ThinkPad 500
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The IBM ThinkPad 500 is a subnotebook from the ThinkPad series released by IBM in 1993.
History
File:Thinkpad 500 & 510 Machines.jpg
The ThinkPad 500 (type 2603{{cite web |title=Personal Systems Reference IBM ThinkPad Notebooks 1992 to 2001 - withdrawn |url=https://psref.lenovo.com/syspool/Sys/PDF/withdrawnbook/twbook.pdf |website=Lenovo |access-date=2025-05-13 |format=PDF}}) was announced on 16 June 1993. It was the first subnotebook by IBM,{{Cite news |date=1993-06-16 |title=COMPANY NEWS; I.B.M. INTRODUCES SERIES OF PORTABLE COMPUTERS |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/16/business/company-news-ibm-introduces-series-of-portable-computers.html |access-date=2023-03-29 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Tony|title=The IBM ThinkPad: 15 years old today|url=https://www.theregister.com/2007/07/19/forgotten_tech_ibm_thinkpad/|access-date=2021-04-18|website=The Register|language=en}} made and registered with the FCC by their then-recent spin-off, Lexmark.{{Cite web |title=OET Equipment Authorization System FCC Form 731 FCC ID: IYL 2603 |url=https://apps.fcc.gov/eas/GetEas731Report.do?applicationId=G%2FR%2FeNt%2FfnPOkF%2FdD7U2GQ%3D%3D&fcc_id=IYL2603 |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=Federal Communications Commission |language=English}}
The next subnotebook by IBM was the IBM ThinkPad 701 series, which John Karidis influenced after using a 500 and feeling the keyboard experience could be improved by making it wider than the screen.
It was announced at the same time as the IBM ThinkPad 350.{{cite magazine|last=Lee|first=Yvonne|date=June 21, 1993|title=IBM subnotebook uses 486|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OjsEAAAAMBAJ|magazine=InfoWorld|page=31}} The New York Times noted that IBM challenged companies like Zeos, Dell, Zenith Data Systems and Hewlett-Packard who developed computers in the same class as the 500.{{Cite news |last=Lohr |first=Steve |date=1993-06-23 |title=Notebooks May Hold Key to I.B.M.'s Revival |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/23/business/notebooks-may-hold-key-to-ibm-s-revival.html |access-date=2023-03-24 |issn=0362-4331}}
The ThinkPad 500 has a Lexbook counterpart called Lexmark SE10 (codename "Enchilada"). The main difference is that instead of using a TrackPoint, its keyboard has a mouse-key button.
The ThinkPad 500 was the earliest known IBM portable computer to use an IBM Model M6-1 buckling sleeve keyboard assembly, a minor revision of the original Model M6 and descendant of the IBM PS/2 Model L40 SX's Model M3. M6 and M6-1 were used on many early IBM (and all Lexmark) laptops and were even produced for other companies like AST, Apple and Tadpole.{{Cite web |last=Kali |title=Model M6 & M6-1 ThinkPad Laptop Keyboard Assemblies {{!}} Shark's Wiki |url=https://sharktastica.co.uk/wiki?id=modelm6 |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=Admiral Shark's Keyboards |language=English}}
Specifications
- 50 MHz 486SLC2
- Cirrus Logic WD90C26 Video chipset
- 7.24" Monochrome STN Display with 256-shade graphics and a maximum resolution of 640x480
- 1 x PCMCIA Slot
- 1 x 3.5" External Floppy Drive
- 85 or 170mb Seagate Caviar Hard Drive
- 2.5 hour battery
- 12mb of RAM
- Windows 95 and MS-DOS 6.22
- PC Speaker for Sound
- VGA monitor Out, Parallel/Serial ports
- Came with an external floppy drive included
Reception
InfoWorld regarded the ThinkPad 500 as a bit too small for comfort.{{Cite magazine|last=Paul|first=Frederic|date=1993-08-16|title=Powerful IBM ThinkPad 500 is a bit too small for comfort|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qjsEAAAAMBAJ|magazine=InfoWorld|language=en|publisher=InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.}}
PC World awarded the ThinkPad 500 the "Best Buy - #1 Value Mobile PC" in September 1994.{{Cite book|last=A.|first=Dell, Deborah|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/781169669|title=ThinkPad: a different shade of blue|date=2000|publisher=Sams|isbn=0-672-31756-7|pages=330|oclc=781169669}}
Successor
In March 1994 the ThinkPad 510 was announced, which contains the 486 DLC by IBM and a 7.7" colour display.{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DTsEAAAAMBAJ|first=Yvonne|last=Lee|title=IBM revamps line with four ThinkPads|magazine=InfoWorld|date=21 March 1994}}
The ThinkPad 510 looks very similar to the 500, but with notable differences in design being a colour "IBM" logo indicating the use of a colour LCD and that the 500's blue brightness and contrast buttons have been moved to 'hot keys' on the keyboard.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://sharktastica.co.uk/directory?id=IHjoa2sR Admiral Shark's Keyboards - IBM ThinkPad 500-series Keyboard Assembly]
- [https://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/bp_thinkpad/tpvol1.pdf Hardware Maintenance Manual]
- [http://laptop.pics/ibm-thinkpad-500/ Laptop.pics]
- [https://www.starringthecomputer.com/computer.html?c=453 Starring the Computer - IBM Thinkpad 500]
- [https://thinkwiki.de/500 Thinkwiki.de - 500]
- [http://thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:500 Thinkwiki.org - 500]
{{IBM personal computers}}