What was your first computer

Discussion in 'Computers and The Internet' started by Dirk_Pitt, Dec 9, 2005.

  1. Josephinelcajon

    Josephinelcajon Joseph

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    Radio Shack Tandy. Even took their computer class!
     
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  2. ~Zen~

    ~Zen~ California Tripper Administrator

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    An NEC with twin disk drives and no on board memory! A monster. Did very little.

    Next was a laptop, a Kaypro!
     
  3. Constantine666

    Constantine666 Members

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    Timex Sinclair 1000 that connected to the TV Set, and a cassette recorder for program tapes.
     
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  4. porno_lurker

    porno_lurker Members

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    Acer 486DX with a 14.4 modem. Blazin' fast! ;)
     
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  5. straightma1e

    straightma1e Members

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    A slide rule. Yep it was a computer as it computed numbers by matching the rules and aligning the cursor.
     
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  6. Constantine666

    Constantine666 Members

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    Ok, I amend mypost. I began with an Abacus in grade school.
    (Damned if I can remember how to use one now, but once I did) :D
     
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  7. porno_lurker

    porno_lurker Members

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    I might still have mine stored away. :)
     
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  8. ~Zen~

    ~Zen~ California Tripper Administrator

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    Heck, in the graphic arts industry there was a common tool called a 'reduction wheel.' I used these back in the 1960s.

    Percentage-size-Print-Reduction-Wheel-Chart_18411359.jpg

    It was a simple computer where you lined up the size of something that needed to be reduced in size (or enlarged) photographically for design and printing purposes. THen you choose the size you want it to be, and the window reveals the percentage that you must dial into the flat bed camera where you shot the image and created a copy, smaller or larger, to fit the space allocated for that graphic image.
     
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  9. MeAgain

    MeAgain Dazed & Confused Lifetime Supporter Super Moderator

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    Still have mine. I use it from time to time when painting or drawing.
     
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  10. wooleeheron

    wooleeheron Brain Damaged Lifetime Supporter

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    My brain, which was damaged at three, and then fed endless bullshit, and I've been working on reprogramming it ever since.
     
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  11. Time Out of Mind

    Time Out of Mind Members

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    Timex/Sinclair ZX81. It was a kit that I built with my dad. The hard drive was a Radio Shack 30 minute cassette tape. Hooked to a 13” B&W television. Once, when I was home alone, I hooked it up to Curtis Mathis in the living room. Way worse graphics than the 13 inch tv.
     
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  12. snowtiggernd

    snowtiggernd Member

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    IBM Aptiva 486. Had a cd rom and speakers and 8mg hard drive.
     
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  13. oldbuddybob

    oldbuddybob Members

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    There are not many of us left who could use one and fewer who would want to, but they were very efficient and gave you answers with significant figures, not over blown hyopthetical accuracy.
     
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  14. Echtwelniet

    Echtwelniet Visitor

    Not sure what to answer, the first pc in my youth was a second hand ibm office pc, wich my mom bought from her work(for my sis her school,lol) Then commodore16/64........then game consoles sega/nintendo......8/16/32 bit.........PS 1

    Back to first self bougth/payed PC(compaq presario),pimped with better vidcard/more ram(online gaming).............after that first full self build pc.............Now 4th self build version:D

    Mzzls
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 9, 2024
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  15. Saylem

    Saylem save your water, kill the roses

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    The first computer I remember ever using was a Windows 95, I remember surfing the web with Netscape lol. The first computer I ever owned that actually belonged to me was an ASUS Bamboo U53 laptop. It was a beautiful PC, with Windows 7, and it was my baby. But then the hinge broke and it made the fan overheat, so I had to upgrade to a Dell. :(
     
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  16. RIJACO

    RIJACO Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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    I'm not sure Dell is much of an upgrade. I've had a few and they've always been problematic!
     
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  17. Saylem

    Saylem save your water, kill the roses

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    It wasn't lol. It was probably the worst computer I've ever had. It had so many problems, its own Dell Support and Assist software was basically just adware. Glad I upgraded to an Acer.
     
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  18. Native Vee

    Native Vee Supporters HipForums Supporter

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    A ti99 was my firt.. I didnt know much about it.....

    It had its own basic but I didnt even know how to program.using that. It was a very strange basic :D
     
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  19. NubbinsUp

    NubbinsUp Lifetime Supporter Lifetime Supporter

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    The first one I ever used was a Compaq Portable. Work in 1984. It belonged to my employer. I had a traveling job and did have to move it from location to location. They were not assigned to individual employees, but rather to a team to share on the job sites. One member of the team was assigned to make sure it came back. They cost just under $3,000. That's over $8,000 in today's dollars.

    The case had a luggage-type handle on it, and it was referred to as "a suitcase." Calling it "portable" was technically true, but not by today's standards. With a dot-matrix printer and cords/plugs/paper, the whole thing required its own wheeled cart, and the whole collection weighed 60-70 lbs. People dreaded having to fly with them, because we weren't allowed to check them, and they were heavy and bulky. Announced in '82 and first shipped in March 1983, it was Compaq Computer Corporation's first product ever, and one of the first IBM-compatible PCs. IBM didn't have a portable computer, and they had to develop one to compete with the Compaq machine.

    In 1984, these machines put a pool of word processing employees out of work. Prior to that, we wrote documents by hand on yellow pads, and a pool of word processing employees would turn them into nicely formatted and printed workplace-suitable documents.

    [​IMG]

    The first computer I ever owned was a Dell desktop machine, but not until 2004. I never had internet access at home until 2004, and I added it only then because it was impossible to do a job search without the internet by 2004, and I needed to find a new job. By 2004, over 90 percent of US households already had internet service in the home. I'm not an early adopter of any new technology, and I don't really like gadgets anyway. I had them assigned to me by employers since 2007, but I've never owned my own smartphone, and I don't want to ever own one.
     
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2024
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  20. Beautiful Erica

    Beautiful Erica Members

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    I don't remember but
    I had windows 7
     
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