Spec Showdown: The Original IBM 5150 vs. Today's PCs

In the 40 years since the launch of PC Magazine on newsstands, we've gone from a world where only the most arcane techno-wizards could communicate electronically to one where we can learn about anything—from quantum computing to what our neighbor had for dinner—all from the tiny computer in our pockets.

To see just how far we've come, we looked at the very first PC, the IBM Personal Computer Model 5150 from 1981, and compared it with several of its spiritual successors—a popular IBM PS/2 from 1987, 2011's Lenovo ThinkCentre Edge 91z, and the Lenovo ThinkCentre M90a All-in-One that debuted in 2021.

We chose all-in-one PCs with integrated monitors because the original IBM PC came with its own single-color screen, although it would be hard to call it "built-in." Lenovo comparisons are fitting, since Lenovo bought IBM's PC business in 2005.

The original IBM PC review in our first issue in 1982

The IBM PC was made for a time when paper dominated record-keeping. The latest Lenovo is designed for a time when research and meetings are conducted online from a home office chair.

We went from a 4.77MHz processor, 64K of memory, a wired keyboard, two floppy drives, and an 11.5-inch CRT screen that displayed text in one color (green), to a couple of technological marvels. Consider, for instance, the original monitor, which had a resolution measured in characters, not pixels—compared with today's Lenovo, with its 23.8-inch 1,920-by-1,080-pixel display. That's a science-fiction-sized leap, yet it's hardly even the best monitor available.

The IBM PS/2 from our May 26, 1987 issue

Likewise, we went from storing data on a 160K 5.25-inch floppy disk to today's pretty standard 500GB hard drive—3.125 million times as much storage. Then consider the speed of that old floppy compared with the optional solid-state drive of the M90a with almost instant memory access.

The newest PC is also a heck of a lot lighter, easier to set up, and (without the stand) is only 1.94 inches thick. Yet, that ThinkCentre M90a isn't even the top of the line. There are plenty of other PCs with faster processors, better graphics, and larger screens.

Check out the vast differences in their tech specs below.

About Our Expert

Eric Griffith

Senior Editor, Features

My Experience

I've been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally since 1992, more than half of that time with PCMag. I arrived at the end of the print era of PC Magazine as a senior writer. I served for a time as managing editor of business coverage before settling back into the features team for the last decade and a half. I write features on all tech topics, plus I handle several special projects, including the Readers' Choice and Business Choice surveys and yearly coverage of the Best ISPs and Best Gaming ISPs, Best Products of the Year, and Best Brands (plus the Best Brands for Tech Support, Longevity, and Reliability).

I started in tech publishing right out of college, writing and editing stories about hardware and development tools. I migrated to software and hardware coverage for families, and I spent several years exclusively writing about the then-burgeoning technology called Wi-Fi. I was on the founding staff of several magazines, including Windows Sources, FamilyPC, and Access Internet Magazine. All of which are now defunct, and it's not my fault. I have freelanced for publications as diverse as Sony Style, Playboy.com, and Flux. I got my degree at Ithaca College in, of all things, television/radio. But I minored in writing so I'd have a future.

In my long-lost free time, I wrote some novels, a couple of which are not just on my hard drive: BETA TEST ("an unusually lighthearted apocalyptic tale," according to Publishers' Weekly) and a YA book called KALI: THE GHOSTING OF SEPULCHER BAY. Go get them on Kindle.

I work from my home in Ithaca, NY, and did it long before pandemics made it cool.

The Technology I Use

My first computer was a Laser 128, an Apple II-compatible clone with an integrated keyboard, matched with an eye-straining monochrome green monitor. I used it to type papers in college for other people for money...until I discovered the Mac SE in the college computer room. That changed my life. My first cellphone was a Samsung Uproar—the silver one with the built-in MP3 player from the Napster days (the pre-iPod era).

I use an iPhone 15 Pro hourly and an iPad Air infrequently (but I'm always in the market for a cheap Android tablet). I have a PlayStation 5 just to play Spider-Man, and several Windows machines, including a work-issued Lenovo ThinkPad. I talk to Alexa and Siri all day long. I do the majority of my computing on a 15-inch LG Gram laptop attached to a Thunderbolt hub to run a multi-monitor setup—I overdid it on the power needed to simply work from home.

I'm most at home in Microsoft Word after decades of writing there. More and more, I turn to services like Google Docs, using tools like Grammarly. I use Google's Chrome browser due to an addiction to several extensions I think I can't live without, but probably could. I use Excel extensively on data-intensive stories, but for chart creation, we've switched over entirely to using Infogram for interactive features that are hard to find elsewhere. I do a lot of graphics work for my stories, but limit myself to the free and amazing Paint.NET software to edit images.

I'm a firm evangelist for using the cloud for backup and syncing of files; I'm primarily using Dropbox, which has never failed me, but I also have redundant setups on Microsoft OneDrive, plus extra picture backups on Amazon Photos and iCloud. Why take chances? For entertainment, mine is a streaming-only household—my kid has never seen network TV and barely been exposed to commercials, thanks to Roku and Amazon Music. The house is peppered with smart speakers from Amazon for instant gratification and control of smart home devices like multiple Wyze cameras and Nest Protect smoke detectors. I've got accounts on all the major social networks, to my horror. I have a robot vacuum for each floor of the house. I want a 3D printer, but not sure what I'd use it for.

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