The IBM 5120 Computing System (sometimes referred to as the IBM 5110 Model 3) was announced in February 1980 as the desktop follow-on to the

IBM 5110 The IBM 5110 Computing System is the successor of the IBM 5100 Portable Computer. The IBM 5110 was announced in January 1978 (a little over 2 years after the introduction of the IBM 5100). Its main differences were support for more I/O devices ( ...

Computing System. It featured two built-in 8-inch 1.2 MB floppy disk drives, 9-inch

monochrome monitor A monochrome monitor is a type of computer monitor in which computer text and images are displayed in varying tones of only one color, as opposed to a color monitor that can display text and images in multiple colors. They were very common in t ...

, 32KB RAM and optional IBM 5114 stand-alone diskette unit with two additional 8-inch 1.2 MB floppy disk drives.IBM 5120 Computing System
IBM Archives. Retrieved 10-19-2011. The system was sold with both APL and BASIC languages in ROM and provided a toggle switch on the front panel to select the language. APL allowed numerous business software written on IBM

minicomputer A minicomputer, or colloquially mini, is a class of smaller general purpose computers that developed in the mid-1960s and sold at a much lower price than mainframe and mid-size computers from IBM and its direct competitors. In a 1970 survey, ...

s to run on the 5120.

Description

It was launched in 1980 as the lowest-priced IBM business computer to date. Depending on the options the overall system prices ranged from $9,340 to $23,990. To emphasize its office image IBM released in that same year 6 new programs: task inventory, billing, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable and general ledger accounting. Aside from larger screen size and performance benefits over its predecessor, the IBM 5120 design incorporated several

usability Usability can be described as the capacity of a system to provide a condition for its users to perform the tasks safely, effectively, and efficiently while enjoying the experience. In software engineering, usability is the degree to which a soft ...

advantages: * Reduced 'footprint' requiring less desktop space * Reduced glare on monitor, keytop and product surfaces * Ease of handling/lifting based on bottom form treatment * Reduced static loading in arms and shoulders due to keyboard palm rest For its usability features and appearance, the IBM 5120 was recognized with two major industrial design awards and described with terms such as "clean, well thought out"; "subtle detailing shows great care in execution"; and "looks like quality″. IBM did not offer a LAN or

hard disk drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...

for these systems. However, in 1981,

Hal Prewitt Harold D. Prewitt, Jr (Hal) (born October 1, 1954, in Hutchinson, Kansas) is an artist, photographer, race car driver, businessperson, inventor of personal computer products and early pioneer in the personal computer revolution. He resides in S ...

, founder of

Core International, Inc Core International, Inc., commonly referred to as Core, was a multinational computer and technology corporation headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. The company is now part of Sony and no longer exists as stand-alone identity. The ...

, invented and marketed the world's first and only hard disk subsystems and "CoreNet", a LAN used to share programs and data for the IBM 5110 and 5120 systems. In 1984, Core introduced PC51, software that allowed 5100 Series computer programs written in BASIC to run unmodified on the

IBM PC The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team ...

and compatibles under

PC DOS PC or pc may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Player character or playable character, a fictional character controlled by a human player, usually in role-playing games or computer games * ''Port Charles'', an American daytime TV soap opera * ...

and share programs and data on CoreNet, the LAN for all these models.

References

Core 5110/20 Hard Drives

1984 Core PC51 Users Manual

1984 Core PC51 Media Release
{{IBM personal computers 5120 Computer-related introductions in 1980