine on 50Hz. Cheers, Chuck