What was your first computer?

[didjamatic]

What was your first computer?
Mine was a Texas Instruments TI-99/4A in Beige

[lowpoly]

I started on a Commodore CBM 4032 in school. Then I got a C64.

[Mnemonix]

Commodore 128D, complete with a Commodore 1802 monitor.

[HaaTa]

First computer I can remember using was a Compaq of sorts, mind you this was 1992 and I was 4 years old at the time...

Though my first actual computer was a Dell Dimension XPS D233:



Pentium 2 233 MHz
64 MB PC-166 (really hard to find and too expensive to upgrade, just like the Rambus RD-RAM on the next computer I got...)
4.3 GB HDD
17" Sony Trinitron Monitor
Dell Quiet Key (a crappy one, had to replace it)
Microsoft Intellimouse (1.2A I think)
28x NEC cdrom
STB Nvidia Riva 128 4 MB

Got this for Christmas in 1997.

[keyb_gr]

That Dell seems to swallow ordinary SDRAM, as far as a typical LX system will do. 64 meg or 128 meg sticks with 8 chips per side and a properly programmed SPD EEPROM should have worked (a BIOS upgrade may help). Now EDO DIMMs, that would've been exotic.

The first computer in the family, which I "inherited" a few years later, was an ASI 386SX-20 system in '91 or '92 (presumably assembled in the Robotron works). Originally equipped with 1 MiB of RAM and, I think, a 40 MB harddisk, it later got 4 megs and an Aztech 16-bit sound card. Multimedia baby The monitor was a 14" which rarely bothered to fill the whole screen. I don't remember the keyboard, it may have been a Silitek rubber dome. The mouse was a Qtronix, I still have the manual. Originally shipped with MS-DOS 5.0, we later ran 6.2 with Windows 3.1. I learned a good bit about DOS on this one.
Ultimately we sold the whole shebang to my uncle, where the monitor deflection was adjusted and the PC internals were replaced by something based around a Pentium 133.

The next one, a Packard Bell Pentium 75, served me well for a number of years, including my first steps on the internet. Then there was a PIII-500 on which I quickly replaced the incredibly noisy CPU cooler and bought a bigtower case along with an Asus P3B-F to replace a lame VIA-based board. The old case later housed an experimental dual processor system which ultimately (2 boards later) evolved into my main one. There were a few more upgrades but I never made it beyond 1 GHz. (As yours truly was hogging the PC, my parents ultimately got one of their own - different story.)

[pikapika]

mine was a crappy assembled p133 with a huge 16mo ram and 2.5go of disk, proudly running ms dos and win3.11

[ricercar]

Waitasec, the IMSAI was the first machine I helped buy. The first machine I coded on was years earlier, a Control Data CDC 64000 mainframe.

[ch_123]

Siemens Nixdorf Pro M5. Windows 95, 166MHz Pentium, 16MB RAM, 2GB HD, Soundblaster 16, 28.8Kbps external modem.

[chimera15]

Apple ][ , later upgraded to a +
 Not the e version, the one before it, with tape drive. hehe  Still have it too. I was like 6 when my dad bought it in like 1978 or 9 lol

[twokatmew]

The first "personal" computer I worked on was a TRS80 Model III.  When I was able to get my own computer, finally, I got a Leading Edge 286.  Then I had a Micron 486, and after that I started building my own.

[InSanCen]

First Computer was a, I have no idea, very early console though. The First one I remember owning myself, was a Sinclair ZX81.

In x86 ownership terms though, it was a 286 based Apricot Xen Xi (PC compatible). It ran Windows 1 (MS DOS executive!). I remember soldering enamalled wire back onto the motherboard when it got dropped moving it to another room.

It's fun to watch these threads, I remember trying my first Pentium 100, and thinking "****ing hell it's fast!" compared to my previously fast 386/40. I also remember thinking "fancy giving a Processor a name... Weirdo's!"

[Buckling_Summer]

My first contact was with a ZX Spectrum of a friend.
The legendary Commodore 64 is my first computer.
I remember I bought it at summer time.

80s and 8-bit.

[PRISONER 24601]

First, a C64
Then, my parents bought a Leading Edge Fortiva 5000 w/ 8MB of RAM and a 500MB HDD, Win 3.1. That was a great machine.

After that, I built my first computer- an AMD K62-333 on an Asus P5AB motherboard, 8gb HDD, and I think 32mb of RAM. It was pretty sweet. I broke it right off the bat, not knowing that you need to connect black->black with AT power supplies. What a n00b mistake! It was also housed in a gigantic black tower case, something like 3' tall.

[MFGorilla]

There's nothing like some good retro computing chatter.

My first computer was an Epson 386SX which ran at a BLAZING 16Mhz.  It came with something like a 10 MB hard drive, and maybe 1MB RAM.  Actually, as I think about that I think it came with less when my parents bought it and we upgraded it later.  The sound card and CD-ROM were added later, too.  

Looking back my parents were blissfully unaware of what their 12 year old son was doing to the computer they had just dropped two grand on.

[iMav]

My first computer was a TI-99/4a (silver/black) that I got for Christmas from my parents.  Took a Basic programming class when I was a senior in high school (as we had just received a few Apple ][e's (our first computers).  

Didn't own another computer until I purchased my first PC after I left the military...an Epson 286 (toggleable between 8 and 12MHz) and 1MB of ram.  I had no hard drive (swapped between a stack of floppies) and had a B&W VGA monitor.

[datamonger128]

My first computer was an Apple IIGS.  I couldn't do too much on it though since my dad was too freaking cheap to buy any software for me.  My first PC was an old Packard Bell Legend 627 (I think).  That thing had a whopping 2MB RAM and a 100MB HDD running MS-DOS 6.0 and Windows 3.1.

[hyperlinked]

My first computer technically was a Tandy Radio Shack Model-1 aka the TRS-80 or Trash-80, but it was really my dad's computer and I just messed around on it when I'd spend days in the summer at his office or later on when he finally moved the monstrosity home. The thing I remember more than anything else about that computer was the weight of the floppy drives. Each of the two floppy drives weighed more than the monitor and that doesn't account for the external power supply.

Some years later, I got my first computer that was mine. It was the first release of the  Atari 1040ST. I still have it stored in my garage and as far as I know, it still runs.

[ak_nala]

Atari 800XL with a Tape Drive.

[microsoft windows]

It was a long time before I ever used computers. My first one was an old Gateway 2000. After that, I got a Hewlett-Packard Vectra XM Series 3/90.

The pizza box was the same as this one except it had the old DEC monitor from 1992 I still use today and an even older keyboard. I got a lot of mileage out of that HP; I used it for 10 years.

[itlnstln]

My first computer was a Commodore 64.  Before that, the closest thing I had was an Atari 2600.

[Mr.6502]

My first computer was a Tandy 1000.  I have many fond memories of learning BASIC and playing King's Quest II on it.  I was very sad when it eventually stopped booting up.  For the whole time I had it (we got it used when I was a kid) it had to warm up.  When it first powered on it didn't do anything.  We would have to leave it running for about 20 minutes, turn it off, and turn it back on and then it would go.  Much like the cars we had at the time.

[keyb_gr]

Looks like that Tandy had a few dead electrolytics...

[overdriver]

Mine was Apple ][+ as well.
I remember I beat Ultima III, IV, V on that machine.. memories
I still have Apple IIc, II+, IIe though. I am trying to buy IIgs but my budget is tight arg.
I remeber my first portable PC: Packard Bell PPC640 from BEST (not best buy.. it's really old joint which is already closed down long time ago in Pennsylvania). that old Packard Bell was really something at that time.
BBS, modem, zmodem, etc.

[arfink]

My first was a Tandy PC1 (I think?) portable computer. Essentially a glorified calculator, with a qwerty keyboard and it looked like a silver paving stone and weighed about as much too. But it ran basic. Stupidest thing to try and type on ever.

That was back when I was in 2nd grade. In 3rd grade I got an Apple IIe. I used it literally to death, when the PSU went bad, the replaced the PSU and kept using it. Then I got an Apple IIgs. All of these machines were gifted to my family, and were quite obsolete at the time. I'm 21 as of this past June, so you do the math.

Anyways, I eventually chucked those machines (stupid choice) and went with more modern PC architecture. I got my first laptop, a Tandy 1100HD. Nice little machine, I think I payed a whopping 50 cents for it. Less than a year later I got an IBM PS/2 386 machine, and my first Model M to go with it. Then I got a 486, and a couple of Pentium class machines. Most of these machines are now either not working, in the parts bin, or in the landfill.

I have since replaced my IIgs and acquired a Tandy 102 and 200 with TPDD2. When I don't have to use my new laptop, I prefer to use the old rigs because they have real keyboards and do what I need 'em to.

EDIT: somewhere in that there should also be an Apple III. Dang, that thing was very cool, but I didn't have much software for it. Read games, I had tons of programming tools, Visicalc, word processing, etc. I really kick myself whenever I think of the time I threw that beast away.

[alipstadt]

An Apple IIc.  Last time I loved an Apple made computer. "Portable," heh.

My first x86 was a cast off PC/AT that my dad brought home from the (big name) brokerage he worked for at the time.  Dual 5.25, Full height 20MB Winchester... and a keyboard I'm now missing.

[microsoft windows]

Quote from Ripster:


--------

Now this is what makes those HHKB's look so modern...

[didjamatic]

Dual 5.25" floppies and a FH hard drive?

I thought ATs only had space for 3 HH drives, two accessible outside and one below them?

If you add a controller you could add as many drives as your IRQ's, case and power supply could support.  If you used SCSI, you could support significantly more.

[alipstadt]

Crank up the nostalgia machine, this is going to be a big one-

I've been trying to find an internal picture for you, but 3 stacked HH makes little sense, as there are only two open slots to the world (see wikipedia), and it was a while until there were half height drives. It was 2 external, 2 internal, side by side.

http://paulaxford.com/computer_collection/IBM_5170.htm

Is pretty close to a decent-

Hold the phone.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/29TGMR_li53itCjnRm2tiA

Or...

http://www.vintage-computer.com/ibmpcat.shtml

Anyhoo, mine had an EGA card, and I added a serial mouse and 2400 bps internal modem (the last time baud and bps were the same, I suppose).  Fun times with that machine.  Used to go BBSing (Qmodem FTW!)- or even occasionally just directly call a friend - with it and eventually managed to get access to a dial in university shell account... ah, pre-Web internet...

I remember later borrowing PCBoard 14.5 from my high school... and setting up a "BBS" to get the sysop discount and first batch buy-in on the Hayes Optima 28.8VFC (for the special price of $288)+Hayes ESP (I think these were $69) card. One pair went to me, one pair went to the school - we had an arrangement.  I even was there when a Hayes employee rang in (it was a fax line) and made sure it was an actual board (it wasn't).

(I promise, this did not cause Hayes to go out of business.)

We were promised a firmware upgrade to V.34 when it was finalized, and they were true to their word - I just don't remember if we had to send them in or if they shipped us a PLCC and a new faceplate (I remember having two faceplates, one V.FC, one V.34) - I think we shipped them in and got the old parts back.  

I miss the silver, black, and red.  Going from internal 2400 to external 28.8... well, do you remember the days of watching in horror as you realized you hit the wrong menu entry and your 1200bps connection would very slowly "draw" the wrong page... ? Before you liken it to loading the wrong webpage on a slow connection, remember, there was no stop button or a cached copy of the previous page.  You were stuck watching your error - and realizing you would also be waiting on the previous menu and then the actual screen you wanted...

It was nice to be free from that.

But what I want to know is, after all this time, why are file transfers in Firefox less reliable and recoverable than sz and rz?

[Hofy]

Sinclair ZX81 followed by a Commodore Vic20.

[keyb_gr]

What on earth did they do with a ceramic IF filter in that machine (the little orange 3-legger)? Seems like they threw a few random parts there for the pic...

[alipstadt]

It does seem there is a 3rd, internal, half height bay on the right.  Honestly, I had forgotten about that bay.  
Half height drives seem to date to about '85, so there would have been a use for it, but I didn't have access to one back then.

[williamjoseph]

gee, my first was a x86 machine that had win 3.1, a 3" and 5" floppy, 4mb RAM and a 40mb hd.  it was never on the internet, my dad had about 60 floppies he kept in a clear case for a total HD backup.  he would do that every 3-6 months.  it did have a mechanical keyboard that i threw away in my uthfull ignorance. i remember that had to talk to a loan officer to get it financed.  i was in 4th grade i think.......

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

The first ever computer in my house was an old Compaq Presario 4764.  Pentium MMX 120-180Mhz, 1mb graphics, Windows 95.  I still have and use that computer to this day.  I upgraded it to 80mb of PC100 RAM, a 3.6G hard disk, and I had Windows XP Pro SP2 running on it at one time.  It is really an awful computer.  I can't believe my mom paid $2000+ for that thing back in '96-'97.

[ricercar]

Bwhu? Your first computers had 16-bit buss, RAM measured in megabytes, and an off-the-shelf OS? Sheesh. Breadboarding an Intel 4004 was the BEST, with eight 2102 RAMs to make a byte by 2K, and LEDs for output.

The only part of my first Timex Sinclair computer I have left is the ****ty mylar keyboard that I stuck to the front of a 3-ring binder.

EDIT:



Webwit, blessings on your family for pointing me to that ZX81 KIT site. That's frigging amazing.

[microsoft windows]

I didn't use computers for years. The first one I ever really used was my old HP from 1995.

[ricercar]

I hooked up my Commodore SX64 with one of those to talk dirty.

[microsoft windows]

I like Microsoft Sam better. Especially in Windows 2000.

[sethstorm]

NCR Decision Mate V(from their employee "fire sale"), followed by a PC4, then a fully equipped IBM 5160(complete w/ Model F keyboard and CGA monitor).

Those kind of machines are why I'm inspired to seek(or build) quality, and not just get some knockoff.

I'll leave it up to Google to turn up a good photo of those.

[ricercar]

I like Microsoft Sam better.

Commodore 64 also had a SAM (software activated mouth). I used him for my answering machine messages, which my dad HATED.

[microsoft windows]

Funny. I use Microsoft Sam for my voice mail.

[J888www]

Acorn BBC Model B.   Seems a whole lifetime since I last seen one.

 

Loved the Red Function keys.

[czarek]

My first one was A500 later expanded with 68030/40 MHz card, 8 MB RAM and SCSI which is still used occasionally but for daily use I've got my fully loaded A2000. Here are pics of both:


And internals of my A2000:

[Chao]

Some Gateway 2000 back around 1994.

[Mercen_505]

I started out with a c64 around the time they were first released. A few years later, I got a 286, but I still remember those first few years playing c64 games on a black and white TV  

I was a bit nonplussed, as my 286 came with a CGA card, which was just this side of horrendous. A year or two later, I got an upgrade to EGA... followed by another long wait to finally hit SVGA.

[Superfluous Parentheses]

First computer I ever played with was an Atari 7800: http://hardwaremovile.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/51.jpg

Then I messed with a sony hitbit: http://www.computermuseum.li/Testpage/SONY-Computers.htm and a VIC 20: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_VIC-20

Then I saved enough money to get my own machine. The glorious C64, with a real disk drive and a manky old black-and-white monitor. http://www.computerwoorden.nl/woorden/wdb/gif/commodore.jpg

Swapped that later for an Amiga 500 and also worked on a few Windows machines, Mac classics and Sun sparcstations. Right now I've got a desktop machine running Debian, a macbook, and a bunch of netbooks running some variants of Linux and Windows.

[In Stereo!]

It was something like an IBM Thinkpad 340. I still have it somewhere in the attic.

[djones]

Macintosh classic with ram upgraded from 1mb to 4mb was the first comp I ever touched. Dad had a Next though. First actual computer, though, was a 486 33mhz full tower with 8mb ram.

[ricercar]

The Macintosh Classic had bootable MacOS 6.0.3 in ROM, so you could use it as a diskless  Appletalk terminal. That was kinda cool.

[hoggy]

ZX81.  The keyboard had a thumb sized dent where the shift key 'used' to be. A few years ago I had to clear out my collection of old computers - so this thread was a bit nostalgic.

The first keyboard repair I did was on an old Tatung Einstein.  Got it in a car boot sale for £5 - only to discover that the previous owner must have spilt something on the keyboard years before.  An entire can of switch cleaner, and even resorted to a bit of filing before I could get the keys to pop back up.

[platon]

Mine was a Commodore 64C. It had a tape recorder! I still remember pressing REC to save some small programs in BASIC, i was copying from the manual.
 

[vils]

The first computers I used was a friends ZX-80 and the VIC-20 we had in school.
My first own coputer was a ABC-80.
After that I used various Macs until I bought my first 200Mhz pentium in 1997.

[ricercar]

First computer I used was a Control Data CDC 64000 mainframe in 1972. We learned Dartmouth BASIC and printed naked women from ASCII characters. First computer I owned was a Timex Sinclair 1000, a decade later.

[clickclack]

The first computer that I ever owned was a Machintosh IIci that I recieved new in either 1991 or 1992. I still have it and it still works!!! Unfortunately my monitor for it died years ago so I can't use it =(

I would kill to get a new monitor (just a replacement of my old one) and put that screen saver "more after dark" on it and play "Lunatic Fringe". My all time favorite game. I have such wonderful memories of that computer... my goodness. I finally (last week) put it in storage. It's in such great condition with 4mb of ram and AEKII keyboard (its beautiful) and that incredible (and HUGE) cd/multimedia player (thats what they called it then, haahaa). That cd player cost $700 darn bucks when we got it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also got my first job on that computer doing software illustration  and graphic design, I even had a pen tablet! The best memories of my childhood revolved around that computer

[ak_nala]

The first computer that I ever owned was a Machintosh IIci that I recieved new in either 1991 or 1992. I still have it and it still works!!! Unfortunately my monitor for it died years ago so I can't use it =(

You don't need to get an old Mac monitor for it. Just get an adapter and you can use it with just about any analog computer monitor. The converter has the Mac-style monitor connection on one end and a regular SVGA jack on the other - plus lots, and lots of DIP switches!

Belkin and a couple others sold them.

[clickclack]

You don't need to get an old Mac monitor for it. Just get an adapter and you can use it with just about any analog computer monitor. The converter has the Mac-style monitor connection on one end and a regular SVGA jack on the other - plus lots, and lots of DIP switches!

Belkin and a couple others sold them.

Hmm... I think I will look into that, thanks!
I had never even thought of that!
I must admit thougth it would be really nice to have that same monitor on it though, I really dug it, you know... for nostalgia =)

Thanks again, I really appreciate it =)

[trievalot]

i work with a guy whos oldest memory of a computer is playstation 1 and pentium 4.
little ba$%@$d makes me feel old.

i had the Amstrad CPC464/6128 and the Sega SC3000H. by god the sega had a bad keyboard now i think back! pure membrane.

[trievalot]

on this note....i have an IBM 5153 monitor.
(same as - not this one)
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-IBM-5153-First-Color-Monitor-Display_W0QQitemZ150399744864QQihZ005QQcategoryZ74946QQcmdZViewItem
Can this work with modern cards in any way???

[ch_123]

Nope, modern cards don't support EGA. You'd need some sort of external active adapter to interface them, and Im not sure whether they exist.

[trievalot]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380164308963&rvr_id=&crlp=1_263602_263622&UA=W2I7&GUID=6875a0ec1260a040b10698c6ffcd2950&itemid=380164308963&ff4=263602_263622
apparently so.....

[Shawn Stanford]

Tandy 1000, ca. 1985...

[ak_nala]

Hmm... I think I will look into that, thanks!
I had never even thought of that!
I must admit thougth it would be really nice to have that same monitor on it though, I really dug it, you know... for nostalgia =)

Thanks again, I really appreciate it =)

It'll be something like this.

If I had more than just the one I'd send one to you, but it's all I've got at the moment for my older Macs. Guess I should have picked up that spare a couple weeks ago when I spotted it in a parts bin.

[clickclack]

If I had more than just the one I'd send one to you, but it's all I've got at the moment for my older Macs. Guess I should have picked up that spare a couple weeks ago when I spotted it in a parts bin.

Thanks for sending the link! Now I know what to look for should I take that route. Mighty kind of ya, much appreciated =)

[kriminal]

some random biege computer {cant remember brand} i used to load games of a floppy in dos prompt.

played games like budokai\retaliator\ dig dug... somewhere around 1991\1992

[elservo]

That's my first computer.  Not that particular one, but I had that model Tandy.  Radio Shack, baby!

[sethstorm]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380164308963&rvr_id=&crlp=1_263602_263622&UA=W2I7&GUID=6875a0ec1260a040b10698c6ffcd2950&itemid=380164308963&ff4=263602_263622
apparently so.....

That, or find an old ISA WD card(with 9 and 15 pin ports) and a Hercules monitor if you want to go the cheap route.

[megarat]

My first exposure to a computer was a TRS-80 of some sort (w/a monochrome text-based display), through my best friend's dad.  This was 4th grade or thereabouts.  I started my own chain of computer ownership shortly thereafter, in order:

• Timex/Sinclair 1000 (with 16k memory upgrade and 3rd-party tactile keyboard kit ... this was maybe when I was about 9-10 years old)
• Atari 1200XL (acquired sometime in middle school and the computer I came to know the best; I still have a soft spot for the 6502)
• TRS-80 Model 100 (picked up circa my 16th birthday, which I still own ... to this day I still think it's one of the coolest computers ever made)
• Atari 800XL (bought from a friend my senior year of high school ... I wanted his peripherals, the computer was included for free)
• Atari 1040STfm (sophomore year of college because I couldn't afford a Mac)
• Powermac 7100/66 (just in time for my final year of college; note that I was an undergrad for seven years (I was a triple-degree student -- don't ask), so the Atari ST lasted longer than it would otherwise seem)

After I graduated and got a job, the curve became exponential.

[Necroleachate]

This was my first. An msx computer. I used a 14" tv as the monitor.



Msx computers were made by many companies in the world, in Brazil we had only Gradiente's and Sharp's models. That was a time the government prohibited imports to protect national production (what a stupidity).
My first PC was a 486 running at 40Mhz.

[Half-Saint]

My first computer was a ZX Spectrum 48k!

[elservo]

The first computer in my house growing up was an IBM PC Jr.  My brother owned it and played a Civil War sim on it whenever he wasn't doing homework.  I remember he had a real keyboard, so it wasn't the first generation.



Must have been that one.  He occasionally let me play a football game on it.  I had no idea what I was doing, but I just felt special being allowed to play a game on the thing.

[ch_123]

The monitor on those looks more like a cheap TV than a computer display... I wonder...

[itlnstln]

My CGA monitor could be used as a TV; it wouldn't be too suprising.

[firestorm]

I guess, technically, my first was a TRS80 Color Computer 3 with a cassette drive.  After that was a 286 20Mhz, just with floppy drives.  We later got an old Seagate MFM half height 5.25" 40MB harddrive - the auto park on that thing made the computer sound like a mainframe.  Lots of upgrading ensued after that.  And I still sometimes wish CD-ROMs stuck with caddies.  I liked caddy drives.

[itlnstln]

late adopter.

This.

[firestorm]

Our first PC, the 286, had VGA and computers didn't hold my interest much before that.  The Trash 80 was frustrating, since I couldn't touch type yet and the cassette drive was a pain to use, so I'd generally lose everything.  I'd usually resort to playing on the ColecoVision instead.  But it was once I got a 1200 baud modem things really got nerdy.  I can remember dropping $140 for an Intel 14.4kbps modem some years after that.  We were fortunate to get free internet through Michnet - pre-graphical-web.

Anybody else remember those "Internet Yellowpages?"  Back when you could search for something innocent like "red fox" and not stumble across porn.  I was proving to my son that some foxes are red... some are also naked, but I wasn't looking to show that to him.

[quadibloc]

My first computer was a Timex/Sinclair 1000 (another version of the ZX 81), followed shortly by a Commodore 64.

Much later, I could finally afford a no-name XT clone. But since then, my finances, and computer value for money, just kept improving; so I upgraded it with a 386SX motherboard, and followed the PC compatible curve through the years, but not getting new computers too often - no need to waste money.

[Kodai]

Hailz everybody, I'm new here and thought this would be a good first thread for me to post in.  My first computer was the original TI 99/4 model.  I got it for Christmas in '79.  I still remember that god awful chicklet keyboard.  About a year later, it just up and died.  My dad contacted TI and asked for them to repair it.  Instead, they offered us a choice.  Either they would repair it for free, or we could be a part of their "home trials" for their new version called the TI 99/4A.  Then we get to keep that after we submitted a report on what was good and bad about it as well as what  I now know as signing an NDA.  It was my first beta.  ^_^  Needless to say it had a vastly superior keyboard compared to the original 99/4.

From there, came a good deal on a TRS-80 model 1, then an Apple II, then the C64, and a CoCo 2, etc, etc.  By the mid 80's I was on to PC's and Mac's.  I still have my first Mac, its an Mac SE.  But I never really used it that much as the PC had taken root in me.  By the later half of the 80's ('88 or '89, I'm not sure which), I had managed to get a 386DX 25 and started looking to make my older 286 a better system.  I learned at a local computer sale about this thing where you could swap out the timing crystals and tripple the speed of the CPU.  I was able to get it from 8Mhz to just over 16MHz.  My first overclock.  From there, the list just keeps going.

Just thought I'd share some basic info about myself.

[Jimmeh]

MikroMikko Indiana a-3:
Win98
32mb of RAM
4,3gb HDD
15'' monitor

I had this when i was around 4 years old, in 1998.

[noctua]

Hy geeks, my first computer was Amiga 500, like this. A time there the demo scene has me impressed ;-)

[TWX]

My first computer was a Packard Bell PB500, an 8088 with 640KB RAM, 30MB RLL Hard Disk Drive, 800KB double-density 5.25" Floppy Disk Drive, ATI CGA-compatible graphics adapter capable of displaying ANSI colors in 80x25 text mode, and a 14" monitor.  It ran MS-DOS 3.3 when I got it, and I upgraded it to MS-DOS 5.0.  We added a 1.44MB 3.5" floppy, but didn't realize that the 8088 wouldn't address 1.44MB in the media, so I had to format my disks 720K and put tape on the high density hole.  I also added a Compudyne 2400 baud modem and used Q-modem when I was a BBSer.

My oldest PC (that I acquired much later) was a Compaq Portable (wiki), but unlike the image in the wiki, mine had full-height floppy drives, not half-height like those pictured, so I had no room for a hard disk drive.  Later I put a Gateway Telepath 14.4 (but it usually didn't work at 14.4 because of the crappy 8250 UART chip) in and used it to get on Usenet via dialup shell when my parents would ground me from the 486.  They didn't know that I had figured out how that old four-prong phone jack in my bedroom worked, or that I had a working (if ancient) computer in there.  I would dial up to the public library's card catalog system, which had a portal to a Usenet client.  This is back when Usenet was still for chatting.

We had an original Pong machine, but I don't count that because it wasn't general-purpose.

[EverythingIBM]

My first computer was some weird IBM clone with 5" floppy drives. I remember it had that loony toons game where you would make scenes with characters, some old pac man version, etc.

Wasn't good at all.

[zerocool]

i can't rememebr the brand of my first computer but it was before windows 95 and it was a monochrome and all you could really do was write a word document of it with a huge old fashion print and play pontoon which my dad did all the time, lol.

then we got a gateway PC about the time after 95 because it was a windows 95 Operating system

[Specter_57]

..

My very first computer was one of these:



.
.
.



...............
Spec_57

[hyperlinked]

This wasn't my first one, but it was one of the coolest and rarest items that I've ever put my hands on. Only 5,000 were ever sold in the U.S. so I'm not sure how the hell my family got its hands on one except my dad was always swinging barter deals for stuff and he serviced a lot of the electronics industry with memory testers.

Anyone here ever heard of a WorkSlate computer?


It didn't do much, but it worked well for dialing up BBSes and the presence of a mini tape recorder and a modem allowed it to function as a programmable answering machine. I wish I knew what happened to it. Of all the old stuff that I've let go of as worthless junk, this is the one that I really regret losing.

The keyboard was impossible to use though.

[Grizaptimus]

Its kinda funny, I have next to no memory of my early childhood, however I have one perfect memory of my grandfather walking up the driveway to my old house with an Atari 400 in his arms... as this was 88-89 time frame it was rather outdated... i liked that computer, but I loved it when dad came one with an Atari 800XL... an actual keyboard blew my mind at that age =)

[waperboy]

Ah, when was it now... 1983! My 13:th birthday. I wake up in the morning with a present shoved in my lap - little did I know what a life-changing gift this would be:



My first thought was "what's with this chiclet keyboard?"...

Anyway, this baby threw me deep into a dark age of programming, gaming, and general computer obsession from which I have not escaped to this day.

[ricercar]

little did I know what a life-changing gift this would be

Sir Clive Sinclair snagged a lot of us that decade.

[InSanCen]

Sir Clive Sinclair snagged a lot of us that decade.

Although not my first computer (I remember, albeit very vaugely, MSX), it's the one that got me hooked beyond the point of no return. I still have most of the Sinclar/Spectrum series here. The +3 still gets fired up as it's the least frustrating to use (and the 48K still has my personal vote for the Worst Keyboard Ever Made).

[JBert]

In my case I started with a local OEM PC with a 80286 (I guess it is still buried somewhere in our computer mess) bought by my dad's employer. I still remember playing Pharaoh's Tomb and Commander Keen on it.

[Voixdelion]

The first interactive electronic doodads we had were pong and an atari 2600, but strictly computers:  I learned BASIC on a Commodore 64k and a color monitor in 7tt grade and the first one in the house was an apple IIc which was on loan from LA high where my mom got a grant for thirty to be put in her classroom where she taught esl biology.  On it I played text only interactive games like  ZORK (i,ii, AND iii) and Where in the World is Carmen San Diego (although it had some graphical animated intervals) and very green games of  Spy Hunter and Moon Landing in between using Appleworks for typing school papers.  My HS school lab had some kind of IBM with orange monochrome monitors then, but at my 20th reunion last weekend I saw the snazzy new setup that looked like a lot of large flatscreens and flat apple keyboards so I'm guessing they're running macs of some kind now...)

[mr_a500]

 

[Morning Song]

My first computer was a Sanyo MBC-550--which was apparently one of the very first IBM PC clones--and not entiiiiirely compatible. My parents got it for me at a yard sale, and it still exists is a corner in my father's house, though it hasn't been turned on since 2000.



The keyboard is weird--There's no alt key (The manual says you achieve the same thing with Ctrl-shift, but i never had a program that needed it), and instead there's a rather odd "graph lock" key, that lets you type various upper-ascii box drawing characters. It also only has five function keys--you access the other five with shift, and it has a red break key--the precursor to our red escape keys, perhaps? It's fun to push when you're seven(The system beeper produced only one tone. LOUD). And i'm pretty sure it's rubber dome, since it doesn't have any tactile feedback.

[washuai]

Brown and yellow beige Texas Instruments was my first computing experience - my cousin and I spent all day programming on it and only managed to turn the color of the screen, lol.

I remember my first computer was a gift from my aunt that came from Black Wolf and was a used Intel PC.  I can't remember if it was 386 or 486.  It ran Win '95.  I dubbed it Compy - as in Procompsognathus.  It was icky beige.  It was actually a very reliable computer and I don't recall it crashing.  I think I had to purchase the crummy used monitor myself.

I still have my Compy the 3rd.  It really isn't in use.  My last build before upgrade I keep around as backup Compy.  My current pc guts will become the next Compy, when next I upgrade.  I wonder if any of the parts are non-upgraded original Compy.  Maybe some screws?

[audioave10]

Vic 20
I got back into the habit in 2001 with a Sony Vaio 233Mhz w/TV tuner.

[Otterclock]

Apple IIc. I remember it costing $1300. I played Lemonade Stand.

[EverythingIBM]

Apple IIc. I remember it costing $1300. I played Lemonade Stand.

PIECE OF GARBAGE. I HATE LEMOADE STAND. I think I threw that game out.

All the good games back then were on DOS, the only things on apple computers were typing applications and other "educational" things due to it being adopted in schools (and me having to use macs at school). And I never knew of IBM computers at that time: but when I did, OH BOY, I became AMAZED at those colourful worlds of DOS fun, and never liked Apple since. Useless computers that live in a propriety dome.

[hyperlinked]

Apple IIc. I remember it costing $1300. I played Lemonade Stand.

Lemonade rocked! That and Oregon Trail... oh good memories!

PIECE OF GARBAGE. I HATE LEMOADE STAND. I think I threw that game out.

So, uh, have you noticed that you're the only guy in this thread who's trashing other people's memories about their first computers. You are truly one first class act. Grow up.

[mr_a500]

No, he said he hates "LEMOADE STAND", not "Lemonade Stand". It's a game similar to Lemonade Stand, but really really sucks. I can only assume it caused him permanent psychological damage.

(...but I must admit, I don't like Lemonade Stand either)

All the good games back then were on DOS, the only things on apple computers were typing applications and other "educational" things due to it being adopted in schools (and me having to use macs at school).

Are you insane? All the best games back then were on Amiga. PC games absolutely SUCKED in comparison. Before the Amiga, all the best games were on Atari. (arguably C64)

Games on PC only improved in early 90's when they got high-colour graphics cards and good sound cards.

[TexasFlood]

TI-99/4a

Had both silver/black and beige.  Think the silver/black came first but not 100% sure.  Collected a lot of the expansion stuff at swaps and clearance sales but gave it all away many years ago.

[hyperlinked]

TI-99/4a

Had both silver/black and beige.  Think the silver/black came first but not 100% sure.  Collected a lot of the expansion stuff at swaps and clearance sales but gave it all away many years ago.

When I was a kid, my next door neighbor had one of those. All I remember about it was that he had some funky Abominable Snowman game and that the cartridges loaded in on a plastic runway.

I can't remember, what kind of controllers did those take? Did they work with Atari plugs?

[didjamatic]

...what kind of controllers did those take? Did they work with Atari plugs?

I believe the TI joystick interface was a DB9.  The Atari joysticks were not compatible, but this photo shows a custom adapter to allow use of an Atari stick.

I used 2 joysticks like the little red guy near the center of this photo, just left of the big beige ones.  I don't think these were the original joysticks that we got.

[kishy]

DE9.

Plug-nazi reporting in.

[TexasFlood]

When I was a kid, my next door neighbor had one of those. All I remember about it was that he had some funky Abominable Snowman game and that the cartridges loaded in on a plastic runway.

I can't remember, what kind of controllers did those take? Did they work with Atari plugs?

I don't think they were Atari compatible.  They weren't great as I recall.  Think mine were like these below although I don't really remember clearly.  When I first got it, I didn't have any joysticks and only games I had used the keyboard.

[Brian8bit]

My first machine was a Commodore 64. I was born in 84 and my brothers and I got a C64 when I was 6. This is my current machine.



I pick up bits and pieces as I go round garage sales, car boot sales and occasionally dip into fleabay. The breadbox works, thought the shift lock key needs reseated and re-wired. I thought I could do it myself, but I don't have the stones to attempt it myself incase I end up shorting something. The PSU works and is rock solid, but I don't like to power it up too often (it's been at least a year since I tested it). The huge keyboard is an original Commodore branded one, however it requires the sound expander module to work and I haven't come across any at a price I was willing to pay. The datassette works as well as of the last time I powered the system up.

Someday I hope to have somewhere I can set up a proper little studio and have all the addons and can make that SID really sing.

[EverythingIBM]

Are you insane? All the best games back then were on Amiga. PC games absolutely SUCKED in comparison. Before the Amiga, all the best games were on Atari. (arguably C64)
Games on PC only improved in early 90's when they got high-colour graphics cards and good sound cards.

No I'm not insane, I'm referring to the 1994-1999 era. Amiga was already DEAD by then.

C64 was *okay*, but nothing that impressive. It was mainly about the music than the games. And playing the last ninja looks exceedingly annoying waiting for everything to load on 1 Mhz.

[hyperlinked]

Show Image

Whoa! Is that your collection? What's the name of the tiny joystick about half the size of your palm with the red stick and two red buttons on both sides? I've been trying to find out the name of those sticks for months.

[mr_a500]

No I'm not insane, I'm referring to the 1994-1999 era. Amiga was already DEAD by then.

C64 was *okay*, but nothing that impressive. It was mainly about the music than the games. And playing the last ninja looks exceedingly annoying waiting for everything to load on 1 Mhz.

Why were you referring to the 1994-1999 era? Otterclock was talking about the Apple IIc and you said "All the good games back then were on DOS". The Apple IIc was out from 1984-1988. So, "back then" was 1984-1988 and that's the era we were talking about.

Maybe you are insane.

[megarat]

Anyone play around with the Cambridge Z88?



Another brainchild of Clive Sinclair ... it's relatively innovative, with lots of amazing functionality packed into such a small package for the time, got a couple dozen hours of life from only a few AA cells.  The bizarro rubber keyboard was both a boon (quiet, interesting action, waterproof) and a curse (wears down over time, key response on large keys (shift, space) was lacking).  I played around with one of these for a while and it was really fun, but nothing I could use for practical work, particularly because file-transfer was cumbersome, and the keyboard and I just didn't get along.

Sorry if I'm turning this into another retrocomputing thread ...

[mr_a500]

Anyone play around with the Cambridge Z88?

ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/sinclair/company-pics/SinclairResearchLtd/SirCliveSinclair-HoldingTheZ88.jpg

Another brainchild of Clive Sinclair ... it's relatively innovative, with lots of amazing functionality packed into such a small package for the time, got a couple dozen hours of life from only a few AA cells.  The bizarro rubber keyboard was both a boon (quiet, interesting action, waterproof) and a curse (wears down over time, key response on large keys (shift, space) was lacking).  I played around with one of these for a while and it was really fun, but nothing I could use for practical work, particularly because file-transfer was cumbersome, and the keyboard and I just didn't get along.

Sorry if I'm turning this into another retrocomputing thread ...

I thought it already was a retrocomputing thread.

I liked the look of the Z88 and always wondered how good the keyboard was. I suspected it was nice and quiet, but crap to type on - and it's good to hear from somebody who actually tried it and find out I was right.

I just got a 1983 TRS-80 Model 100, which is similar, but has a very nice keyboard (with double-shot keycaps). File transfers are no problem because I've got a SD card reader for it.

[EverythingDell]

My mom n dad gave me a old Inspiron 1100 for my birthday last yr. Its a littl slow but it still totelly r0xx0rs becuz its a Dell dude!

b4 I wus using there Dimension 4600. Such a tight box its so fast and it plays counter strike but I keep gettin killed by camper ***s. Its even faster after i got my mom n dad to get more ram for it n i put it in myself!

[kishy]

What the hell just happened here?

Welcome...to...geekhack...

[didjamatic]

I thought it already was a retrocomputing thread.

I liked the look of the Z88 and always wondered how good the keyboard was. I suspected it was nice and quiet, but crap to type on - and it's good to hear from somebody who actually tried it and find out I was right.

I just got a 1983 TRS-80 Model 100, which is similar, but has a very nice keyboard (with double-shot keycaps). File transfers are no problem because I've got a SD card reader for it.

Show Image

Hey, I have one of those as well.  Since it's solid state, no moving parts and runs on AA batteries, those should work forever.  Long after many other vintage systems will have bitten the dust

[EverythingIBM]

My mom n dad gave me a old Inspiron 1100 for my birthday last yr. Its a littl slow but it still totelly r0xx0rs becuz its a Dell dude!

b4 I wus using there Dimension 4600. Such a tight box its so fast and it plays counter strike but I keep gettin killed by camper ***s. Its even faster after i got my mom n dad to get more ram for it n i put it in myself!

http://www.pcworld.com/article/129857-2/the_10_worst_pcs_of_all_time.html

Consumers who purchased this machine entered a new dimension all right, the altered dimension of Dell Hell. The Dimension 4600 was only a middling machine when new, but after about a year--or shortly after the standard warranty expired--power supplies in some machines began to fail. Worse, Dell's customer support misdiagnosed some of these problems as motherboard failures.

Dell's support forums filled up with complaints from similarly powerless users, but the company refused to admit to defects with the power supply. (Dell politely declined to comment for this article.) The Dimension 4600's problems were yet one more reason why the "Dude, You've Got a Dell" tagline became a joke--though not a particularly amusing one for some customers.

Is that so....

[megarat]

I just got a 1983 TRS-80 Model 100, which is similar, but has a very nice keyboard (with double-shot keycaps). File transfers are no problem because I've got a SD card reader for it.

Show Image

Likewise, I'm the original owner of a Model 100, which I received for my 16th(/17th/thereabouts) birthday back when RS was blowing out the 100 to make room for the new (and not much different) 102.  I regard this as one of the coolest technogizmos ever made, but honestly I just can't get myself to do much with it anymore.  It's been collecting dust and I've been considering letting it go.  (The HP 48sx beats it for handheld programming and data collection, and the Alphasmart Neo crushes it like a bug for text processing.  Especially w/r/t battery life.)

Hey, I have one of those as well.  Since it's solid state, no moving parts and runs on AA batteries, those should work forever.  Long after many other vintage systems will have bitten the dust

Almost.  There is gumdrop-sized a capacitor that acts as the memory-backup battery which frequently goes bad after 10-20 years, but you can get a replacement from Club 100 for cheap and it's trivial to de/re-soldering.

EDIT:  Also, make sure you keep those AAs out of them (and the memory persistence switch off) during storage.  I've heard of more M10Xes getting toasted by leaking alkalines than anything else.

[mr_a500]

Likewise, I'm the original owner of a Model 100, which I received for my 16th(/17th/thereabouts) birthday back when RS was blowing out the 100 to make room for the new (and not much different) 102.  I regard this as one of the coolest technogizmos ever made, but honestly I just can't get myself to do much with it anymore.  It's been collecting dust and I've been considering letting it go.

Yes, it can be tricky finding useful purposes for vintage computers, but... this post was completely typed using the 1983 TRS-80 in that picture. Neat, eh? (pointless, but neat)

[megarat]

Yes, it can be tricky finding useful purposes for vintage computers, but... this post was completely typed using the 1983 TRS-80 in that picture. Neat, eh? (pointless, but neat)

Agreed.

Just for kicks, I made an acoustic Model 100 modem cable, connecting from the DIN modem jack to a 1/8" phono plug.  This way I can plug the M100 into a mobile phone and get a modem connection from nearly anywhere.  I tested it once for the gee-whiz factor -- dialed into my ISP and browsed the web via Lynx from the middle of nowhere ... totally cool! -- but haven't used it that way since.  It was a fun diversion, though.

[mr_a500]

Agreed.

Just for kicks, I made an acoustic Model 100 modem cable, connecting from the DIN modem jack to a 1/8" phono plug.  This way I can plug the M100 into a mobile phone and get a modem connection from nearly anywhere.  I tested it once for the gee-whiz factor -- dialed into my ISP and browsed the web via Lynx in the middle of nowhere ... totally cool! -- but again, haven't used it that way since.  It was a fun diversion, though.

That sounds awesome! Nice work. I love hearing about people doing things with 80's computers that were unimaginable back when they were created. Example: I took all my TRS-80 CoCo 2 programs, which were on dying cassette tape, sampled them on my Amiga 500, converted them to MP3 and put them in a playlist on my iPod ("album art" is a screenshot of the program). Now, I've got every program I ever wrote for that computer safely stored and easily accessed on my iPod - without screwing around with tape positioning. (Anybody out there old enough to have saved programs on cassette tape? It wasn't fun, let me tell you.)

By the way, I like your avatar. Ballblazer (a.k.a. Ballblaster) is one of my favourite 8-bit games. I still play it occasionally on my 800XL - loaded from SD using the SDrive Nuxx.

[megarat]

Example: I took all my TRS-80 CoCo 2 programs, which were on dying cassette tape, sampled them on my Amiga 500, converted them to MP3 and put them in a playlist on my iPod ("album art" is a screenshot of the program). Now, I've got every program I ever wrote for that computer safely stored and easily accessed on my iPod - without screwing around with tape positioning. (Anybody out there old enough to have saved programs on cassette tape? It wasn't fun, let me tell you.)

I've heard of people doing this with M100 software (on the Club100 mailing list), but using CD audio.  Each different program would be on a different audio track.  Just hook the M100 up to a Discman or equivalent using the cassette/audio cable, select the track of the program you wanted to load, tell the computer to "CLOAD" and press PLAY on the Discman.  Then sit back and have a beer while it loads.

(Of course, this predated the SD- (and other-) based storage methods available today, but at the time it was super-genius.)

(And I agree, using audio cassettes as a storage medium was an exercise in masochism.)

By the way, I like your avatar. Ballblazer (a.k.a. Ballblaster) is one of my favourite 8-bit games. I still play it occasionally on my 800XL - loaded from SD using the SDrive Nuxx.

Cool, thanks.  As far as I know, you're the only person who has made the connection.  I have an 800XL as well, as a dedicated game machine, and Ballblazer is probably among my top-10 8-bit games.  (Certainly among my top-10 competitive two-player 8-bit games.)  My preferred method of delivering software is the AtariMax flash carts, but I haven't heard of SDrive Nuxx.  I'll have to investigate.

EDIT:  Just looked up SDrive Nuxx ... man, that looks terrific, especially for disk-based games.  (I'm still a sucker for "Imperium Galactum".)  It's a bummer they're out of production or else I'd be ordering one today.

[megarat]

I thought it already was a retrocomputing thread.

Well, this thread is technically themed "what is your first computer?", not "isn't this vintage computer awesome?", and I think there's at least one other general retrocomputing thread here on GH.  (To explain my logic.)

I liked the look of the Z88 and always wondered how good the keyboard was. I suspected it was nice and quiet, but crap to type on - and it's good to hear from somebody who actually tried it and find out I was right.

To elaborate, I wouldn't say it was "crap to type on".  I've typed on much, much worse.  The Z88 is "interesting" in a way that isn't necessarily positive (and difficult to get used to, at least in my case), and like I said, you need to hit the large keys in the right place, or else you won't hit the key actuator.



For anyone who's interested:  the Z88 keyboard is the ultimate "rubber dome" keyboard.  A "key" is itself an extruded (square-shaped) rubber dome, with a stem within that is aligned to the key actuator.  When you press the key, the molded rubber buckles, and the stem presses the actuator.  So the outer layer of the keyboard is a solid sheet of rubber, pimpled with extruded, deformable rubber "keys".  (Now imagine the Shift keys, Enter key, or worse the space bar, working this way.  You can't trigger the actuator from just anywhere on that key.  You need to hit it in the sweet spot, ideally right over the stem.  Also imagine the rubber breaking down over time.)

This "rubber sheet design" makes the keyboard quite water-resistant, but it also collects dust like nothing else.  The question remains:  does this rubber keyboard also use rubber dome switches?  I don't know for certain, but probably.

Well, okay ... upon reminiscence, it is crap to type on.

[JBert]

I took all my TRS-80 CoCo 2 programs, which were on dying cassette tape, sampled them on my Amiga 500, converted them to MP3 and put them in a playlist on my iPod ("album art" is a screenshot of the program).

What do they sound like? :-)

[mr_a500]

What do they sound like? :-)

They sound like robotic rats in a blender.

None of these program MP3s is not going to make the music charts.... but I hear somebody's doing a remix album that's going to kick ass.

[Harry_Y]

Sinclair ZX81 followed by a Commodore Vic20.

Show Image

That was my first one as well

[bitflipper]

...I took all my TRS-80 CoCo 2 programs, which were on dying cassette tape, sampled them on my Amiga 500, converted them to MP3 and put them in a playlist on my iPod ("album art" is a screenshot of the program). Now, I've got every program I ever wrote for that computer safely stored and easily accessed on my iPod - without screwing around with tape positioning. (Anybody out there old enough to have saved programs on cassette tape? It wasn't fun, let me tell you.)

Yeah, I'm old enough. Was my first computer, still have the thing and the tape deck. I was thinking of hooking it up to a monitor or tv, loading each program from the cassette and paging through it snapping digital photos. Then I could use OCR or at worst, just key them from the snapshots.

I don't even remember the commands, skipf & loadf ring a bell.

So how do you take them from mp3 to source code again? Re-record them back to analog cassette?