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Announced 1986-04-02, exactly one year before the PS/2 series, with which it shares many design features. Most notably, the Convertible was the first IBM computer to use 3.5" floppies, and these drives look just like those later used in the PS/2 series. It had a 80C88 and 256 kB RAM. It cost $3,495.
The IBM PC Convertible is a portable personal computer designed for professional applications and personal productivity. It is designed to enhance personal computing capability with two power options (battery or AC). The uniqueness of the system unit is the integration of microprocessor, LCD display, dual 3.5 Inch Diskette Drives, keyboard, memory, within a lightweight, full function system that can be carried easily. The IBM PC Convertible maintains compatibility with 5.25 inch diskette drive systems through asynchronous communications or through an IBM 4865 Personal Computer 3.5 Inch External Diskette Drive that attaches to the IBM Personal Computer, IBM Personal Computer XT, IBM Portable Personal Computer, and IBM Personal Computer AT.
The Convertible did not sell well, maybe because there were already 286 portables on the market, some even with optional harddisks, or because the LCD display was difficult to read. Later on IBM replaced it with a backlit display, which was available seperate, too. These backlit displays are easily recognized even when the Convertible is off, since they have two sliders instead of one.
My Convertible is very well-kept, fairly complete with the 4440 carrying case, printer, and startup disks. I even found the "cardboard floppies" used to protect the drives during transport. Only the manual is missing for perfect bliss.
