IBM PS/2 Note and PS/note: Difference between revisions

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| discontinued = 1994

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| type = [[Notebook (laptop)computer|Notebook computer]]

| processor = [[Intel 386]]

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The '''IBM PS/2 Note''' and '''PS/note''' are a series of [[Notebook (laptop)computer|notebooks]] from the [[PS/2]] line by [[IBM]]. It was announced in March 1992, half a year prior to the release of the first [[ThinkPad]], the [[IBM ThinkPad 700]]. The series was discontinued in 1994.

== Background ==

After the departure of Bob Lawten from IBM, the team at IBM had little development direction after the [[IBM PS/2 L40 SX]]. James Cannavino pushed for the new [[Notebook (laptop)computer|notebook]] series, which fell behind schedule.<ref>{{Cite book|last=A.|first=Dell, Deborah|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/781169669|title=ThinkPad: a different shade of blue|date=2000|publisher=Sams|isbn=0-672-31756-7|pages=84|oclc=781169669}}</ref> The N45 SL, N51 SX and N51 SLC were announced on the same day as the [[IBM PS/2 CL57 SX|IBM PS/2 (color laptop) CL57 SX]]. During this time [[Laptop#Terminology variants|there was a distinction between notebooks and laptops]], where the former are A4 sized and the latter are larger.

The notebooks were modeled after the [[IBM PS/55 Note|PS/55 Note]] which was released by IBM in Japan in April 1991.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Scannell|first1=Ed|date=23 Dec 1991|title=IBM readies 6 portables|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FT0EAAAAMBAJ|magazine=[[InfoWorld]]}}</ref>

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== Models ==

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="min-width:40%";

! colspan="6" |IBM PS/55 note, PS/2 note, and PS/note models

|-

!

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==== PS/55 note ====

Simply branded as PS/55 note, the type 5523-S0x was the first Japanese notebook from the 55-series with a 12Mhz 80386 CPU, 2Mb RAM built in and a 9.5" 16-greyscale VGA LCD (640x480). It was only released in Japan. The two main planars inside consisted of two seperateseparate boards "APEX-MAIN" and "SUB-BOARD" leaving room inside for either a floppy drive or a hard drive - but not both. The keyboard has a 7-row layout only. It was not common for IBM to add codenames or words to their internal PCBs, suggesting some influence from outside IBM.

==== PS/55 note N23 SX ====

This was a second generation PS/55 note type 5523-S1x with N23 SX added to it'sits case badge and also only released in Japan. This machine had a 16Mhz 80386 CPU and a redesigned motherboard consisting of just one planar. The additional space inside meant the machine could accomodateaccommodate both an internal floppy disk drive and a hard drive. It also featured an external VGA output and display invert switch.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maggs |first=Alexander |date=April 2025 |title=IBM PS/55 Note N23 SX (5523-SC4) - Japan |url=https://ret.rocks/index.php/ibm/early-ibm-portables/ps-55-note-n23-sx |url-status=live |website=Ret Rocks}}</ref> The main planar inside has "EXCEL-MAIN" written on it.

==== PS/2 note N33 SX ====

[[File:IBM_PS2_N33.jpg|thumb|IBM PS/2 Note N33 SX with external [[floppy drive]]]]

The ''PS/2 Model N33 SX'' (also known as ''PS/2 note N33 SX'') was the first Western-released notebook-sized computer from IBM which was announced in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web|title=IBM PS/2 Note - Computer - Computing History|url=http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/30500/IBM-PS-2-Note/|access-date=2021-04-20|website=[[The Centre for Computing History]]}}</ref> This model was based on the AT-bus and had between 2 or 6MB RAM. It has a 9.5" 16-greyscale VGA LCD (640x480), external 1.44MB floppy connector, expansion ports and a 40MB or 80MB HDD, and weighs {{Cvt|5.5|lb|kg}}.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Name|date=1992-02-25|title=IBM UK LAUNCHES COLOUR LAPTOP AS WELL AS NOTEBOOK|url=https://techmonitor.ai/techonology/ibm_uk_launches_colour_laptop_as_well_as_notebook|access-date=2021-04-18|website=Tech Monitor|language=en-US}}</ref> There were two versions with one based on the original Japanese 12Mhz PS/55 Note and the other based on the Japanese 16Mhz N23 SX. The main two changes is that neither had internal floppy drives and they both had a Western keyboard.

==== N51PS/ note C23 SX ====

A joint third generation PS/Note took the ISA-bus N23SX and added a 10.4" colour TFT panel from the CL57, but successfully miniaturised to fit within the smaller notebook lid. They were branded 'Thinkpad' on the colour IBM logo.<ref>{{Cite web |title= PS/55note C23V (5523-V2/VJ)|url=https://www.ardent-tool.com/PS55/5523/5523-V2.html |website=Ardent Tool Of Capitalism}}</ref>

The ''PS/2 Model N51 SX''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Personal System/2 Models N51 SLC and N51 SX|url=https://www.ardent-tool.com/docs/pdf/brochures/ibm-ps2-modeln51-slc&sx.pdf}}</ref> (or ''PS/2 Note N51 SX'') was a low-end mainstream notebook, which contained a slower version of the typical 386SX found in other notebooks. The N51 SX was delayed for months.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Fitzgerald|first=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ioRslYZXVkAC|title=Going down in history|date=1992-03-30|work=[[Computerworld]]|publisher=IDG Enterprise|pages=38|language=en}}</ref>

==== PS/2 note N51 SLCSX ====

The joint third generation ''PS/2 Note N51 SX'' (or ''PS/2 Model N51 SX''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Personal System/2 Models N51 SLC and N51 SX|url=https://www.ardent-tool.com/docs/pdf/brochures/ibm-ps2-modeln51-slc&sx.pdf}}</ref> (or ''PS/2 Note N51 SX'') was a low-end mainstream notebook with the new MCA bus, which contained a slower version of the typical 386SX found in other notebooks. The N51 SX was delayed for months.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Fitzgerald|first=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ioRslYZXVkAC|title=Going down in history|date=1992-03-30|work=[[Computerworld]]|publisher=IDG Enterprise|pages=38|language=en}}</ref>

The ''PS/2 Model N51 SLC'' (or ''PS/2 Note N51 SLC'') was based on IBM their [[IBM 386SLC|386SLC]].<ref name=":1" /> This model has a [[IBM PS/55 Note|PS/55 note]] sibling.<ref>{{Cite web|title=PS/55note N51SLC 8551-S08|url=http://www.mars.dti.ne.jp/~ayase/tp/ps55n51slc.htm|access-date=2021-05-18|website=www.mars.dti.ne.jp}}</ref>

==== N45PS/2 SLnote N51 SLC ====

The ''PS/2 ModelNote N51 SLC'' (or ''PS/2 NoteModel N51 SLC'') was based on IBM their [[IBM 386SLC|386SLC]].<ref name=":1" /> This MCA-bus model has a [[IBM PS/55 Note|PS/55 note]] sibling.<ref>{{Cite web|title=PS/55note N51SLC 8551-S08|url=http://www.mars.dti.ne.jp/~ayase/tp/ps55n51slc.htm|access-date=2021-05-18|website=www.mars.dti.ne.jp}}</ref>

The ''PS/note N45 SL'' was priced at $2,045 and contains a 25MHz [[80386SL|386SL]]. It had 2MB RAM and an 80<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine|last=|first=|date=1992-12-22|title=IBM PS/note N45sl|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v9TVJ_G_sk8C|magazine=[[PC Mag]]|language=en|publisher=Ziff Davis, Inc.}}</ref> or 120MB HDD<ref>{{Cite web|title=PS/note N45 SL|url=https://www.ardent-tool.com/docs/pdf/brochures/ibm-ps-noten45sl.pdf}}</ref> and was equipped with only 6-row keyboard without dedicated navigation block, the similar layout as a low-end [[ThinkPad 300]] laptop.

=== PS/ note N45 SL ===

TheManufactured by Zenith, the ''PS/note N45 SL'' was priced at $2,045 and contains a 25MHz25&nbsp;MHz [[80386SL|386SL]]. It had 2MB RAM and an 80<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine|last=|first=|date=1992-12-22|title=IBM PS/note N45sl|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v9TVJ_G_sk8C|magazine=[[PC Mag]]|language=en|publisher=Ziff Davis, Inc.}}</ref> or 120MB HDD<ref>{{Cite web|title=PS/note N45 SL|url=https://www.ardent-tool.com/docs/pdf/brochures/ibm-ps-noten45sl.pdf}}</ref> and was equipped with only 6-row keyboard without dedicated navigation block, the similar layout as a low-end [[ThinkPad 300]] laptop.

[[PCMag|''PC Mag'']] considered the display a disappointment, but noted its good design and performance.<ref name=":0" />

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It was manufactured by [[Zenith Data Systems]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=PS/2 Model N33 SX|url=https://www.ardent-tool.com/8533/8533.html|access-date=2021-04-19|website=Ardent Tool of Capitalism}}</ref>

==== PS/note 182/E82/N82T22 SX ====

The T22 SX is an unusual non-backlite greyscale tablet and detachable keyboard offshoot from the main note range. It sold in small numbers.

The ''PS/note 182'' and ''PS/note E82'' was equipped with 80386SL CPU, ''PS/note N82'' was equipped with 80386SX and released in 1992. This line has a 7-row keyboard layout and similar to next-year PS/note 425 model case (but with gray case color and without [[Pointing stick|TrackPoint]]).

=== PS/note 182/E82/N82 ===

TheA side project with Lexmark, the ''PS/note 182'' and ''PS/note E82'' was equipped with 80386SL CPU, ''PS/note N82'' was equipped with 80386SX and released in 1992. This line has a 7-row keyboard layout and similar to next-year PS/note 425 model case (but with gray case color and without [[Pointing stick|TrackPoint]]). The case badge uniquely resembled the style of the PS/1.

==== Model 425/425C ====

The ''PS/note 425/425C'' are identical to the [[IBM ThinkPad 350|ThinkPad 350/350C]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/bp_thinkpad/tpvol1.pdf|title=Hardware Maintenance Manual Volume 1: Laptop, Notebook, Portable and ThinkPad Computers|pages=205}}</ref>

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== Discontinuation ==

In March 1994, it was reported that IBM would consolidate the PS/note series into the ThinkPad 300 series.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DTsEAAAAMBAJ|first=Yvonne|last=Lee|title=IBM revamps line with four ThinkPads|magazine=[[InfoWorld]]|date=21 March 1994 }}</ref> In May 1994, the [[ThinkPad 360]] series was released.

== Timeline ==

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{{IBM personal computers}}

[[Category:IBM laptops|PS/ 2 Note]]

[[Category:Computer-related introductions in 1992]]