> >> Are you sure about that? The 5100 doesn't support floppy drives. And > I've > >> never heard of third-party drives (that would need IMFs, too) for the > 5100. > > > > $3100 is about what IBM charged for a fully loaded 5150. (PC) > > THAT is not a 5100! $3100 for a 5100 would have been a bargain. > > We are neither talking about the 5150, nor about $3100 but $31,000 for a > 5100 (see above). Or did I miss something? >
There was a third-party floppy drive for the IBM 5100 :-) Or at least there as something that was sold in this way. Here is its brochure: http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/sykes/brochures/Sykes_Comm-Stor_5100_Brochure.pdf Note that it "plugs directly into the Serial I/O Adapter of the IBM 5100 with no hardware or software changes". So it's a serial-port connected floppy drive that talks to the 5100 in a format that it likes. (What is an IMF?) --Tom