Announced 1989-09-26 as a new entry level model. This is one of the few
PS/2 computers with the classic ISA BUS (instead of MCA) and 30 pin SIMMs
(100-150ns - ugh). It had a 10MHz 286 processor and came with either 512kB
or 1MB of RAM, which could be upgraded
to 4MB on the motherboard, 16MB with an adapter card. The
case is the same elegant, one-drive-only as the 55.
It cost between $2,965 and $3,865.
One of the weirder aspects of this model is that it does not have a regular PC speaker, but a "beeper." Where this is physically located, I could not find out. It must be very small. Synthesized music sounds really horrible over this beeper, and synthesized speech is barely comprehensible.
The reason for this lies in the ISA BUS. Full length ISA cards are longer than their MCA counterparts, they fill the whole length of the case leaving no space for a speaker.
And it does not have a regular battery either, but a Dallas self-contained CMOS RAM module with integral real-time clock and battery. This feature, however, it shares with all the other models in the same case, as the 55. You can look at this thing on Tavi's page. It's not as bad as it sounds, it costs less than some batteries to replace, and, as with all PS/2 models, no soldering is needed.
The IBM Personal System/2 Model 30 286 (IBM 8530-E21) is a new entry level 80286 version of the Model 30. It combines existing Model 30 function along with improved processor performance, 1.44MB diskette drive capacity and VGA graphics. The Model 30 286 utilizes the Intel 80286 processor and operates at 10MHz with one wait state to system memory. The IBM Personal System/2 Model 30 286 (IBM 8530-E01) is a single diskette drive, without a fixed disk drive, version of the Model 30 286. An optional 3.5-inch 20MB fixed disk drive feature (P/N 27F4969) is available.
This is one of the computers I dug out of a junk container in August 2002. It seemed—and was—in perfect condition, but its case was locked, and when I started it up it showed a key symbol on the monitor. In my naïveté I connected these two things and wasted a lot of time first looking for case keys and then, when these did not fit, to exchange the lock with an unlocked one (yes, that's possible).
Only the key symbol remained.
It has nothing at all to do with the case lock; it just shows there's a power on password (POP) set. To disable this, you just change jumper J13; it's a three pin jumper, you just connect the other two pins and leave it like that until you have to reset a password again. J13 is the only easily visible and accessible jumper on the mainboard.
What I found after I had it up and running was not overly exciting: a lot of (boring) business presentations using the IBM Story Teller, which is in itself quite an interesting program.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. It's not an overly inspiring machine, less so than the 50.
This is the only PS/2 in my collection for which I own the original manual. I found it on eBay. It is quite an impressive thing. A book-sized plastic case containing the manual proper, a likewise ring-bound keyboard layout booklet, some additional brochures and, originally, two diskettes. These are missing from my copy. One, of course, was the reference disk. As for the other, I originally thought it might have been PC-DOS 3.3. This theory was corrected by an email from Dirk Broer:
Dos 3.3 came seperate, in another manual like plastic case (94x9573), containing both 3.5" (80x0939) and 5.25" (80x0735 and 80x0929) floppies, the user guide (80x0933), the quick reference card (80x0683) and the (abridged) reference (94x9575).
Though the two diskettes are missing from my model 30-286 manual as well, they do appear in my model 80 and 95 manuals. The other diskette is most probably "Exploring the IBM PS/2 Model 30-286" or "IBM Personal System/2 learning about your system", but it might also be a diagniostics disk. As my manual can hold up to four diskettes a combination of the above mentioned is also possible.
That's interesting. I do have an original distribution of PC-DOS 3.3 meanwhile, but didn't think IBM would include the full package with their computers, especially since the 5.25" disks were of no use for PS/2 users. It's also interesting that the more expensive models (80 and 95) had more disks with their manuals.