What was your FIRST COMPUTER and how much did it cost?...we've come a long way.

[oshelef]

Apple IIc way back in the day. Daul language version Hebrew and English. I don't know exactly how much my folks paid, but I think it was ~$3000 And it was pre 1985. 1983 sounds right to me, but as I look at the info it seems it was released later than that(maybe it was different internationally? or my parents got it from someone pre release(might be a possibility).....


Oh yes, and it did have the green screen (exactly as pictured below)
http://apple2history.org/images/apple2c.gif
http://apple2history.org/images/a2c_side.gif

Eventually the ram was upgraded to 384 KB, which was so much for it, the only effective use of it was a ram disk, to copy the program files to from the floppies and then run them from the ram disk.

Ahh the good old days.....Although the computer is still in my parents garage!



Orie

 

[mithrandir2001]

My first PC

Gateway 2000 386SX-16, 4MB RAM, 80MB hard drive, 256KB VGA, 5.25"/3.5", Win 3.0 - $2140, 12/1990

My first "computer"

Atari 130XE, ~4MHz CPU, 128KB RAM, 180KB 5.25", Atari OS - ~$249, early 1986

 

[CraigRT]

The first computer I had which actually got the ball rolling on my interest in computers was a P166 with 32 RAM and a MASSIVE 1.6GB hard drive at the time

that thing was $3800 !!

before that, we had a 286/8mhz/40mb/2400baud modem

but I wasn't nearly into the things back when that thing was around ...

 

[mithrandir2001]

<< I then ordered a Panasonic 1080(?) dot matrix clickety-clacky for, I think, $150-$180 from 47th St. Photo. >>


I had that very popular printer. Bought it at a computer show in the Valley Forge Sheraton for $128, an absolute steal at the time (1990).


<< My word processor was PFS Write, a great and greatly underrated program, that, IMHO, for outpaced Word Perfect or WordStar in elegance and simplicity. That was a great program. >>


Yup, that's what I used until I got MS Word.


<< I still remember my excitement, a year or two later, when I got a 2400(?) baud Cardinal modem for the then unheard of bargain price of $50 from a table vendor at one of the PACS (Philadelphia Area Computer Society) meetings. >>


The remember the day I bought a generic 2400 baud modem for $59 from CompUSA in NE Philly, ran home, hooked the thing up, opened up Procom Plus and dialed into my high school's BBS (which ran the ubiquitous Wildcat! software). I was so taken by this new (to me) connected experience. This was sometime in spring 1991. Look how far the online community has progressed over the last 10 years. Then, the "community" was 15 high schoolers and a teacher/sysop, now it's 77,000+ people from around the world.

 

[TheVrolok]

Some generic 386SX with no math co-processor.. 2 mb simms.. maybe a 200 mb hd.. I don't even remember.. 16 mhz, 33 on 'turbo', no modem, no sound, on board video... Ran my parents, I was like 9 at the time, $1700 bucks.

 

[wake]

My Apple IIe was under $1200 including the monochrome monitor.

 

[GtPrOjEcTX]

AMD 486 33mhz on turbo
2400 baud modem
4 megs of ram
256k video card
5 1/4" floppy drive
no sound card (used PC speaker!!)
212mg hard drive
Windows 3.1
14" monitor (still got that!! sitting in a corner in my room)

made by Swan (went bankrupt a couple years afterwards)

bought it on Home Shopping Network for $1400

 

[surd615]

Intel SDK-85 8085 microprocessor evaluation kit in 1981. LED display and hex keypad to enter programs in 256 byte RAM. Added 2K RAM and a VT compatible terminal by wire-wrapping in the development area on the left side.

Upgraded a year later to a ZX81 that I built from a kit. What a relief to be able to program in BASIC instead of machine code and be actually able to save programs on to cassette!

 

[starwarsdad]

I had an Atari400 that I never used.

My first system that I did any "computing" on was a Commodore64 with a 13" NEC monitor, 2-5.25 floppy drives, Okidata printer, and a modem (Ihave no idea what the baud rate was). I was up and working on Compuserve.

What that stuff cost I have no idea.

 

[mcveigh]

Apple II GS

about 3 grand in 86

 

[sirsleepsalot]

First one that my mom bought.

286, 1mb ram, 5¼ FDD, 3½ FDD, 42MB HDD, no sound card (D'uh !), no modem... that's about it... cost... ohhh... around 2500$ (we got it a while after it was out, around 1990)

Second one, purchased by my brother.

P166MMX, 32MB ram, 4MB ATI Rage II+, Integrated sound, 24X CD-Rom, 2.1 GB HDD, 15" Hyundai monitor, 33.6kbps USR, approx 2800$ (Damn that was a good modem, that was around 96)

Third one, my fathers.

P75, 8MB ram, 1MB Trident video, No sound card, 2X CD-Rom, 500MB HDD, 14" Monitor, 14.4kbps modem, 800$ (1997)

Fourth, paid by myself and my mom

K6-2 550, Asus P5A, 64MB Ram, 10.0 GB HDD, (Already had vortex 2 sound card, 14" Monitor and 8X Asus DVD Drive in my posession), Matrox G400 Dualhead 32MB, 900$ (1999)

Now, my system. Upgraded the K6-2 WAY too much...

AMD T-Bird 1,2 GHz, Epox 8K7A+, 512MB PC-2100, 2X41GB IBM HDDs, 8X DVD, 12/8/32 CD-RW, SB-Live, GeForce 3, Cable modem, 17" 1600X1200 flatron, approx 3000$ (2001)


All above prices are in canadian dollars.

Bubye !!!

 

[crisscross]

a Zenith 8088 with two 5 1/4 360kb floppy drive with 256KB RAM. got it for aroun $4000. and guess what?? it still works!

 

First computer was an Atari XE with a cassette drive, probably cost 200 or so.

First PC was a 286/8 with 640k RAM. Dunno how much it cost, but I remember my dad paid over $1000 for a 40M hard drive for it back in 1989.

 

[DCFife]

First computers was a C64 with the 1541 floppy drive and the 1701 monitor. It was so darn long ago I really don't remember the price. My first PC was a Packard Bell 486SX 25Mhz with a 170MB hard drive, 4MB of RAM and 256k video. The computer was $1000 and the 15" NEC monitor was something rediculous like $500.

 

[abovewood]

I paid $1000 for the a system includig the following in 1996:

Pentium 100 mhz,
16mb RAM,
1gb HD,
14.4 modem,
14 in monitor,
ISA sound,
1mb PCI video card,
cheap speakers, mouse, keyboard.

 

[ImTyping]

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth...I won an Atari 400 in a writing contest. Promptly turned around and sold it so I could buy a real stereo.

The stereo lasted a lot longer than the computer would have...but I wish I had that old atari now.

The first computer I kept was one I built myself. Around the dawn of man. Right now, after being awake all night, I could not tell you the specs.

 

[BMdoobieW]

Pionex 486SX 25MHz -- 4MB RAM -- 270MB HD -- 2400bps modem -- 14" SVGA Monitor -- $1899

 

[ROcHE]

8088 4.77 Mhz on "normal" and 8 Mhz on "Turbo" :Q
64 colors EGA Datatrain monitor
30 MB hard drive
2 x 360k 5 1/4 floppy drives
about 3500 CDN $

 

[Kuroyama]

Commodore Vic 20 with 5K RAM (?), a tape drive and a B/W TV. Bought the computer and tape drive off a friend for $50 (when he "upgraded" to an Apple IIe) and someone gave me the TV.

 

[DaiShan]

386 with 8 megs ram and 200 something megs hard drive, running dos, had a 5.25 and cost a lil over 1500 oh the memories lol

 

[NiPeng]

The first computer I could call mine was a Philips XT 5.25 FD, 20 MB HD, Hercules vid.
I bought it from my brother, he got himself a 386.

Used it for homework (lotus123 & Wordperfect) and to play some games.
That computer was great for playing Microprose soccer!

My second computet was a 386 I built myself.

 

[Supahfreak]

Atari 1040ST that all I did was play games on. I still have it but the keyboard has dead keys.

FreAk

 

[d1abolic]

Pentium 120, 16MB RAM, 1 GB HD, SoundBlaster 16, 15" SVGA

 

[Koing]

I've had the :-

Vic20
Spectrum Sinclair 128k+ (or something similar can't remember exactly)
Commodore 64 (both with the tape and the cartriges)

But I didn't use them as computers though. More to game on.

My first real computer that I used as one:

P133
16mb (HUGE at the time most pcs had 8mb)
1Gb (this was just UNHEARD of at the time)
1/2mb shared graphics (such a bitch to run as that left 14mb left for os and system to use)
16bit BluePoint Sound Card (SB compatible a B!TCH it caused in all if not most DOS games)
3.5" disk drive
4x CD-rom
14" monitor which wasn't too different from one of the fish bowls you can buy! (I learnt my lesson with bad monitors now I have a Vision Master Pro450)
No Modem

All that came to about £2k. Thats about $2800

Man it was FAST at the time. It was the DOGS in my school. It ran Win95 first edition quickly and I couldn't game on it in Win95 as I needed 16mb but I has 2mb for graphics.

I got this in 95 or 96 and used it up until about 2 years ago.

I did upgrade to :

80mb ram (edo ram had to be in banks of twos. 8+8 32+32
5.3gb HD (1+4.3 and that 4.3 is in my PIII 500 right now. Slow as anything though)

That pc with the set up RUNS SWEETLY. I'd say better then the school pcs with AMD 333 16mb ram EASILY!

Or it seems much faster then them anyway

 

[DanFungus]

I had a DOS system, but I was younger than ever to remember what it was.
First Windows:
Pentium 1 75MHZ
6.5MHZ RAM
800MB HDD
14.4K modem
Windows 3.1 -- Most stable OS EVER!
13" monitor
$3300