What's the earliest computer you started with?

[Fraggboy]

The earliest I could remember was our family computer, TRS-80. Learned BASIC. Playing around with the midi (Writing very LONG songs and having the computer playing them back.

I remember I used to get computer magazines which had programs you could 'type' in and use. My favorite was a Halloween scene. It had a scary house with little animation as well as scary music to go with it. It took me forever to type in all of the code, but I remember it was cool when it was finished.

During middle school I was fortunate to play with Apple IIe's and c's. When I was first married, we bought a computer with an Intel 8088 CPU.

Oh, what fun memories. What was your earliest computer you started with?

[vic7767]

I built my first computer. It had a membrane keyboard, it was called the Timex/Sinclair 1000. Had a Z80 processor with 1Kbyte or ram. Basic was on a single ROM chip. I wrote a program using dimensional arrays to calculate daily grade averages for 12 students and a weekly performance average per student as well as the whole class. Data was stored on a cassette tape player. I think the CPU ran at 33 KHz.

After that I chose the Apple computer then the Apple II, then the Apple II+, then the Apple IIe, then the Apple IIc, then went with the IBM platform due to more software programs that were available than the Apple.

[Fraggboy]

OMG!! I remember owning one of those.

My friend had a Commodore 64 with cassette tape. I would spend the night and it would take like 10 minutes to load the game and we would stay up all night playing with it.

[mfortuna]

TRS80 Model I. Started with the base 4K memory unit, upgraded to 16K, then added the expansion interface with 32K of memory, a floppy drive, and a printer. I bought the RAM chips on my own but they were still big $$$. The printer was a radio shack dot matrix printer except it had only 1 pin. Each line printed was 1/7th of a character. Took forever.

Learned Basic, Z80 assembly, and Forth.

[sageman]

first family computer i have no idea only it was windows 94 (i was only 8 ish)

then we got a Packard bell thing it doesn't say what it is on it but i found out one day but forgotten

that has 200 odd mb of ram and a prosesser that has more gigger things than my laptop (dont have assess to it at the mo)

then my step-dad brort along a fajitsu seimens scenic thing (dont know power etc)

then they got an acer aspire with a quad core intel thing (not those new ones that overclock themselves) the one before (i think)

my laptops first i got a packard bell thing have no idea what it was

and now got a dell inspiron 1525

with 3 gigs of ram and 1.8 gigger things

[medic427]

I loved my Commodore 64. I know exactly what you guys are talking about with the cassette tapes . I loved that computer system so much. Then I remember back my father purchased a shoe box sized tan metal piece box I must have been 5. Then I remember it was a floppy drive LOL Games 4 or 5 discs. The noise when it would read or write. Thank you so much for posting this topic. It bought back such great memories for me. .

[roombafan56001]

My first was some early Compaq. After just lookign it up, it was a Presaerio 6000 with AMD, CTR monitor, and some really nice 2.0 computer speakers. Now I have a late 2007 iMac 20" which now (After a repair and many trip to the Apple Store) has 500GB HD.

[TechGuy]

My first personal computer is Commodore PET 1978 summer. BTW, it is still in my basement.

[roombafan56001]

That thing scares me alittle bit... :$

[dinkydong]

The floppy drive isnt much better .... it goes out of alignment easily, often requiring a re-calibration. Everytime u format a disc, u get that silly rattling noise! That aside, i liked my Commodore 64 too. I missed those C64 games!

I loved my Commodore 64. I know exactly what you guys are talking about with the cassette tapes . I loved that computer system so much. Then I remember back my father purchased a shoe box sized tan metal piece box I must have been 5. Then I remember it was a floppy drive LOL Games 4 or 5 discs. The noise when it would read or write. Thank you so much for posting this topic. It bought back such great memories for me. .

[djos]

Mine was a Tandy as well but it was the IBM compatible 1000EX - it was a great machine with 16 color Tandy enhanced CGA graphics and 3 voice digital sound both of which where supported by Sierra and other Publishers. When we upgraded to a 10mhz Turbo XT we were sorely disappointed by it's 4 color CGA graphics and beeps and had to add an Adlib Sound card and better graphics card later on to best the Tandy.

[TechGuy]

After my Commodore PET, I played around with a few single board computers, Z8, 6502. When TRS-80 Model 1 came along, I purchased one. I played around with it and hacked it to dual boot CP/M in addition to the TRS-80 OS. The only thing that I did not played with back then is the S100 bus hardware.

[Willeam]

Uff, I don't remember what computer we had at school but they were veeeery slow and big!

[marcelb]

My first personal computer was a comodore 64... long time ago!

[Veronica L]

Return to the boards after a few years letting the battery rot. 8(

1980, UK, bought an Ohio Superboard II. Very, very BASIC. I really wanted a Nascom but was talked out of it by my husband.
http://192.197.62.35/people/mcsele/OhioScientific.html

Great fun in the early years. My house was always full of little boys.
From there moved to the BBC B stable, then Archimedes, the RISC OS 2 (fall on the floor and do worship) then, sigh, realised all the best programs for fractal mangling needed a PC, and the PC board for the RISC OS was horrendous.

Moved to PC with a 486 and from then have gone quietly mad. No longer want to program or fiddle or take things to bits. Everything moves too fast now. Getting old and fumbly. (67 - Shut up)

Remember early days with great pleasure. Tandy, Pet, Commadore... Dragon, any one? And what about The Einstein?

Lor, haven't things changed? )

Veronica L

[djos]

I recently got given a Commodore 64 which I've now fully restored!

I think i've got the Vintage Computer bug bad cause last week I bought an Amiga 500+ and a shed load of bits for it to pimp it out!

[mfortuna]

That bug happened to me a few years ago but for the most part I have gotten better

[Veronica L]

I recently got given a Commodore 64 which I've now fully restored!

I think i've got the Vintage Computer bug bad cause last week I bought an Amiga 500+ and a shed load of bits for it to pimp it out!

Okay, now be honest. No, I mean it. What, exactly, have you done with the Commadore since you gave it a new lease of life? Huh? Huh?

I ask because I got my itchy mitts on a BBC B and was thrilled to get it up and running and.... The euphoria lasted about three days. Then I was given, yes, given a RISC OS PC that would have cost the earth new and again bounced up and down with glee. That lasted a week. I passed it on to a worthy cause and damn me, a week later someone else offered me another RISC OS PC that followed the first one on a 'free to good home basis. There are people out there still using them. Lummy.

I have been corrupted. I can't even think of LINUX without shuddering. Twenty years ago LINUX would have been a challenge. Now I just want things to work out of the box and stop giving me nasty messages and I wish I still had XP.

Veronica L

Suddenly remembered someone gave me a slot over the keyboard piano keyboard for the Comm 64 and we had a wonderful time with it. That on one side and the BBC B making horrid sounds on the other.... My son later joined a pop group and made very much the same sort of noises.

Also of note, of all his friends who came to play on the computers none of them went on to study computers, only him. Really was a case of needing one there, all the time to whet the appetite, I think.

[djos]

I recently got given a Commodore 64 which I've now fully restored!

I think i've got the Vintage Computer bug bad cause last week I bought an Amiga 500+ and a shed load of bits for it to pimp it out!

Okay, now be honest. No, I mean it. What, exactly, have you done with the Commadore since you gave it a new lease of life? Huh? Huh?

Play games of course!

I've added these to my c64:
http://www.retroswitch.com/products/flyer/
http://www.1541ultimate.net/content/index.php

and have downloaded several thousand games for it and they all fit on a single micro-SD card!

Im also adding a 4GB CF drive as a HDD to my Amiga 500+, an extra 1mb Chip Ram and 8mb Fast Ram as well. I may even add an internal VGA scan-doubler/flicker-fixer card too.

[Fraggboy]

I remember playing Moon Lander. We loaded it via the tape drive. I remember when I would spend the night at my friends house and we would play all night, ROFL.

It would take like 20-30 minutes to load. And, sometimes it would fail and we would have to start it over again.

http://www.gb64.com/game.php?id=17446 Good times!!