What was YOUR very first computer?

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Thanks for all the great replies folks!

[dafivehole]

800XL

[Vic George 2K3]

First one I played with: A Radio Shack TRS-80 Model II or something.

First one my family owned: A Timex/Sinclair 1000, also known as the Sinclair ZX81.

First one I actually bought: A standalone Adam Family Computer System.

[GodzillaIsMyCopilot]

First computer we had in our house was an Apple II GS. My dad swore up and down that it was because we whined about it being compatible with the school computers, but I didn't say a damned thing. About a year later, dad got a 386, and guarded it with my life, rather than teach me how to use the damned thing. I learned, anyway.

 

Wing Commander on DOS FTW.

[Mika73]

Vic20 + B/W 10" tv.

 

- 8K memory expansion

- Jupiter Lander (My 1st game)

- Gorf (My 2st game)

- Sargon II Chess (My 3th game)

- Psycho Shopper

- Info´s Computer club collection tape with games like Amok, Bliz etc..

Edited August 21, 2012 by Mika73

[Keatah]

My first "gaming" computer was the Atari 400. I remember bringing it home in the afternoon and playing StarRaiders and Missile Command all through the night. The next night was spent at Showbiz Pizza place.

 

I consider the 400 a gaming computer because it only had 16k of ram and a special sounds and graphics chips. The graphics had a certain fuzzy warmth to them in contrast to the "hard" precise stuff spit out by the Apple 2 series.

 

But to recap, I consider the Ti-59 calculator, TRS-80 Pocket Computer, and the Apple II+ as my first computers. There was a time when I used all three of them just about equally. But the Atari VCS came before all that. And before *that* came some dedicated pong and pinball consoles.

 

So what's really my first system? Hell if I know!?!?!!

[Protoplasym]

a 486

[Keatah]

I thought 80486's were futuristic and totally bad ass because they could load text files in under a second whereas my Apple //e would take many seconds.

[BydoEmpire]

I thought 80486's were futuristic and totally bad ass because they could load text files in under a second whereas my Apple //e would take many seconds.

I had a 386SX in college and loved Doom until a friend of mine got a 486 and it ran SOOOO much faster. After that it was a little jarring to go back and play on my 386.

[Grig]

My first "gaming" computer was the Atari 400. I remember bringing it home in the afternoon and playing StarRaiders and Missile Command all through the night. The next night was spent at Showbiz Pizza place.

 

I consider the 400 a gaming computer because it only had 16k of ram and a special sounds and graphics chips. The graphics had a certain fuzzy warmth to them in contrast to the "hard" precise stuff spit out by the Apple 2 series.

 

But to recap, I consider the Ti-59 calculator, TRS-80 Pocket Computer, and the Apple II+ as my first computers. There was a time when I used all three of them just about equally. But the Atari VCS came before all that. And before *that* came some dedicated pong and pinball consoles.

 

So what's really my first system? Hell if I know!?!?!!

 

Me too about the Atari 400. First computer I ever had (purchased with my own money in 1979). Gaming all the way until my parents got me the 410 for Christmas in 1982. I started writing BASIC programs but all I had were Kmart tapes or some shitty ass brand like that so my programs only loaded about 50% of the time. I remember programming the theme to Star Wars in Basic and saving it on my Kmart tape and then throwing the tape across the room when it failed to load for the 10th time. No, I didn't have anger issues as a kid, why do you ask?

 

BTW - Showbiz for arcade games was the shiznit. We had both Showbiz and Chuck E. Cheese. What a blast in the early 80s.

Edited August 23, 2012 by jtoubeaux

[Keatah]

286's were not known for gaming in the PC sphere. Gaming on the PC seemed to have picked up speed somewhere between the release of the 386DX and 386SX. You got good MHz for a low price. But 386 systems had these huge motherboards with tons of chips. Eventually mass-production got the chipcount under control thanks to the SX variant invading the mainstream.

 

In the PC arena I never had a 386 system myself. I leeched off my dad's 286, and then eventually made the jump into a 486DX2-50. So this Gateway 2000 rig was my first PC. And it was my first experience with a "Gaming PC". And I recall that the hardware was more advanced then the software. All the games seemed to run too fast till I got something like mo'slo or some other utility.

 

The one thing that really stood out (in comparison to all my previous 8 bit endeavours) was the disk loading speed. Especially when compared against even the 16 bit stuff like Amiga and ST. Man, I could load monster-sized multi-KB Word documents in a flash! The first time I got "worried" about the speed of this DX2-50 was when playing Doom, it was balanced right at the edge of being just right and threatening to slow down. But that was in the more complex levels and the higher resolutions. Otherwise it just blew through whatever I tossed its way.

Edited August 23, 2012 by Keatah

[JD6502]

Dad and I went halvesies on a TRS 80 model I

level I in '78. We looked at PET's and Apples but at ~$600 80's were cheaper(!). The off the shelf portable casette deck for data/program storage was thrown in for free( a forty dollar value ). As noted earlier customer support was tops. Most home computers in those days were sold by and for hobbyists, the guys behind the counter would spend all day talking computers.

I've still got that machine, been a few years but last I checked it still worked. I wonder...

[nonner242]

Vic20 on a 13" B&W tv.

 

 

 

 

 

[Tempest]

Most home computers in those days were sold by and for hobbyists, the guys behind the counter would spend all day talking computers.

I would have loved to work in a computer store back then. Obviously I was a little too young to when the early computers were in their prime (80-90ish), but I idolized those guys. I used to chat with the local techie at the Egghead computer store (remember those?) about my Apple all the time. Even though I was only 10 at the time, we used to trade tips on various games and programs. Good times. Now days you can't even find someone who knows jack about computers in a big box store unless their an Apple Genius, they're about the closest you'll come to reliving those days.

[Chuck D. Head]

I would have loved to work in a computer store back then. Obviously I was a little too young to when the early computers were in their prime (80-90ish), but I idolized those guys. I used to chat with the local techie at the Egghead computer store (remember those?) about my Apple all the time. Even though I was only 10 at the time, we used to trade tips on various games and programs. Good times. Now days you can't even find someone who knows jack about computers in a big box store unless their an Apple Genius, they're about the closest you'll come to reliving those days.

As a punk kid, I would hang out in the local Radio Shack and any one of those guys knew all about the machines and would talk to me about them if they didnt have a real customer to tend to. Dont get me started on (most) RS employees now...........

[Blacklight]

Not counting the Atari2600, my first computer was a C64.

[Intymike]

My first computer was a Commodore 64 in 1985 (I still own it).

[Pengwin]

My families first computer was a Sinclair ZX Spectrum 16K bought in 1983, although the first computer I personally owned was an Oric Atmos 48K, which I bought a couple of years later. A year after that, I sold it and bought an Atari 800XL. A few years after that a 520STFM.

[Keatah]

What were some of the early Russian / USSR micro systems. I also understand they had a pretty eclectic "underground" arcade, and weren't afraid to use a lot of electromagnetics and mechanicals as opposed to the electronic 8-bit scene here in the States.

 

In staying on topic, what were your first Soviet systems?

Edited September 19, 2012 by Keatah

[+wood_jl]

Me too about the Atari 400. First computer I ever had (purchased with my own money in 1979). Gaming all the way until my parents got me the 410 for Christmas in 1982. I started writing BASIC programs but all I had were Kmart tapes or some shitty ass brand like that so my programs only loaded about 50% of the time. I remember programming the theme to Star Wars in Basic and saving it on my Kmart tape and then throwing the tape across the room when it failed to load for the 10th time. No, I didn't have anger issues as a kid, why do you ask?

 

Oh man, I remember that happening. I got my Atari 400 and 410 in 1980.

 

Two things that were extremely frustrating:

 

(1) My sister (or perhaps another family member) tripping over the power cord/adapter - which was stretched maximum length (across the walking path, no doubt) to a power outlet - and killing the computer before I had a chance to save my work, after *hours* of typing in a BASIC program from a magazine listing - on that shitty keyboard, no less.

 

(2) The above not occurring, but a failure with the 410. Pretty soon, I was saving my programs to tape 3 or 4 times. I don't know if it was the 410 or the quality of the tapes. When I finally got my first disk drive (2-3 years later), it was like a gift from God, because it was so darned reliable in comparison.

Edited September 19, 2012 by wood_jl

[Keatah]

Those were my most epiphanistic moments in computing!

 

Going from:

punchcard to type-ins

type-ins to cassette

cassette to floppy

floppy to hard disk

hard disk to SSD

 

what comes next?

[carmel_andrews]

I was born with my first computer....my brain (and whats more i got it free, so i didn't have to pay for it)

[labrat]

My family's first computer was a C64, but we had an Atari 2600 before that. I vaguely knew of A8 computers at the time, but a friend of the family said Commodore was the way to go and he gave us pretty much all of the software we had for it.

Edited September 20, 2012 by labrat

[Grig]

I've said it before, but I still remember being a part of the "big three" - I had an Atari 800xl, my friend Chris had a Commodore 64 and my friend Benny had an Apple IIe. What a blast we had spending weekends at each other's houses. I remember at Benny's house he had a Beta cam (yes they were very well off) and we made a movie using the Apple Iie to create the titles and some flying effects using Flight Simulator. Some good times for sure. We had Buck Rogers Tournaments on the Atari and Racing Destruction Set face offs on the C-64. Man those were the days.

[Bill Lange]

I bought an Atari 400 in March of '82 while I was in the 8th grade. A few years later I purchased an Atari 800XL when it came out. When I was either a junior or senior in high school, I bought an Apple IIc as we were using the Apple ][ in programming class. I think the Apple IIc cost more than the Atari 400 and Atari 800XL combined.

 

Bill