I bought an IBM P70 new in about 1990 or 91 for about $6K (my employer at the time had a company match program). I suspect it is the downgraded P70 model with 2M memory. I used it at remote job sites for a couple years, mostly to run Windows and AutoCad software. Once I changed jobs (in 1993), I quit using it. It has been stored inside my home in the original IBM box since then. I plugged it in once about 15-20 years ago but got an error on the plasma display. Some research back then indicated that might be related to needing to replace CMOS battery and using an updated reference disk. I recall reading something about the boot disk software needing updating to address a Y2K issue or something similar). This P70 was in great condition when I first stored it (everything was in the original working condition), but I understand it might now require some rework beyond just updating the CMOS and reference disk if capacitors have leaked. That type of rework is beyond my skill level. Was wondering if you could give me any suggestions as to where I might find someone able to get it running? This was my first PC out of college, and for sentimental reasons I’m willing to invest a little money just to get it to function again.

Also, on an unrelated note, it is important to know while repairing these machines that the screen may remain blank for 1-2 minutes after power on if the computer has a dead CMOS battery. For some reason, if the CMOS battery is dead, the ram count and cursor take a very long time to show up. I had a few machines like this, and I originally thought they were dead. It turns out I just needed to wait. If you want to confirm that a unit really is dead, remove all the RAM SIMMs and you should immediately see a 211 error after power on. If you do not see 211, then you may have more serious problems.