I worked for IBM UK in PC support in the 1990's, the golden age of ThinkPads, and subsequently built up quite a collection of the early and unusual ThinkPads, which I am now reducing. This thinning out of my ThinkPad collection continues with the listing of this boxed ThinkPad Power Series 820. Often old ThinkPads are described as 'rare' or 'collectible', but this really is one of the unicorns.

From 1995-96, IBM produced PowerPC desktop and laptop PCs, as part of the IBM-Apple-Motorola-Sun PowerPC consortium, based upon the PReP hardware/software specification. The aim was to both to challenge intel and bring the various vendor-specific workstation platforms to one common new platform. The revolution failed, but Apple continued with PowerPC, as did IBM in it's RS/6000 line. For a brief 12-24 month period, though, these machines were going to revolutionise the desktop PC and workstation market. Versions of Windows NT, Solaris, AIX, and OS/2 were available before the whole project folded.

The version of NT that came with this is not what is found on the standard Microsoft NT 3.51 CD in the PPC directories. Instead, this is a separate version of NT 3.51 that was ported at IBM's Kirkland Programming Center in Seattle, and included platform-specific enhancements and driver support, such as for power management. It was known as PMZ or 'Power Managed version Z'.

I bought this machine in May 1998 from its original owner. He too was an IBMer; he had bought it heavily discounted on the Employee Purchase scheme, but didn't realise what he was getting, nor the limited software available for the PowerPC platform. As a middling spec (640x480 rather than 800x600 TFT), this machine listed at $6,750 at launch, and in 1998 I thought I'd got a bargain at $800 plus shipping, but I knew exactly what it was and what it could and couldn't do and it was an itch that needed to be scratched. (This was back in the days before ebay.co.uk and the like, when there was only ebay.com and a search for 'used ThinkPad' would pull up perhaps 200-300 listings at a time.)

I need to spell out clearly the software limitations. This will not run DOS, Windows 3.1, Windows 95/98, Windows 2000, or Windows XP, nor any mainstream version of OS/2. You may find an old PowerPC linux distribution that will boot. It will run NT 3.51 or 4.0 PPC, which is on the standard CDs, or the IBM-specific NT version provided with this machine. It will also run OS/2 for PowerPC (release not beta), AIX 4.1.x, and Solaris 2.5(?) if you can find the PowerPC distributions of these specific versions. However, once you've got it installed and running, you will find that there is virtually no PowerPC software available to run on it. If you are looking for an old ThinkPad for retro gaming, this is not the machine for you!

The few hardware extras comprise:

There is no printed user's guide, since I never received one when the machine was "new". I have the 'ThinkPad Power Series 820 Program Pack' CD, which includes the illustrated online manual and multimedia introductions and demonstrations (obligatory for mid 1990's high-end PCs), although this had got separated over the years and was not present for the photos. I will find it and make sure it's in the box. The Hardware Maintenance Manual was supplied as a photocopy when new; it has been recently unstapled, scanned, uploaded to the ThinkPads.com HMM library, and then re-stapled - seemingly it is the last copy in existence!

Have a good look at the photos. The soft-touch rubber has degraded in storage, I unboxed it about a year ago and to my dismay the plastic wrapping was just starting to stick to the coating. I've kept the machine in a cool,dry, well-aired environment since then and it has stabilised, in fact the coating has reverted to a non-sticky soft touch. However there was some minor damage, especially to the sides but also to the edges, e.g. front lower. I have not tried to remedy this, but from experiences with other similar models I would start with a very careful rub with a moistened magic eraser, then perhaps apply some Nivea cream to any remaining mottled areas - standard restoration techniques.

I did take the precaution of removing the internal standby/hibernation battery many years ago, which in other models can cause corrosion to creep across the system board. The CMOS battery has been replaced at some point, so it still holds settings and knows the date & time. The main battery of course no longer holds a charge, but it has been stored outside of the machine and again there has been no untoward corrosion.

This is a lovely example of what might have been. If you are familiar with 1990's ThinkPads, this definitely feels like a development of the 750/755 models, with some quite unusual design changes and developments. I think of it as an alternative evolution path from what became the 760.

I will start it at £1 with no reserve because I haven't a clue what to ask for it. There is no 'buy it now', I will not respond to offers, I will not end the listing early.
If you've got this far, you might want to have a look at my other items, as I'm aiming to list one collectible ThinkPad a month.
Good luck, happy bidding, and thanks for your interest.