What happened to Computer Shopper magazine?!

[SunnyD]

It's been a while since I actually looked at one (years in fact), but it looks to me like it had a successful run on the Atkins Diet or something...

When did this happen?

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
It's been a while since I actually looked at one (years in fact), but it looks to me like it had a successful run on the Atkins Diet or something...

When did this happen?

Online shopping.

 

[Ogg]

I know, it sucks now.
I remember back in the day when it was thicker than a phonebook and besides the Alice & Bill column I bought it to scan the thousands of ads in the back of it for the best deals. Yeah so what he said ^ there is right.

 

[kranky]

Interesting that this came up today - I got my copy of PC Magazine in the mail on Monday, and thinking about how big it used to be reminded me of the Computer Shopper. In its heyday it was probably the cheapest magazine per pound that you could buy!

 

[Viper GTS]

Yup, the internet killed it.

The internet also killed all the local computer shops (the good ones at least, the POS ENU is still around).

RIP PC Heidens.

Viper GTS

 

[Thump553]

The amazing thing to me is that it is still be published-but it looks more like a pamphlet than a phonebook now.

 

[SunnyD]

I remember the days where I used to use a stack of 5 CShoppers as a stepstool. Now I'm lucky if there's enough of it to wipe my ass with.

 

[Ornery]

Originally posted by: Ogg
I know, it sucks now.
I remember back in the day when it was thicker than a phonebook and besides the Alice & Bill column I bought it to scan the thousands of ads in the back of it for the best deals. Yeah so what he said ^ there is right.

We had a little fun with Alice & Bill after they dissed the Celeron. I posted this when my handle was Eno:

• Computer Shopper December 1998
  The Hard Edge Pg. 406
  
  

  The Celeron was well-recieved in some circles. You see, computer journalism can get stressful. It's not often that something as impending as the Celeron appears on your front door, grabs you by the lapels (which in Bill's case is extremely difficult because he only wears t-shirts), and throws you to the floor laughing. It was just what the doctor ordered. The only downside is that it wasn't what anyone in computing needed- well, anyone other than game-playing 13-year-olds.

  
  Like I said this guy's office is called the "Lab Of DOOM And Pepsi Cola". Alice is the hours on end Quake player.
  
  The Celeron to me has always been a very viable alternative since it's inception. At the time this was published the Celeron 266 was $100. A K6-2 266 was $110. The Celeron was immensely overclockable and gave you an upgrade path to PII 500s and beyond. By Anand's Winstone comparison it wasn't that much slower than a PII 300 anyway. You could have had a Celeron 266 in an Abit BH6 or a K6-2 266 in your choice of Socket7 board. Which was the better choice? If you chose the socket 7, by what margin is it the better performer? A huge amount? It's all relative I know, but I say the difference wasn't huge. I'd have taken my chances with the Celeron/Abit, it's upgrade path and lack of AGP compatibility issues etc. How bad off would I be at this point in time?
  
  I'd still grab a cachless unit if the price were low enough. Nothing I run is that friggen critical. Hell, I'm running a K6-233 now! Guess I better go walk my dog while I wait for "WordPad" to load
  
  Please do drop them a note with your opinions good or bad.
  
  Eno
  
  hardedge@zd.com

Anybody remember that? I still have archives of the original post: Alice Hill And Bill O'Brian, Celeron Bashers

Here is the exchange on the Delphi forum, where Bill would NOT admit he was wrong: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

 

[LordJezo]

Anyone remember when CS had the huge bbs listings in the back?

I used to get that mag just to discover new bbs' in the area..

Those were the days..

 

[IamElectro]

I believe it also lost quite a bit of weight after the PII was discoverd to be overclockable. Quite a few companies were selling PII systems that were overclocked. I seem to remember seeing an article in CS recommending that you open up your machine and check the actual chip to make sure you got what you paid for.

 

[Passions]

Oh yah!!! Those things were like phone books!!! Hahaha, I read so many of them to get my first comp. Those were the days.

 

[Nohr]

I used to read those all the time. I still got a half dozen of them, mostly from '99.

Pic - note the 12" ruler, hehe.

 

[PanzerIV]

Same thing I thought when I saw it a few years ago. It's drastically shrunk from its heyday. Nothing stays the same I suppose...

 

[Falloutboy]

Originally posted by: Nohr
I used to read those all the time. I still got a half dozen of them, mostly from '99.

Pic - note the 12" ruler, hehe.

but those are even small compared to what I remember

 

[Nohr]

Originally posted by: Falloutboy525

Originally posted by: Nohr
I used to read those all the time. I still got a half dozen of them, mostly from '99.

Pic - note the 12" ruler, hehe.

but those are even small compared to what I remember

I don't recall them being any larger than that, but who knows, it's been a while since I first read them. These are around 9.5" wide by 12.75" tall, and a half inch thick.

 

[wyvrn]

Online shopping and Dell deals. Who needs computer shopper now?

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: Nohr

Originally posted by: Falloutboy525

Originally posted by: Nohr
I used to read those all the time. I still got a half dozen of them, mostly from '99.

Pic - note the 12" ruler, hehe.

but those are even small compared to what I remember

I don't recall them being any larger than that, but who knows, it's been a while since I first read them. These are around 9.5" wide by 12.75" tall, and a half inch thick.

They used to be 1.5-2 inches thick back in 1993-1994.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Nohr

Originally posted by: Falloutboy525

Originally posted by: Nohr
I used to read those all the time. I still got a half dozen of them, mostly from '99.

Pic - note the 12" ruler, hehe.

but those are even small compared to what I remember

I don't recall them being any larger than that, but who knows, it's been a while since I first read them. These are around 9.5" wide by 12.75" tall, and a half inch thick.

i remember getting some that were like 3inches thick or so. those look only about an inch or so thick.

yeah CS was huge. I would get it deliverd to my house. heh the mailman hated me for that. I went to upgrade my computer a few years ago and figured i would pick up a CS and take a look at prices. man it was tiny. I didnt bother with it. just cruised around verious places online. what a shame too.

 

[KK]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: Nohr

Originally posted by: Falloutboy525

Originally posted by: Nohr
I used to read those all the time. I still got a half dozen of them, mostly from '99.

Pic - note the 12" ruler, hehe.

but those are even small compared to what I remember

I don't recall them being any larger than that, but who knows, it's been a while since I first read them. These are around 9.5" wide by 12.75" tall, and a half inch thick.

i remember getting some that were like 3inches thick or so. those look only about an inch or so thick.

yeah CS was huge. I would get it deliverd to my house. heh the mailman hated me for that. I went to upgrade my computer a few years ago and figured i would pick up a CS and take a look at prices. man it was tiny. I didnt bother with it. just cruised around verious places online. what a shame too.

Yeah, it was the best value out there, not very portable though. I guess as the laptops got smaller so did the CS magazine. Remember those zenith laptops, I forget what they where called, apple sport, or something like that. Those were the good ole days.

KK

 

[DBL]

Yep, I remember CS in its heyday around '95 or so. I bought my first computer for college out of CS from the now defunct Zenon computers. It was a P90 w/ 16mb of ram and a 860 meg HD. It cost 1.7k I believe and came with a KFC ; brand monitor. Personally, I think it was the monitor brand that sealed their fate.

 

[BassDominator]

Originally posted by: DBL
Yep, I remember CS in its heyday around '95 or so. I bought my first computer for college out of CS from the now defunct Zenon computers. It was a P90 w/ 16mb of ram and a 860 meg HD. It cost 1.7k I believe and came with a KFC ; brand monitor. Personally, I think it was the monitor brand that sealed their fate.

That's so funny! My first computer for college was also from Zenon. Ah, the KFC monitor! My dad actually still uses it.... except it has an AMD K300 in it now.

 

[DBL]

Originally posted by: BassDominator

Originally posted by: DBL
Yep, I remember CS in its heyday around '95 or so. I bought my first computer for college out of CS from the now defunct Zenon computers. It was a P90 w/ 16mb of ram and a 860 meg HD. It cost 1.7k I believe and came with a KFC ; brand monitor. Personally, I think it was the monitor brand that sealed their fate.

That's so funny! My first computer for college was also from Zenon. Ah, the KFC monitor! My dad actually still uses it.... except it has an AMD K300 in it now.

Actually, my KFC monitor was still being used until recently also, in a computer I donated to someone. However, they told me the monitor recently died and had to be replaced.

 

[Triumph]

Originally posted by: IamElectro
I believe it also lost quite a bit of weight after the PII was discoverd to be overclockable. Quite a few companies were selling PII systems that were overclocked. I seem to remember seeing an article in CS recommending that you open up your machine and check the actual chip to make sure you got what you paid for.

P2's weren't any more overclockable than anything else before it. They weren't even very good at overclocking.