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IBM 5150 mod?

D

Drakan290

2[H]4U
Joined
Sep 11, 2008
Messages
3,087
I might do this, if it gauges interest.
I have an old 5150 sitting around, without a monitor, and I think I might mod it, however I have a few questions...
If you know about a 5150, tell me about this!

If I were to mod a 5150, I would put a big lexan window on the top part, so I could see in, but I wonder where I would put the monitor then?

What color lights would I put on it?

I could have my friend airbrush a cool dragon design on it, but should I sand it first? (I'm pretty sure it's a steel case, so sanding = able to repaint, right?)

I want to get a slot loading DVD-RW/Blu Ray reader, what should I get?

I want to put my keyboard inside the old IBM keyboard. Does anyone know how to open the old 5150 keyboard?

So, all in all.. Would this be one kickass mod or what!?
 
Just my opinion: this mod is coolest if you leave the case etc as in-tact as possible. Adding windows and airbrushing it makes it just another case mod. I like the idea of a slot drive with the original 5.25" bezels. I wouldn't think hacking the original keyboard would be too hard.
 
IBM keyboards, if they're still working, are better than most other keyboards. Why mess it up. If you need to switch it from the old fat DIN plug to the PS/2, it should be trivial to rewire if you can't find an adapter. You can even get a PS/2 to USB adapter if you wish, though you might need to put in a couple of pull-up resistors to make it a reliable conversion.
 
I DO like the feel of the old IBM keyboard, but the layout is just too old. The F keys are on the left, and the backspace key is a little bit too short. I think I'm going to hack it up and see where it goes from there.

Plus, I would like to color it. The old beige/gray case looks terrible!
 
If you want to do a good mod, do a stealth mod. Hacking the case to bits is boring and overdone. Someone painted one on here a while back and it just looked dumb. (No offense if you're reading)
 
It just doesn't make sense to me to mod a case you essentially don't like the look of. If all you are going to do is stealth the cdrom drive and then cut holes and put windows in it, paint it and make it a Floyd Laser show with cold cathodes inside you might as well mod a shoe box. If you paint it it stops looking like a classic piece of computing machinery and looks like someone who modded an old Packard Bell because they couldn't afford a nicer PC.

I'm not saying that beige is attractive but that's a classic computer whose primary appeal is that old-school look.
 
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