Hey everyone, I just wanted to share an incredible find from my job placement at a local office IT department and get some advice from fellow collectors I’m a huge retro nerd (I already own a Commodore 64, a Win98 rig, and a WinXP machine), and this week I spotted a complete, beautiful IBM 5150 setup with a matching monitor, Model F keyboard, and a massive bin of original floppy disks sitting unused on a shelf They don't use it at all, so on my breaks, I got permission to set it up. At first, it wouldn't boot—the fan would just spin loudly with a totally blank screen and no startup beep. After some troubleshooting, I managed to clear out a trapped static charge using an external drain trick, and it booted completely into IBM Personal Computer BASIC! The keyboard is typing beautifully, the CRT tube hums perfectly, and I even found the complete original IBM PC-DOS 3.10 binder with both disks in the bin.

When I first saw it, I immediately knew I wanted it for my collection. I asked the IT Head straight up if I could buy it or just have it since they don't use it. I got super excited and went on a bit of a rant, even offering to trade some of my other old tech like an old iMac. He told me, "I don't know, I'd have to do some talking to some people and figure it out, but I'm sure we can maybe work something out "He got me to pause the trade talk by saying let's not focus on that right now, but he did give me a power bar so I could keep messing around with it safely at my desk. Later on, he mentioned they originally kept it around because other staff liked looking at it as an antique He seems impressed with my regular tech work so far, and he even went out of his way to pull out another mystery 1980s machine for me to look at next week. I'm incredibly nervous that they might say no, even though it's completely obsolete to them. My plan is to give him space next week, keep using it quietly on my breaks, and then send a formal, calm email late next week asking to officially purchase or adopt the bundle as a preservation project Has any other co-op student or intern successfully rescued a vintage gem from an office inventory like this? What do you think my realistic odds are based on what he said, and what is the best way to handle a busy IT manager so I don't overwhelm him? I'm also hoping to get some real talk on my actions so far: Do you think I said too much by offering home trades right away? Did I look too desperate or over-excited when I ranted about how much I love this tech? I have this massive wave of anxiety that I butchered my chances or that the IT guy is going to change his mind. What would you do in my situation right now to fix it, or should I literally just stay silent and do my job? Let me know if I'm totally overreacting or if my worries make sense.



Found a pristine IBM 5150 setup at my part time job. Hoping to get some advice on how to successfully take it home!