First portable computer: 55 pounds and cost more than a car

What did the first commercially available portable computer have going for it? Well, it was super light at a whopping 55 pounds. It also cost $19,975, more than some cars do these days.

Take a quick gander, about what this baby had inside:

Yep, that’s a “laptop”. Kind of. Here’s the full details on the IBM Portable PC, model number 5100:

First introduced: September, 1975
CPU: IBM proprietary, 1.9MHz
RAM: 16K, 64K max
Display: 5″ monochrome monitor 64 X 16 text
Storage: Internal 200K tape (DC300)
Ports: tape / printer I/O port
OS: APL and/or BASIC

When you check out the Wikipedia page for the IBM 5100, here’s what it says:

A single integrated unit provided the keyboard, five-inch CRT display, tape drive, processor, several hundred kilobytes of read only memory containing system software, and up to 64 KB of random access memory. It was the size of a small suitcase, weighed about 55 lb (25 kg), and could be transported in an optional carrying case, hence the “portable” designation.

So it was the size of a small suitcase? Yeah, how’s that for portable? If you ever find yourself complaining about how clunky and big your gadgets are, remember this guy lugging around the $20k “ultra portable” IBM 5100: