Author Topic: What was your first computer? (Read 40680 times)

vils · « **Reply #50 on:** Tue, 02 February 2010, 19:48:11 »

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 · « **Reply #51 on:** Wed, 03 February 2010, 11:04:00 »

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 · « **Reply #52 on:** Tue, 09 February 2010, 03:36:13 »

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 · « **Reply #53 on:** Tue, 09 February 2010, 03:58:09 »

Quote from: clickclack;157201

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 · « **Reply #54 on:** Tue, 09 February 2010, 04:13:01 »

Quote from: ak_nala;157202

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 · « **Reply #55 on:** Tue, 09 February 2010, 05:15:31 »

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 · « **Reply #56 on:** Tue, 09 February 2010, 05:17:11 »

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 · « **Reply #57 on:** Tue, 09 February 2010, 05:27:31 »

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 · « **Reply #58 on:** Tue, 09 February 2010, 05:31:27 »

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 · « **Reply #59 on:** Tue, 09 February 2010, 07:30:12 »

Tandy 1000, ca. 1985...

ak_nala · « **Reply #60 on:** Tue, 09 February 2010, 07:44:20 »

Quote from: clickclack;157205

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 · « **Reply #61 on:** Tue, 09 February 2010, 21:25:31 »

Quote from: ak_nala;157238

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 · « **Reply #62 on:** Tue, 09 February 2010, 21:52:50 »

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 · « **Reply #63 on:** Tue, 09 February 2010, 22:14:56 »

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

sethstorm · « **Reply #64 on:** Tue, 09 February 2010, 22:21:07 »

Quote from: trievalot;157220

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 · « **Reply #65 on:** Tue, 09 February 2010, 23:28:06 »

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 · « **Reply #66 on:** Wed, 10 February 2010, 05:17:57 »

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 · « **Reply #67 on:** Wed, 10 February 2010, 05:39:23 »

My first computer was a ZX Spectrum 48k!

elservo · « **Reply #68 on:** Wed, 10 February 2010, 10:49:27 »

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 · « **Reply #69 on:** Wed, 10 February 2010, 11:25:23 »

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

itlnstln · « **Reply #70 on:** Wed, 10 February 2010, 11:26:35 »

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

firestorm · « **Reply #71 on:** Thu, 11 February 2010, 14:55:08 »

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 · « **Reply #72 on:** Thu, 11 February 2010, 15:08:41 »

Quote from: ripster;157844

late adopter.

This.

firestorm · « **Reply #73 on:** Thu, 11 February 2010, 15:19:28 »

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 · « **Reply #74 on:** Fri, 12 February 2010, 13:48:16 »

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 · « **Reply #75 on:** Sat, 17 April 2010, 08:36:58 »

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 · « **Reply #76 on:** Sat, 17 April 2010, 12:08:38 »

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 · « **Reply #77 on:** Sat, 17 April 2010, 14:00:28 »

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

TWX · « **Reply #78 on:** Sat, 17 April 2010, 18:19:51 »

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 · « **Reply #79 on:** Sat, 17 April 2010, 23:54:15 »

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 · « **Reply #80 on:** Mon, 19 April 2010, 09:59:32 »

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 · « **Reply #81 on:** Mon, 19 April 2010, 14:43:43 »

..

My very first computer was one of these:

.
.
.

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

hyperlinked · « **Reply #82 on:** Mon, 19 April 2010, 14:56:00 »

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 · « **Reply #83 on:** Sun, 25 April 2010, 18:55:57 »

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 · « **Reply #84 on:** Mon, 26 April 2010, 00:21:49 »

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 · « **Reply #85 on:** Mon, 26 April 2010, 00:33:01 »

Quote from: waperboy;176014

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

Sir Clive Sinclair snagged a lot of us that decade.

InSanCen · « **Reply #86 on:** Thu, 29 April 2010, 18:15:04 »

Quote from: ricercar;176018

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 · « **Reply #87 on:** Fri, 30 April 2010, 14:17:28 »

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 · « **Reply #88 on:** Sat, 01 May 2010, 07:01:45 »

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 · « **Reply #89 on:** Tue, 11 May 2010, 08:13:57 »

Morning Song · « **Reply #90 on:** Tue, 11 May 2010, 08:37:25 »

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 · « **Reply #91 on:** Thu, 13 May 2010, 16:31:46 »

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 · « **Reply #92 on:** Sat, 15 May 2010, 15:33:41 »

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

Otterclock · « **Reply #93 on:** Sat, 15 May 2010, 16:50:22 »

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

EverythingIBM · « **Reply #94 on:** Sun, 16 May 2010, 01:08:07 »

Quote from: Otterclock;182730

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 · « **Reply #95 on:** Sun, 16 May 2010, 02:10:06 »

Quote from: Otterclock;182730

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

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

Quote from: EverythingIBM;182846

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 · « **Reply #96 on:** Sun, 16 May 2010, 07:58:16 »

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)

Quote from: EverythingIBM;182846

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 · « **Reply #97 on:** Sun, 16 May 2010, 09:42:38 »

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 · « **Reply #98 on:** Mon, 17 May 2010, 05:40:55 »

Quote from: TexasFlood;182928

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 · « **Reply #99 on:** Mon, 17 May 2010, 07:17:53 »

Quote from: hyperlinked;183076

...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.

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Author Topic: What was your first computer? (Read 40680 times)