What was your first PC like?

[Athlon4all]

My parents originally bought a Packard Bell, but It's hard drive failed in the first month so that doesn't count. My 1st PC was a Compaq Presario 975CDS. It was a system that handled the dangerously incresing computer needs and as a matter it fact it was my main PC from 1994 all da way to 1998, ran 95 great, but got sluggish in 98. It had a Pentium 75, Cirrus Logic 1MB Video Card, 14.4 Modem, 8mb of RAM (upgraded to 40MB later), 750MB HD (that 1 failed, but Compaq replaced it with a Seagate 1GB drive, I still have drive as a matter of fact), CD-ROM, 13" Monitor (still have that 2) so it was a solid system.

 

[Haircut]

First Computer was an Amstrad CPC6128 back in 1988.

First actual PC was a Gateway P200MMX with 32Megs of RAM and a 3.8 Gig HD
Got it in Feb 97 at a cost of about £1900.

I'm still using the monitor and keyboard from it now, although I will probably be getting a new rig in a few months time.

 

[Mitzi]

I remembered my favourite game on the VIC20 but I've removed it 'cos it might offend some people.

 

[Horsepower]

IBM PC, NO hard drive, 2 big floppies, 2400 modem, Amdek monitor, Okidata printer .. a MERE $5500

 

[Jfrag Teh Foul]

Mine was a Tadung... oops... I mean Tatung Pentium 75 with 16mb memory, 64 bit video (trident... I think), 28.8 Aztech modem, 1gb conner drive, and a fresh new thing called a Bocalan Network Card... (for Duke Nukem 3d networking). From the word go this thing was a crap heap and the key factor that prompted me to learn how to work on computers... (cos I was tired of running the thing in for hardware repair) which is a good thing I guess 'cos now thats what I do for a living... LOL

 

[aircooled]

C-64 here also... I Had a 300 baud "dumb" modem with it. I actually had to pick up the phone, dial the "BBS" then unplug the headset cord and plug it into the back of the modem after I heard the tone.

 

[markrb]

My first was a real IBM 8088 4.77Mhz with 640k memory, 2 x 5 1/4 floppy, CGA green screen.
I added a 20mb Seagate HD and had to take one of my floppies.

Mark

 

[GregMal]

A Sinclair, then a Vic-20, then an Apple //c.................Greg

 

[Workin']

<< My first was a real IBM 8088 4.77Mhz with 640k memory, 2 x 5 1/4 floppy, CGA green screen. >>

Mine too, except I had a 5MB hard drive in place of one of the floppies, and a Hercules graphics card.

 

[CStroman]

<< First computer: TI-99/4A (For all you old timers out there!) >>



Hey, I have one of those sitting in a box in my basement. Did you ever play Parsec?

First PC was a 486 sx33 with 4 MB RAM, 2x CD-ROM, some "ad-lib" sound card, built in 512k video, and the floppy drive that came with it is still used today in my computer.

EDIT: forgot the massive 200 MB hard drive, and no heatsink.

 

[thraxes]

first computer(s)

Apple IIc and Commodore C64
first PC: 486 sx25, 210MB HDD, 4MB RAM, 14" Samsung, sound blaster pro, mitsumi 2x

 

[HansXP]

Mine was a NorthStar Horizon. Had a total of 4 5.25" disk drives - 2 internal and 2 external. No hard drive. I didn't do much with it but it was pretty cool to have around

 

[Don66]

Mine was an Amiga 2000 No harddrive 2 floppy's 8Mhz of pure processing power 4MB of ram.
Too bad an os can't be fit onto a floppy now..

 

[Zenmervolt]

An IBM PS/2 Model 25, the all-in-one model. No HDD, but two of the then-new and state-of-the-art 1.44 MB Floppy Drives. I believe that it had a 16MHz 286 and 640K of RAM. It was so cool because it could run MCGA graphics and it ran DOS 4.0 so all the new applications would run from it. I remember running MSFS 4.0 (imagine, a flight sim on one floppy) and Stunts on it. Anyone else remember MS Works 1.05?

ZV

 

[Salvador]

Can't remember what it was now, but it was the size of a VW and didn't do half of what those free calculators do that they give out free for opening a checking account.

Speaking of calculators.. I remember my dad having a calculator that only multiplied, subtracted, added and divided. The thing weighed about 10 lbs, was the size of a laptop and cost about $350 back in the 70's.

Sal

 

[mikeyd]

Don't want to show my age, but:
The first computer I used were trs80's at school. I did some BASIC programming.
My first was a TI994A with a cass. drive. and speech synth adapter (real cool). I learned a lot on that thing. I also had a Tandy TRS80 Model 1. It had 2 floppies (no hd) and a mono monitor. It also had the biggest dot matrix printer I've ever seen. Then I went to a 8088 with 2 floppies and 640kb ram. From there I'm not exactly sure. I think I went to a macintosh se during college and then several years later picked up a 486dx2-50. Then a Pentium 120MHz., then a K6 233MHz. Had the K6 for a while. It was actually a great machine. Then went to an athlon 750 and then now a Athlon XP 1700. Wow - over 20yrs of computing. Not sure when I got the first one. Must have been in the early 80's.

 

[Mota331]

A good old Tandy 1000. Fast and Reliable, yeah right.

 

[BFG10K]

My first computer was a fully decked out Apple IIe.

 

[MistaTastyCakes]

Wow, I must seem like a youngin...

Premade Cyrix PR200+ at 150mhz w/ 32mb RAM
Pretty good system for it's day...kinda...hehe

 

[holdencommodore]

My first was a Texas Instruments Sinclair Spectrum..... it's still in use sometimes ..... for memories sake
Then came the Amstrad PC2086S with a blazing 8MHz system unit and a Amstrad VGA 12" monitor! Works fine with Windows 3.1!

 

[Davegod]

first pc an IBM aptiva, DX2 50mhz, 4 or 8mb ram, 256 or 512mb hdd... i cant even remember... Just by trying to install games i learned 10x more about computers than 4 years of high-school computing classes.

first i built myself has a P200mmx, 32mb ram (+16 added later), Diamond Edge 2mb vid card, 2.5gb HDD, SB16, i think i originally stole the 2xCDROM from the aptiva, since replaced twice. only other thing replaced was the monitor (actually taken from the an aptiva warranty replacement) which failed a couple of weeks ago.

writing this post with... the computer above

 

[simonthought]

Apple IIe

my folks got us one cause that is what my school used, so we'd be compatable- I don't even think it had a hd. that was like 88 or 89.

then in like 93, we got a IBM ps/Valuepoint 486-dx33 w/ 8 M of ram and 120M hd.
I was so impressed with looking at a picture in 256 colors @ 1024x768.....

 

[themadmonk]

My first was a Columbia Data Products 8088 XT PC. with a 5 1/2 Floppy drive. 128K memory and NO HARD DRIVE!

 

[EMAN]

slow very slow.

286 12mhz
640k ram
no hard drive
cga monitor.

 

[vicdoc]

Oldest pc? Commodore 64, then 286, then 486-dx50.

However, before that I learned Fortran on an IBM 360, I think, at the Univ. of Michigan in 1971, and programmed it on punchcards line by line, each line was another punchcard:

1 x=blah blah
2 n=1
3 y=such and such function
10 if x>y then goto 25
15 n=n+1
20 print x
..
..
35 end

etc etc

We could use the punched paper tape strips for input if we wanted to be really cool.
You had to write your own programs, and then you had to go to the computing center to use the punchcard machines, and drop the programs off at the window for the computer guys to run them. You came back later to get the output which was on big wide dot matrix paper, wrapped up with a rubber band. No CRTs back then for us poor students. You had to debug the programs yourself, and a single mistype screwed up the whole program.

We used the Teletype terminals to play tic-tac-toe, before the Atari pong game came out. I still have some of my old programs on the punchcards, and a few printouts in the attic. We had a certain number of computer hours of time to use to get our jobs done. If you go past that then tough luck. No grade. Ah the memories, at 47 yrs old.....