What was your very first computer ... ?

Mine:

[image deleted]
[image deleted]
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2ZeVXohSyo]

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

shuhak · M

IBM clone 286 (top of the line, and weighed about 15 pounds)
2 MB hard drive (clerk said I'd never [i]ever[/i] need that much room)
5.4" floppy drive
Green/black CRT monitor (not attached to the CPU)
Dot-matrix printer (color capable)

The whole setup cost me around $2,500

It's sitting in the back of my shed - fully functional.

Nimbus · M

@shuhak $2,500 !

You could have bought a car for that in those days :)

wildbill83 · 36-40, M

@Nimbus $2500 for a computer was a bargain considering up till then, people were buying encyclopedia sets for upwards of $4,000+

Nimbus · M

@wildbill83 Good point.

wildbill83 · 36-40, M

@Nimbus when we got first computer, a neighbor thought they were a waste of money and just a novelty/passing fad, he spent nearly 10k on some fancy encyclopedias for his kids

a few years later, you could buy an entire up to date encyclopedia on CD for like $30

Nimbus · M

@wildbill83 Wow and the Internet via computers are instantly accessible too.

wildbill83 · 36-40, M

@Nimbus internet didn't really become usable until 56k modems, and even then, it was mediocre at best (annoying dial up sounds, 10 minutes waiting on a pages to load, and frequent disconnects...)

Nimbus · M

@wildbill83 What year was that?

wildbill83 · 36-40, M

@Nimbus didn't really become widely available, economically feasible, etc. to homes until early 90's.

Nimbus · M

@wildbill83 Yep, about right.
I think I went online mid 90's.

Budwick · 70-79, M

Timex 1000

CPU‎: ‎Zilog Z80A, 3.25MHz

RAM‎: ‎2K, 64K max

I saved stuff on cassette tapes.

Nimbus · M

@Budwick Wow, cute :)

Budwick · 70-79, M

@Nimbus I remember typing out BASIC code to make a PONG game.
It was a good learning tool.

Nimbus · M

@Budwick I remember doing something similar and it took me about 90 minutes and then it failed! :)