Remember your first PC???

**coathanger007** · October 9th, 2003

We've come a very, very long way. Just compare my first with my current PC.

NAME PC XT
MANUFACTURER IBM
Time 1985 (I think)
CPU Intel 8088
SPEED 4.77 MHz
RAM 64k
GRAPHIC MODES CGA modes : 320 x 200
COLORS 16 (my monitor only supported monochrome)
SOUND Tone Generator
BUILT IN MEDIA One 5.25'' FDD, 360k
10Mb hard-disk (rpm???don't even ask)
OS MS DOS (M$ then M$ now)

The most intensive game I could run on it - primitive version of Dig Dug - breathtaking graphics and sound quality that would blow your socks off. This was 'Future proof'...at the time

My watch has even more grunt than this. Put this into context.
Imagine PCs 2 decades from now....3.0Ghz processing power in a pocket calculator

Doom 3 will be crappy abandonware and the monster Super PCs of today that cost $10000 will be in a Museum or in the dumpster. PCs may not even exist as such - sorry y'all hardcore PC enthusiasts.

**Unleashed** · October 9th, 2003

Oh blimey, I havent got a clue :|
Dig Dug always was, and still is, a fantastic game that will never lose its prowess in amusing me

**damnyank** · October 9th, 2003

Apple IIe
Codename: Diana

CPU: MOS Technology/SynerTek 6502

CPU Speed: 1 Mhz

FPU: none

Bus Speed: 1 Mhz

Data Path: 8 bit

ROM: 16 kb

Onboard RAM: 64 kb

RAM Slots: expansion via 1st slot

Maximum RAM: 128 k, with Extended 80 Columns Card

Maximum Resolution: 40/80x24 text, 4-bit 40x48, 6 color 140x192, 4-bit 140x192, 1-bit 240x192, 1-bit 560x192

Slots: 8 proprietary

Floppy Drive: optional

Speaker(s): mono

Introduced: January 1983

Terminated: March 1995

Released in January 1983, The Apple IIe was to be one of the most successful Apple computers ever. It was based on the 6502 processor, which could run at 1.02 Mhz. It came with 64K of RAM and a 32K ROM which included BASIC, an assembly language interface, and several other hard-coded options. The Apple IIe originally sold for $1,395, and was replaced in 1985 by an updated model.

Mine was complete with a dual floppy drive and a green screen monitor.

I think my daughter still has it stored away in a closet!

**coathanger007** · October 9th, 2003

Mine WAS at least double as fast as yours

Maybe you could show off a screenshot of the 'PC' in storage?

**Petros** · October 9th, 2003

Zenith 6Mhz with "ZDOS" as the OS. I don't remember how much RAM it had. And a monochrome monitor!

**Grandmaster** · October 9th, 2003

I can't remember exactly(I was like 4 yrs old), but I remember using an Apple of some sort. Oh, and it could play Prince of Persia!

Infinite0 · October 10th, 2003

I think I was about 8 when we got our first computer at home. It was this big, bulky Tandy 9000 (not sure of the number). I remember it had this freaky blue and yellow desktop, and I had to go to DOS to play my favorite game: Caveman Ugh-lympics. Also had an old-skool dot-matrix printer with the little perforated strips with holes on each side you had to tear off after printing.

**Heeter** · October 10th, 2003

Commodore 64K

Storage was an audio cassette. monitor was a black and white 13" TV. No games for it.

Heeter

**Henyman** · October 10th, 2003

we had an Amstrad cpc464. it used to take tapes that took about an hour to load, but when they did load they were dam good games

**coathanger007** · October 10th, 2003

No one has beaten Damnyank yet - probably also the oldest guy on this thread

**Mainframeguy** · October 10th, 2003

It used the 6502, a much under rated CPU in those days if you want my opinion it beat the Z80's hands down - a bit like the AMD/INTEL debate now maybe?

Anyway here are some pics from archives I found - although the board I had was one of the early prototypes (complete with track bugs - I had to go in and cut some!

(mobo pic on the attachment)

Believe it or not I had on old 9600 modem and this baby had teletext - so I played my first MUD games on this and there were even primitive pictures - but OMG it cost a helluva lot more than DOOM! does now to play! Those were the days - when the net was barely thought of...

here it is - glorious design!

see it dance!

PS - BTW this was out before the Apple IIe - used same processor too!

Anyone have a TRS-80 - they were before this one, or a Commodore PET?

**coathanger007** · October 10th, 2003

Nice screenshots. My memory doesn't even go back that far

Here's a useful link for those who want to refresh their memory.
http://www.old-computers.com/news/default.asp

**Henyman** · October 10th, 2003

ha ha found some info on mine:

This is the very first model of computer manufactured by Amstrad. It was powered by a Zilog Z80 processor clocked at 4MHz, with 64K RAM, 32K ROM containing the OS and BASIC, and with a built-in cassette drive. The BASIC, written by Locomotive Software, was VERY powerful, allowing the BASIC programmer to manipulate up to 8 windows (with their own text streams) at a time, file I/O, direct access to operating system functions, setting up of interrupts and timers, with their 'payloads' written in either BASIC or machine code, 3 channel stereo sound, and graphics.

NAME CPC 464
MANUFACTURER Amstrad
TYPE Home Computer
ORIGIN United Kingdom
YEAR 1984
END OF PRODUCTION 1990
BUILT IN LANGUAGE Locomotive Basic
KEYBOARD QWERTY mechanical keyboard
Numeric keypad and edit block with arrow keys
CPU Zilog Z80
SPEED 4 MHz
RAM 64 kb (42kb left for user)
VRAM 16 kb
ROM 32 kb
TEXT MODES 20 x 25 with 16 colors
40 x 25 with 4 colors
80 x 25 with 2 colors
GRAPHIC MODES 160 x 200 with 16 colors
320 x 200 with 4 colors
640 x 200 with 2 colors
COLORS 27
SOUND 3 channels, 8 octaves
+1 noise channel
I/O PORTS Printer port
Bus port
1 Joystick plug (Atari standard)
Floppy Disc Port
DIN plug for Amstrad monitor
Headphone / Sound stereo jack output
BUILT IN MEDIA Tape Recorder (1000 or 2000 bauds)
OS AMSDOS or CP/M
POWER SUPPLY 5v DC (powered by an Amstrad monitor)
PRICE Monochrome - 455 (December 84)
Monochrome -410 (March 86)
Color - 684 (Dec. 84)
Color - 608 (March 86)

**Khayman** · October 10th, 2003

My first machine, the mighty Colossus!

**Henyman** · October 10th, 2003

he's on the right of that pic

**Mainframeguy** · October 10th, 2003

LMAO - are you sure that's not HenyGirl's grandmother?

**damnyank** · October 10th, 2003

Originally posted by coathanger007
No one has beaten Damnyank yet - probably also the oldest guy on this thread

Yes I am the oldest (as far as I know) on this thread - Kirrie2001 is the only one I know of that is older than I am on the forum! But you have to remember that Apple was my first experience and I was proabably older (37 ish) than most of you are now!

Here is a pic of what the AppleIIe looked like - no way am I going into my one of my daughters closet there is no telling what is in there - plus she lives on the side of town!

October 10th, 2003

Timex
Everything had to be programmed each time you did it. It had a tape thermal printer and used my B&W TV as a monitor.

**the_music_man** · October 10th, 2003

my first pc was the one where you had to get another person to run in a wheel and produce the electricity to turn it on.

daddyo · October 10th, 2003

Howzabout using Fortran on an IBM 360 back in 1971? That was my first computer. I've been on everything from the Timex around 1980 or so, Commodore, Apple, and probably some you never heard of. I even got to use CPM once on an old "desktop" that heated up my whole house. Ah, memories.

October 9th, 2003	Top \| #1
coathanger007 Tomorrow Tweaking Today Joined: May 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 1,516 Reputation: 240 Power: 127	Remember your first PC??? We've come a very, very long way. Just compare my first with my current PC. NAME PC XT MANUFACTURER IBM Time 1985 (I think) CPU Intel 8088 SPEED 4.77 MHz RAM 64k GRAPHIC MODES CGA modes : 320 x 200 COLORS 16 (my monitor only supported monochrome) SOUND Tone Generator BUILT IN MEDIA One 5.25'' FDD, 360k 10Mb hard-disk (rpm???don't even ask) OS MS DOS (M$ then M$ now) The most intensive game I could run on it - primitive version of Dig Dug - breathtaking graphics and sound quality that would blow your socks off. This was 'Future proof'...at the time My watch has even more grunt than this. Put this into context. Imagine PCs 2 decades from now....3.0Ghz processing power in a pocket calculator Doom 3 will be crappy abandonware and the monster Super PCs of today that cost $10000 will be in a Museum or in the dumpster. PCs may not even exist as such - sorry y'all hardcore PC enthusiasts. Webmaster Forums l Freeware Downloads l Freeware Forum l Worth Bookmarking l Web Design l Australian News Video Sharing l Latest Tech News l Vista Themes l Graphics Forum l Scenic Photography l Amazing Pics l Internet Security

October 9th, 2003	Top \| #2
Unleashed We Speak Geek Joined: July 2003 Location: Fredericton, Canada ex Norwich, England ex Hougang, Singapore ex Durban, South Africa Posts: 1,249 Reputation: 460 Power: 124	Oh blimey, I havent got a clue :\| Dig Dug always was, and still is, a fantastic game that will never lose its prowess in amusing me CPU: Intel Core2 Q6600 \| Mobo: BFG nVidia 680i SLI \| RAM: 2GB 2x Corsair XMS6400 \| PSU: Hiper 580 Watt \| HDD: WD160GB SATAII \| GFX: BFG GeForce 8800GTS OC 640MB \| DVD: SAMSUNG 20x DVD+/-R/RW/RAM SATA

October 9th, 2003	Top \| #4
coathanger007 Tomorrow Tweaking Today Joined: May 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 1,516 Reputation: 240 Power: 127	Mine WAS at least double as fast as yours Maybe you could show off a screenshot of the 'PC' in storage? Webmaster Forums l Freeware Downloads l Freeware Forum l Worth Bookmarking l Web Design l Australian News Video Sharing l Latest Tech News l Vista Themes l Graphics Forum l Scenic Photography l Amazing Pics l Internet Security

October 10th, 2003	Top \| #9
Henyman Secret Goat Fetish Joined: June 2002 Location: Dorset, England Posts: More Than You Posts: 9,602 Reputation: 3548 Power: 253	we had an Amstrad cpc464. it used to take tapes that took about an hour to load, but when they did load they were dam good games http://Henyman.com

October 10th, 2003	Top \| #10
coathanger007 Tomorrow Tweaking Today Joined: May 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 1,516 Reputation: 240 Power: 127	No one has beaten Damnyank yet - probably also the oldest guy on this thread Webmaster Forums l Freeware Downloads l Freeware Forum l Worth Bookmarking l Web Design l Australian News Video Sharing l Latest Tech News l Vista Themes l Graphics Forum l Scenic Photography l Amazing Pics l Internet Security

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October 9th, 2003	Top \| #3
damnyank I WILL NOT FORGET 911 Joined: March 2002 Location: Petal, Mississippi Posts: 2,354 Reputation: 390 Power: 151	Apple IIe Codename: Diana CPU: MOS Technology/SynerTek 6502 CPU Speed: 1 Mhz FPU: none Bus Speed: 1 Mhz Data Path: 8 bit ROM: 16 kb Onboard RAM: 64 kb RAM Slots: expansion via 1st slot Maximum RAM: 128 k, with Extended 80 Columns Card Maximum Resolution: 40/80x24 text, 4-bit 40x48, 6 color 140x192, 4-bit 140x192, 1-bit 240x192, 1-bit 560x192 Slots: 8 proprietary Floppy Drive: optional Speaker(s): mono Introduced: January 1983 Terminated: March 1995 Released in January 1983, The Apple IIe was to be one of the most successful Apple computers ever. It was based on the 6502 processor, which could run at 1.02 Mhz. It came with 64K of RAM and a 32K ROM which included BASIC, an assembly language interface, and several other hard-coded options. The Apple IIe originally sold for $1,395, and was replaced in 1985 by an updated model. Mine was complete with a dual floppy drive and a green screen monitor. I think my daughter still has it stored away in a closet!

October 9th, 2003	Top \| #5
Petros Thief IV Joined: May 2003 Location: Pacific Northwest Posts: 3,038 Reputation: 1647 Power: 156	Zenith 6Mhz with "ZDOS" as the OS. I don't remember how much RAM it had. And a monochrome monitor!

October 9th, 2003	Top \| #6
Grandmaster Electronica Addict Joined: February 2002 Location: Santa Clara, CA Posts: 10,574 Reputation: 2960 Power: 260	I can't remember exactly(I was like 4 yrs old), but I remember using an Apple of some sort. Oh, and it could play Prince of Persia!

October 10th, 2003	Top \| #7
Infinite0 Universal Translator Joined: March 2002 Location: MA, USA Posts: 102 Reputation: 0 Power: 125	I think I was about 8 when we got our first computer at home. It was this big, bulky Tandy 9000 (not sure of the number). I remember it had this freaky blue and yellow desktop, and I had to go to DOS to play my favorite game: Caveman Ugh-lympics. Also had an old-skool dot-matrix printer with the little perforated strips with holes on each side you had to tear off after printing.

October 10th, 2003	Top \| #8
Heeter Overclocked Like A Mother Joined: July 2002 Location: In front of my computer Posts: 2,729 Reputation: 684 Power: 154	Commodore 64K Storage was an audio cassette. monitor was a black and white 13" TV. No games for it. Heeter

October 10th, 2003	Top \| #11
Mainframeguy Debiant by way of Ubuntu Joined: August 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 3,763 Blog Entries: 5 Reputation: 1390 Power: 169	OMG - yes I do - but was it a PC? It used the 6502, a much under rated CPU in those days if you want my opinion it beat the Z80's hands down - a bit like the AMD/INTEL debate now maybe? Anyway here are some pics from archives I found - although the board I had was one of the early prototypes (complete with track bugs - I had to go in and cut some! (mobo pic on the attachment) Believe it or not I had on old 9600 modem and this baby had teletext - so I played my first MUD games on this and there were even primitive pictures - but OMG it cost a helluva lot more than DOOM! does now to play! Those were the days - when the net was barely thought of... here it is - glorious design! see it dance! PS - BTW this was out before the Apple IIe - used same processor too! Anyone have a TRS-80 - they were before this one, or a Commodore PET? hosted by Lord

October 10th, 2003	Top \| #12
coathanger007 Tomorrow Tweaking Today Joined: May 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 1,516 Reputation: 240 Power: 127	Nice screenshots. My memory doesn't even go back that far Here's a useful link for those who want to refresh their memory. http://www.old-computers.com/news/default.asp Webmaster Forums l Freeware Downloads l Freeware Forum l Worth Bookmarking l Web Design l Australian News Video Sharing l Latest Tech News l Vista Themes l Graphics Forum l Scenic Photography l Amazing Pics l Internet Security

October 10th, 2003	Top \| #13
Henyman Secret Goat Fetish Joined: June 2002 Location: Dorset, England Posts: More Than You Posts: 9,602 Reputation: 3548 Power: 253	ha ha found some info on mine: This is the very first model of computer manufactured by Amstrad. It was powered by a Zilog Z80 processor clocked at 4MHz, with 64K RAM, 32K ROM containing the OS and BASIC, and with a built-in cassette drive. The BASIC, written by Locomotive Software, was VERY powerful, allowing the BASIC programmer to manipulate up to 8 windows (with their own text streams) at a time, file I/O, direct access to operating system functions, setting up of interrupts and timers, with their 'payloads' written in either BASIC or machine code, 3 channel stereo sound, and graphics. NAME CPC 464 MANUFACTURER Amstrad TYPE Home Computer ORIGIN United Kingdom YEAR 1984 END OF PRODUCTION 1990 BUILT IN LANGUAGE Locomotive Basic KEYBOARD QWERTY mechanical keyboard Numeric keypad and edit block with arrow keys CPU Zilog Z80 SPEED 4 MHz RAM 64 kb (42kb left for user) VRAM 16 kb ROM 32 kb TEXT MODES 20 x 25 with 16 colors 40 x 25 with 4 colors 80 x 25 with 2 colors GRAPHIC MODES 160 x 200 with 16 colors 320 x 200 with 4 colors 640 x 200 with 2 colors COLORS 27 SOUND 3 channels, 8 octaves +1 noise channel I/O PORTS Printer port Bus port 1 Joystick plug (Atari standard) Floppy Disc Port DIN plug for Amstrad monitor Headphone / Sound stereo jack output BUILT IN MEDIA Tape Recorder (1000 or 2000 bauds) OS AMSDOS or CP/M POWER SUPPLY 5v DC (powered by an Amstrad monitor) PRICE Monochrome - 455 (December 84) Monochrome -410 (March 86) Color - 684 (Dec. 84) Color - 608 (March 86) http://Henyman.com

October 10th, 2003	Top \| #14
Khayman I'm sorry Hal... Joined: January 2002 Location: England Posts: 5,514 Reputation: 1210 Power: 194	My first machine, the mighty Colossus! "I'm on the server side. I don't know what side you're on"

October 10th, 2003	Top \| #15
Henyman Secret Goat Fetish Joined: June 2002 Location: Dorset, England Posts: More Than You Posts: 9,602 Reputation: 3548 Power: 253	he's on the right of that pic http://Henyman.com

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October 10th, 2003	Top \| #16
Mainframeguy Debiant by way of Ubuntu Joined: August 2002 Location: London, UK Posts: 3,763 Blog Entries: 5 Reputation: 1390 Power: 169	LMAO - are you sure that's not HenyGirl's grandmother? hosted by Lord

October 10th, 2003	Top \| #17
damnyank I WILL NOT FORGET 911 Joined: March 2002 Location: Petal, Mississippi Posts: 2,354 Reputation: 390 Power: 151	Originally posted by coathanger007 No one has beaten Damnyank yet - probably also the oldest guy on this thread Yes I am the oldest (as far as I know) on this thread - Kirrie2001 is the only one I know of that is older than I am on the forum! But you have to remember that Apple was my first experience and I was proabably older (37 ish) than most of you are now! Here is a pic of what the AppleIIe looked like - no way am I going into my one of my daughters closet there is no telling what is in there - plus she lives on the side of town!

October 10th, 2003	Top \| #18
roban Unregistered Posts: n/a	Timex Everything had to be programmed each time you did it. It had a tape thermal printer and used my B&W TV as a monitor.

October 10th, 2003	Top \| #19
the_music_man aka prodj88 =P Joined: July 2002 Location: USA Posts: 2,401 Reputation: 730 Power: 152	my first pc was the one where you had to get another person to run in a wheel and produce the electricity to turn it on. The Button To The Left Can Be Used To Reward Members For Good Posts

October 10th, 2003	Top \| #20
daddyo OSNN Addict Joined: December 2001 Posts: 151 Reputation: 10 Power: 128	Howzabout using Fortran on an IBM 360 back in 1971? That was my first computer. I've been on everything from the Timex around 1980 or so, Commodore, Apple, and probably some you never heard of. I even got to use CPM once on an old "desktop" that heated up my whole house. Ah, memories.