Editing IBM 5100 (section)

{{Short description|Portable computer released by IBM in 1975}}
{{use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{use American English|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox information appliance
| name         = IBM 5100
| image        = IBM 5100 - MfK Bern.jpg
| caption      = The IBM 5100 Portable Computer
| manufacturer = [[IBM]]
| type         = Professional Computer
| releasedate  = {{Start date and age|1975|09}}
| discontinued = 1978
| price        = From $8,975 to $19,975
| connectivity = 
| lifespan     = 
| unitssold    = 
| media        = 
| os           = <!-- operating system -->
| input        = [[Keyboard (computing)|Keyboard]]
| camera       = 
| power        = 
| cpu          = [[IBM PALM processor]] clocked at 1.9&nbsp;MHz
| storage      = 
| memory       = 16–64&nbsp;KB [[random-access memory|RAM]] (with 16&nbsp;KB iterations)<br />32–64&nbsp;KB [[read-only memory|ROM]]
| display      = 5-inch CRT
| graphics     = 64x16 characters
| audio        = 
| service      = <!-- online service/s offered -->
| dimensions   = 
| weight       = {{convert|25|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
| touchpad     = 
| predecessor  = 
| successor    = [[IBM 5110]]
| related      =
}}

The '''IBM 5100 Portable Computer''' is one of the first [[portable computer|portable computers]],<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/10/archives/ibm-corp-introduces-a-50pound-computer.html|title=I.B.M. Corp. Introduces A 50-Pound Computer|date=September 10, 1975}}</ref> introduced in September 1975, six years before the [[IBM Personal Computer]], and eight before the first successful [[IBM compatible]] portable computer, the [[Compaq Portable]]. It was the evolution of a prototype called the SCAMP (Special Computer [[APL (programming language)|APL]] Machine Portable) that was developed at the IBM Los Gatos Laboratory and Palo Alto Scientific Center in 1973. Whether considered evolutionary from SCAMP<ref name="Timeline of Computer History">{{Cite web |title=Timeline of Computer History|url=http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/?category=cmptr|access-date=May 7, 2014|publisher=Computer History Museum}}</ref> or revolutionary, it still needed to be plugged into an electric socket.<ref name=IBM5100.Wired>{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|url=https://www.wired.com/2013/05/ibm-5100-tech-time-wrap/|title=Tech Time Warp of the Week: The 50-Pound Portable PC}}</ref>

When the IBM PC was introduced in 1981, it was originally designated as the IBM 5150, putting it in the "5100" series, though its architecture was unrelated to the IBM 5100's.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/arts/the-clunky-pc-that-started-it-all.html|title=The Clunky PC That Started It All|author=Alice Rawsthorn |date=July 31, 2011}}</ref> The 5100 was IBM's second transportable computer. Previously, a truck-based [[IBM 1401]] was configured in 1960 for military use and referred to as a ''mobile'' computer.<ref>{{cite web|title=The IBM 1401|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/1401.html|access-date=July 23, 2021|publisher=Columbia University Computing History}}</ref>

The IBM 5100 was withdrawn in March 1982, by which time IBM had announced its larger cousins, the [[IBM 5110]] (January 1978) and the [[IBM 5120]] (February 1980).