What computers did you own in the old days? Share your story!

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arthura

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Jul 8, 2011
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Heath/Zenith H-151 kit featuring the 5Mhz 8088, two "high capacity" 320K 5.25" floppy drives, 11MB HD, amber 320x225 mono display, all assembled from a kit costing $2400 (or about $5000 pre-assembled). This was a state-of-the-art system in 1983, one of the first 16-bit PCs. I also had a Daisywriter 2000 daisywheel letter-quality printer to go with it.
 
Solution
king smp
First computer was a
TRS-80 Color Computer
Motorola 6809e 8/16bit CPU 2.77 mhz ?
could poke/peek the CPU to run at 4 mhz
16 kilobyte ram
cassette drive (loaded programs from audio cassette)
then
TRS-80 Color Computer 2 (CoCo)
64k
5.25 floppy drive
with a dot matrix sheet printer
US Robotics Hayes 300 baud modem
I rememer getting a 1200 baud modem later
thinking how fast that was LOL

Anybody else remember
BBS's
Phreaking Sprint and MCI with wargames dialer
Captain Crunch
Thinking Zork was the greatest game ever?
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It was 640K as in kilobytes as in no one has need of more than 640K.
 
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BBS's? I sure do! The internet of the old days. They would sometimes link up and you really did have a nationwide system. VT-100 terminal emulation! I had almost forgotten.

64K, 5.25 floppys, cassette drives, 300 and 1200 baud modems. :)

I first logged on to the internet using a 1200 baud modem. It took 5 minutes to load the page.
 
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No,it was broken much earlier.Those were just the limitations of the early IBM PC/XT models(8088 CPU).Remember now the IBM AT (80286) could utilize much more memory and there were DOS memory managers.Even earlier versions of Windows as a GUI shell supported and utilized extra RAM (386 Enhanced Mode) like Windows 3.X versions.
See here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Personal_Computer/AT
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_manager
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_3.0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_3.1x

I had several 486's with Windows 3.1 and 3.11WfW/DOS 6.X that had 4 to 32mb RAM in them.
I remember configuring the autoexec.bat and config.sys to try to get the maximum conventional memory for DOS so certain DOS based games would run.Many of those DOS based games could use a lot of memory and some later DOS based games had memory requirements like needing 8 mb RAM minimum etc.Tricky when needing a CD-ROM drive and trying to maximize conventional memory whilst having other drivers too.


 
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This is what my father bought me when I was 6, (2004)

Intel Pentium 4 - 2.39Ghz
Some Intel board with 845G Chipset
128MB DDR RAM (later added one 512MB)
40GB IDE Seagate Barracuda
LG CD ROM 48X
Some local 350W PSU
A large but useless and dull looking ATX Mid Tower.
LG 15" CRT.

Still I use that monitor with my new build. I used that PC until it died this year.
 
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No, it was worked around. But it was still there. It didn't actually go away entirely til windows 4.0.
 
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HAD A Intel 80386 Compaq 25 mhz Processor, with four slots of ram that equaled to 1 Mb, 15 mb hard drive, 5.5 floppy, totally Dos based, couldnt wait till windows 3.1 come into the market. Even then it sucked... had to type c:/win to get into windows, then there was photoshop 1.0 that brings back memories... I went PC because to own photoshop you had to drop $2000 mac version, PC was half price, oh and this computer went for $3,500 when it first came out. My scanner was $1,500 and yes that amazing printer call dot matrix for another $1,500. Patriot Systems

Then I was happy when I bought my first monster machine few years after... 100 mhz processor, with 30 Mb hard drive, 5.5 floppy, with 3.5 floppy, 2x CD rom, four slots 1 Mb per slot, Windows 3.1 with DOS. $2,500 My first laser jet Okidata for another $1,000 256 MB flatbed scanner $1,400 Tiger Direct
 
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no, dont think i played it, i was pretty young, like 5-6 yrs old at the time. i remember some Cordial stand game, you had to programm it yourself in basic from an instruction book lmao. And loading from tapes!.......omg, so slow, so many errors.
 
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Crowe you remember loading from audio cassettes
So cool
I remember those days
I started with my boombox hooked up to the computer to load
programs
Then I saved up and got the official TRS-80 Data Cassette Deck
then I got the 5.25 drive
what a glorious day that was!
LOL
 
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Yep I had the same one
I actually had the coco 1 (16kb) which was grey case with "chiclet" style keys
then I had the coco II like your picture
there was a 64kb ram model and then later a 128kb model
The games back then for the CoCo were on cartridges
but they also had a 5 1/4 floppy drive
I used to go to a CoCo computer club in the basement of a Church
every month to swap software with other owners
Mine is still in Mom's attic
I want to set it up to show my 10 yr old what computers were lilke
in "ancient" days LOL
 
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Thanks for reminding me of the old VT-100 terminals!

Again, Dungeons and Dragons anyone? No Pictures!

I hadn't remembered the name of those old dumb terminals or exactly how we hooked up, but I do remember setting the baud rates and such. Thanks for the memories.

before 5.25 floppies there were mag tapes and 7.5" floppies. Whole databases, Board designs and Chip library macros (small cores), on a 7.5" floppy. Redraw was something you did before your lunch break. you could hear it chucking, more like grinding along.

This is too much fun.
 
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Are you sure you dont want to adopt me technetitgirl?
I am good at cleaning and yard work

I read about CPU architecture for fun but it makes my head hurt sometimes

How about the fun of Dot Matrix printers with that crappy perforated strip
you had to rip off or your teacher wouldn accept your report LOL
 
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I've always wanted a minion!

Seriously, well sort of, how about plotters and GERBER DATA! or worse GDSII. if you've never heard of the later two, they are xy coordinates generated from cad or eda (electronic design automation) tools for generating anything from drawings to masks, etc.

I used to clime into the drum plotter to change the drums (ink). I can't remember the name of it. This is probably only entertaining me. Sorry I got carried away.
 
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No dont stop
I find this fascinating
(Each one of your posts is about 15mins on Google and Wikipedia LOL)
I was born 1970 so I only know computers from back then from the
home user viewpoint
I do remember my Uncle bringing me home IBM punch cards to play with
Made the best paper planes out of them LOL

Nowadays my 10yr old daughter thinks that Nintendo 64 is "ancient" technology
and that rotary dial phones were used in the 1800s (i corrected her on that)

I do remember that besides IBM
NEC and HP were the other major players if memory serves me well

I did watch some fascinating documentaries on IBM history
on Youtube

Everybody thinks because they left the home computer market
that they were in trouble.
In fact they ditched it to move into enterprise level software development
Much higher profit margin than home computing
and also patent development
IBM has more patents than any other entity in the world if I got it right
they just sold something like 30K patents for a huge amount
and that is only a small portion of their total patents
Almost any tech company probably somehows pays a licensing fee back to IBM

 
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Epson still make dot matrix printers and we still fix them lol. People still use them believe it or not.
I read there was a version of linux/unix for the coco....that would have been interesting.
 
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Man you just brought back a forgotten memory
I think is was called OS9?
I recall some unix like OS
but just cant remember it
wow I got old

also I worked about two years ago selling Heating and AC equipment
and the invoice printer was sheet fed dot matrix
turns out for massive amounts of greyscale printing that is the most cost effective
 
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