What was your first computer?
- Thread starter Skippy722
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4WD
$50 site donor 2024
Apple Mac SE20 followed by the Apple Mac SE30 …
Originally Posted by Shannow
Commodore Amiga...with later purchased 25MB hard drive extension...it's up in my garage
Was $1,000 in 1989 dollars and came with a free stereo (with double cassette deck)
Was it a model 2000 Amiga? You could do some really neat things with it by installing a Newtec Video Toaster card in it. Ahead of its time.
Commodore Amiga...with later purchased 25MB hard drive extension...it's up in my garage
Was $1,000 in 1989 dollars and came with a free stereo (with double cassette deck)
Was it a model 2000 Amiga? You could do some really neat things with it by installing a Newtec Video Toaster card in it. Ahead of its time.
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Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
For web-surfing, Windows 95 in 1999.
Mine was a used Dell, Win 95 OS, 486 CPU, 4MEG of RAM (maybe- just barely enough to work) and a whopping 50 meg hard drive. Hard drive died in 1998. Wow, those were the days!
For web-surfing, Windows 95 in 1999.
Mine was a used Dell, Win 95 OS, 486 CPU, 4MEG of RAM (maybe- just barely enough to work) and a whopping 50 meg hard drive. Hard drive died in 1998. Wow, those were the days!
Texas Instruments TI99/4A
Atari 800XL in 1985. It hooked up to a TV and used cassette tapes for data storage. An average game would take 15-20 minutes to load, and half the time it would fail. Yeah, i wasted a lot of time just waiting for games to load.
I learned BASIC on it.
I learned BASIC on it.
IBM 5155
![[Linked Image]](http://www.vintage-computer.com/images/ibmpcportable.jpg "[Linked Image]")
Aside from school work and learning to program I used it to play:
MS Flight SIM
GATO
Adventures in Serenia
I also installed a 900 baud internal modem.
Aside from school work and learning to program I used it to play:
MS Flight SIM
GATO
Adventures in Serenia
I also installed a 900 baud internal modem.
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OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
My mom brought a couple different computers home for use from the school board:
- Commodore 128
- Mac IIe
But the first computer we purchased was a Hewitt-Rand 8088, which I still have. Had switchable graphics between CGA and "Hercules" monochrome, had MS-DOS on it and WordPerfect, Lotus 123...etc. That became my first computer and actually ended up running DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.0. IIRC, I was never able to put 3.11 on it. Had a 30MB hard drive. I used Procom Plus to dial into BBS's and the local VAX to "surf" the primitive Internet.
- Commodore 128
- Mac IIe
But the first computer we purchased was a Hewitt-Rand 8088, which I still have. Had switchable graphics between CGA and "Hercules" monochrome, had MS-DOS on it and WordPerfect, Lotus 123...etc. That became my first computer and actually ended up running DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.0. IIRC, I was never able to put 3.11 on it. Had a 30MB hard drive. I used Procom Plus to dial into BBS's and the local VAX to "surf" the primitive Internet.
TeleVideo TS-803 around 1985 I bought used for about $1,000. Got my father into using a computer and he wrote a few textbooks and articles in medical journals with it. About the only program it had was WordStar. Upgraded to an HP and then Gateway plus a few others but still kept this one up until just a few years ago when it sold on Ebay for $400.
![[Linked Image]](http://www.fototime.com/E0F9A2B2BDBC901/large.jpg "[Linked Image]")
With newer keyboard I got for it.
With newer keyboard I got for it.
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First computer I had any dealings with was a NCR 200 , at school .
First computer I owned was a Timex Sinclair with 2k RAM . Then it has not stopped .
First computer I owned was a Timex Sinclair with 2k RAM . Then it has not stopped .
Apple //e
Radio Shack TRS-80
Commodore 64 and then a Mac Plus with a 40Mb external hard drive the size of a VCR
Working at Belll Labs, I recall a AT&T 6300 but I think there was a Olivetti pizza box running some early DOS OS.
We also had some UNIX PC for composing process documents - though that was a constant bone of contention with the secretary and clerk union. Even if we did a final edit on the PC with UNIX running V.I. editor we would have to give it to a typing pool then ship it to the doc center for approval and proper filing and dissemination. The manufacturing areas used dumb terminals/workstations for MRP access. I think SUN were the first. I liked the Sun keyboard and Display. Good quality stuff.
I still think V.I. is faster than MS Word, to compose a technical doc, once you got the hang of it.
We also had some UNIX PC for composing process documents - though that was a constant bone of contention with the secretary and clerk union. Even if we did a final edit on the PC with UNIX running V.I. editor we would have to give it to a typing pool then ship it to the doc center for approval and proper filing and dissemination. The manufacturing areas used dumb terminals/workstations for MRP access. I think SUN were the first. I liked the Sun keyboard and Display. Good quality stuff.
I still think V.I. is faster than MS Word, to compose a technical doc, once you got the hang of it.
Whipcitywrencher
Site Donor 2024
IBM in 1997
Windows 95
Windows 95
IBM PC jr
8088 processor, 128KB ram upgraded to the max 512KB, Dos 2.1 (iirc)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PCjr
followed in 1993 by a IBM ps/2 with an integrated 640x400 screen (yes that is the right resolution)
386SX 20MHZ, no math coprocessor, 2MB Ram, 42MB HDD, 2400Baud Modem.
it would take several min to decode a jpeg picture.
Would dial into prodigy for weather reports and some local BBS (to get freeware and shareware) by plugging in a 50ft phone cord.
I remember the huge leap to 14400 modem on the next computer a pentium 75mhz
8088 processor, 128KB ram upgraded to the max 512KB, Dos 2.1 (iirc)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PCjr
followed in 1993 by a IBM ps/2 with an integrated 640x400 screen (yes that is the right resolution)
386SX 20MHZ, no math coprocessor, 2MB Ram, 42MB HDD, 2400Baud Modem.
it would take several min to decode a jpeg picture.
Would dial into prodigy for weather reports and some local BBS (to get freeware and shareware) by plugging in a 50ft phone cord.
I remember the huge leap to 14400 modem on the next computer a pentium 75mhz
Atari 400 that I added some dram chips on existing board and took to 48K. Then I added a real good keyboard out of a beehive monitor. I had some logic digital cassette decks that you could send serial RS232 at 9600 baud for storage so replaced the cassette storage. They even sold the assembly source for the basic interface and the OS. I wrote a rudimentary assembler in basic.
Programming at that time was under the business department at WSU. I was impressing the [censored] out of my instructor and scaring much of the rest of the class. They ended up asking me to teach a 3 hour assembly language course evenings. Paid a whopping $ 3200 you would need to have office hours and work with the graduate assistant. With lesson plan, meetings, approvals, book selections etc since it never taught before it would have come to about $1.00 an hour. No way. But they said the next course will be much less work. I had other things to do.
Rod
Programming at that time was under the business department at WSU. I was impressing the [censored] out of my instructor and scaring much of the rest of the class. They ended up asking me to teach a 3 hour assembly language course evenings. Paid a whopping $ 3200 you would need to have office hours and work with the graduate assistant. With lesson plan, meetings, approvals, book selections etc since it never taught before it would have come to about $1.00 an hour. No way. But they said the next course will be much less work. I had other things to do.
Rod
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A Commodore 64 but it broke in a few years and mum hated the time I wasted on it playing games.
When IBM firesaled the IBM PCjrs my mum purchased one, I had that computer from 8th grade thru college as a decent word processor and Lotus 123 on cartridges!
I also used telnet with PC Jr to make a session onto Campus unix system and take computer science classes.
When IBM firesaled the IBM PCjrs my mum purchased one, I had that computer from 8th grade thru college as a decent word processor and Lotus 123 on cartridges!
I also used telnet with PC Jr to make a session onto Campus unix system and take computer science classes.
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