# What was the first computer/PC you used?



## lemonadesoda (Jan 30, 2013)

Where did it all begin for you? This poll refers to a computer/PC/CPU that you personally *bought* or first *regularly used*, e.g. every day at work.

Apologies to AMD owners. Since matching up generations of AMD to Intel is not obvious, and would only create arguments, I've just put a few AMD options with "heritage" choice.

For "other"... do say what you were using, and pics or it ain't true


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## Sasqui (Jan 30, 2013)

IBM XT, circa 1983 or so.  I did programming on an Apple II prior to that (1981, 1982)


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## BarbaricSoul (Jan 30, 2013)

1984, 6th grade math class


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## Norton (Jan 30, 2013)

286@8mhz and a 20MB HDD running DOS 3.3 

Packard Bell WOOT!!!


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## mstenholm (Jan 30, 2013)

Nec 30 (the upgrade frome the 8086 with 512 kb and 20 MB HD. DOS 3.1 I think

Way before pictures was invented


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## Frogger (Jan 30, 2013)

This one    http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showpost.php?p=246469&postcount=10


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## TriggerWolf (Jan 30, 2013)

Good 'ol 128K... 

Many wasted hours playing... and waiting for tapes to load lol


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## Liquid Cool (Jan 30, 2013)

Commodore 128 here, but shortly moved to the IBM clones...so long ago I can't remember the year.  My favorite pc of all time was my 486 DX2 66 in a large tower that had a door and wheels...something I'll never forget, especially loading windows for the first time.

Other moment's....using my black/white laptop with my motorola flip-phone with an RS-232 jack to get on the internet for the first time in 1993...command line at 2400 baud.  Mobile internet at its finest.  Before this, I stuck strictly to local BBS's...

Best,

LC

Norton...I owned that Packard Bell.  If I recall it had a 'turbo button'?  Can't remember.


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## AlienIsGOD (Jan 30, 2013)

my 1st  Tandy 1000 SX from Radio Shack


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## lemonadesoda (Jan 30, 2013)

For me it started with the ZX81, a Z80 processor based machine by Sinclair. yes, bought from an ad in a Sunday newspaper magazine supplement, delivered by post. That's how it was in the UK in the 80's. But it was very rudimentary, and I quickly upgraded to the BBC Microcomputer by Acorn, bought in a real shop. It was when I first started serious programming in BASIC and machine code in 6502 and 65C02. For all those in the know, BBC BASIC4 was the business. Anyone else know how to PHA, STX, LDA, BNQ etc? The BBC was my first OVERCLOCKED machine, with an updated 65C02 processor and a clock-doubling circuit made by a company called solidisk. Real overclocking! 2x as fast!


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## brandonwh64 (Jan 30, 2013)

I have used some old PC's in my day but my very first one I had was a Packard Bell 386 with 4MB of ram


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## Disparia (Jan 30, 2013)

Voted Pentium before realizing that you were asking for first "used". Pentium 75 was the first I owned but the first used would be Apple and IBM computer from 1988 (3rd grade computer class). So I guess it was one of the Apple II models and most likely 386 on the PC side.


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## Deleted member 67555 (Jan 30, 2013)

1st IBM compatible PC 8088...First useable (gaming) PC Atari 
First brand new PC for me 286sx 16mhz-20mhz with turbo and full color VGA-it was the shiznit


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## BrooksyX (Jan 30, 2013)

When my dad went back to college we had some Windows 3.1 PC that I used to play games on. Still remember having to to type 'win' to boot the OS from DOS.

My first computer though was a Toshiba Satellite Pro that my dad purchased from one of his students for like $50. Still to this day one of my favorite gifts. 

It had a Pentium 1 cpu, 16mb of ram, and an 800mb HDD. It ran windows 98 SE and I used it to play Starcraft 1 and Wing Commander. I remember I had to uninstall MS Office just to have enough room to install the Brood War expansion. 
Eventually the HDD died and I think the thing got tossed, wish I still had it.


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## Frick (Jan 30, 2013)

Amstrad CPC 464, which had a Zilog Z80A. It belonged to my brothers.


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## Aquinus (Jan 30, 2013)

Apple Color Classic. 
16Mhz processor, 4Mb of ram. Good stuff.


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## MT Alex (Jan 30, 2013)

I'm a little surprised that I am the first TRS-80 reply.  This was followed by a Texas Instruments TI-99/4A, and then a litany of other early Tandys, Amigas, Commodores, you name it.


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## johnnyfiive (Jan 30, 2013)

A Leading Edge 286 was my first computer. Thing was a beast!


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## AsRock (Jan 30, 2013)

ZX80,  Dam i hated those hard buttons on it. a version of the ZX48 with the silly rubber buttons..

My favorite was thee ZX Spectrum 128 without the tape deck attached which every other model after was just pos.  Good old days of lining the tape heads up with a small phillips.

I had some some hand held's that plugged directly in to the TV. Although i am not sure if DMS were the ones who made mine but every thing on them look 100% the same.








lemonadesoda said:


> For me it started with the ZX81, a Z80 processor based machine by Sinclair. yes, bought from an ad in a Sunday newspaper magazine supplement, delivered by post. That's how it was in the UK in the 80's. But it was very rudimentary, and I quickly upgraded to the BBC Microcomputer by Acorn, bought in a real shop. It was when I first started serious programming in BASIC and machine code in 6502 and 65C02. For all those in the know, BBC BASIC4 was the business. Anyone else know how to PHA, STX, LDA, BNQ etc? The BBC was my first OVERCLOCKED machine, with an updated 65C02 processor and a clock-doubling circuit made by a company called solidisk. Real overclocking! 2x as fast!
> 
> https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/85/ZX81_Sinclair_Research_advert.jpghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...stored.jpg/300px-BBC_Micro_Front_Restored.jpg



I loved using that with the micro switches and all.  Used to play a lot of chucki egg on it lol.


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## 95Viper (Jan 30, 2013)

Well, first computer used was an IBM System/360 about 1973.
First built was an Altair 8800 kit, which used an 8080 processor.
First used for anything at home was a Texas Instruments TI-99/4A with a TMS9900 processor.
First used at work was a Radio Shack TRS-80 model 1 with a Z-80 processor.


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## SaiZo (Jan 30, 2013)

First computer owned - C64 (that was bought), the second one was at school called "COMPIS" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compis), here is a link to a picture of it: http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=358

However, my father tried to build a computer once, the Z80. He had a big book with lots of diagrams etc. in it.
The second computer I bought myself, and was the Amiga 500 with Kickstart ROM, even had the Commodore screen - press a button on it and everything turned green!


EDIT: Oh, just remembered - we also had before the C64 something that could use a cartridge, with two analog joysticks (open gimball type), that did not re-center themself. It looks almost the same as the HANIMEX SD 070, but the controllers cables were fixed to the unit, and had an orange small button on each one of them. Could also connect a "lightgun" looking thing for the sportsgame cartridge, and the other game was just a car game.
If I recall correctly, the one we had was the SD 090 for the european market. I think I can dig up an old photo, scan it and enlarge / crop only the device.


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## m1dg3t (Jan 30, 2013)

Commodore PET, with trackball...

Similar to this


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## Frick (Jan 30, 2013)

SaiZo said:


> First computer owned - C64 (that was bought), the second one was at school called "COMPIS" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compis), here is a link to a picture of it: http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=358
> 
> However, my father tried to build a computer once, the Z80. He had a big book with lots of diagrams etc. in it.
> The second computer I bought myself, and was the Amiga 500 with Kickstart ROM, even had the Commodore screen - press a button on it and everything turned green!
> ...



A Compis? You must be nordic.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jan 30, 2013)

Apple II if I remember correctly.


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## Norton (Jan 30, 2013)

Liquid Cool said:


> Norton...I owned that Packard Bell.  If I recall it had a 'turbo button'?  Can't remember.



Turbo'd from 8 to 12Mhz  

probably the only time in PC history that the cpu boosted 50% by pressing a button. Went from real friggin' slow to just friggin' slow


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## HammerON (Jan 30, 2013)

apple II E and my cousin's Commodore 54.


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## lemonadesoda (Jan 30, 2013)

Apple II was 6502 processor.
Comodore PET was a 6502 processor.

A lot of peeps here not knowing their CPUs! Or should I say, microprocessors


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## HammerON (Jan 30, 2013)

Sorry - to lazy to goolge them
And no. I had no clue nor cared back then.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jan 30, 2013)

I remember the first time I used windows was on a 286.


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## Jstn7477 (Jan 30, 2013)

First computer I ever used at home was a Packard Bell Legend using a Pentium 75MHz using Win95 and what was probably less than 16MB of RAM as Win98 wouldn't install some years later. My dad unfortunately threw it out sometime around 2000 because we had K6-II and probably our first K7 800MHz by that point. I remember playing Dr. Seuss' "Sam I Am" and possibly LEGO Island on that machine when I was like 6.


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## Frick (Jan 30, 2013)

Norton said:


> Turbo'd from 8 to 12Mhz
> 
> probably the only time in PC history that the cpu boosted 50% by pressing a button. Went from real friggin' slow to just friggin' slow



Didnt them older x86 systems have a turbo button as well? At school most of the computers had turbo buttons and some sort of lock on them and im pretty sure they were  something86..


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## Arrakis9 (Jan 30, 2013)

Aquinus said:


> Apple Color Classic.
> 16Mhz processor, 4Mb of ram. Good stuff.
> http://www.vectronicsappleworld.com/collection/articlepics/cc/snap1.jpg



nostalgia'd on that one 2rd grade computer class 

I remember them giving us a floppy disk to store our data on and taking one of those AOL floppy disks up there and telling all my friends "man im gonna get on the internet with this one" man the teachers had a shit fit about that one 

This is the first computer i ever owned with a good ol' RAGE 128 graphics card


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## Frick (Jan 30, 2013)

Arrakis+9 said:


> nostalgia'd on that one 3rd grade computer class



In third grade there was like one computer in the entire school system, and the kids in the "special" class had it. Sometimes we got tu to use it for an hour. An hour for 25 kids.


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## TheMailMan78 (Jan 30, 2013)

I don't like this thread. Makes me feel old.


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## Arrakis9 (Jan 30, 2013)

Frick said:


> In third grade there was like one computer in the entire school system, and the kids in the "special" class had it. Sometimes we got tu to use it for an hour. An hour for 25 kids.



it was actually 2nd grade as i recall and it was some what of a "privileged" school


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## Liquid Cool (Jan 30, 2013)

Norton said:


> Turbo'd from 8 to 12Mhz
> 
> probably the only time in PC history that the cpu boosted 50% by pressing a button. Went from real friggin' slow to just friggin' slow



I'd say that was an accurate description....

I had an old computer, it was the pc I owned right before I bought an 8088(or was it 8086? can't remember), at any rate...it was like a TRS-80, but it had the keyboard that fitted on the top of the unit and the pc had a handle and I remember it had a color screen, my first.  I don't remember what it was, but if i could find another one, I might pick it up for old time sake.  It was a great little pc. 

The unit above was retired by my PB 80286, I bought it at Sam's Club when they first opened, If I recall correctly, it was about 900. 

Best,

LC


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## Norton (Jan 30, 2013)

Liquid Cool said:


> I'd say that was an accurate description....
> 
> I had an old computer, it was the pc I owned right before I bought an 8088(or was it 8086? can't remember), at any rate...it was like a TRS-80, but it had the keyboard that fitted on the top of the unit and the pc had a handle and I remember it had a color screen, my first.  I don't remember what it was, but if i could find another one, I might pick it up for old time sake.  It was a great little pc.
> 
> ...



Mine was vintage from the beginning.... bought in 1995 for a couple of hundred. I got a late start but I think I've caught up and then some 

P.S> The PC is still in the basement somewhere


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## Raw (Jan 31, 2013)

*386-sx16*

My first was a 386-SX16 that came with a 360K floppy drive and a state of the art 20 Meg HD. It came with Windows 3.3
I paid $2500.00 for that beast back then. It was so long ago I can't even remember the brand.
AHhh...just remembered. 
Whoop...just re-remembered...It was an EPSON. I can't remember the model number.
Epson was a name brand back then, pretty comparable in price to a true IBM machine.
MS-DOS...learning the commands, local BBS's, 9600 baud modems, that was the good life. 
A good friend of mine laughed at me for spending so much money at that time. He had a 286 that was faster than my 386 SX.
All I could do was dream of owing a 486DX and blowing his doors off but I had too many other things going on at that time (like having kids, racecars, a home to pay for, schooling and the bills for that, and all the other things life throws at ya.
Never did get that 486.
Couple years went by and I finally bought a P4.
Then another upgrade...and another and still going.


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## Mindweaver (Jan 31, 2013)

TheMailMan78 said:


> Apple II if I remember correctly.



Yea, I believe my first was an Apple II as well. They used the 6502 processor.


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## HalfAHertz (Jan 31, 2013)

My first PC was a Pravetz-16 a Bulgarian home made system that used an intel 8088@4.77 Mhz


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## Rock N Roll Rebel (Jan 31, 2013)

good old ti 99 lol
http://oldcomputers.net/ti994a.html


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## Liquid Cool (Jan 31, 2013)

Norton....

I've had the feeling for a long time now that you don't throw anything away...

IF any of the old timers want to play with a complete 486DX system, I have spares I'd like to actually get rid of...I don't toss anything either. Not even a single screw.

Typing this on my pc of the evening.  A Pentium 4 Prescott 3.4GHz.

Best,

LC


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## xvi (Jan 31, 2013)

AMD K6-2 450 MHz on a SOYO board. Saved up all my pennies and bought a nVidia GeForce 2 MX for it. Had to get the PCI version because that crappy SOYO board couldn't properly power the AGP port.

I don't remember where, but I found an old Commodore 64 laying around. I found a couple Apple II programming books in the library in the elementary school library and managed to convert them to run on the Commodore (6th or 7th grade). I went to a garage sale with my father and saw a Commodore 128. The guy said if he didn't sell it by the end of the day, I could have it. He didn't, it was mine, and it was glorious. Found a TRS-80 and later found out my grandfather had a TRS-80 Color. The Commodores are my favorite of the lot though.

There you are. The first and the oldest. I still have both Commodores and the "Trash"-80 Color. It's pretty entertaining to use them on today's massive widescreen TVs.


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## Uberman (Jan 31, 2013)

lemonadesoda said:


> For me it started with the ZX81, a Z80 processor based machine by Sinclair. yes, bought from an ad in a Sunday newspaper magazine supplement, delivered by post. That's how it was in the UK in the 80's. But it was very rudimentary, and I quickly upgraded to the BBC Microcomputer by Acorn, bought in a real shop. It was when I first started serious programming in BASIC and machine code in 6502 and 65C02. For all those in the know, BBC BASIC4 was the business. Anyone else know how to PHA, STX, LDA, BNQ etc? The BBC was my first OVERCLOCKED machine, with an updated 65C02 processor and a clock-doubling circuit made by a company called solidisk. Real overclocking! 2x as fast!
> 
> https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/85/ZX81_Sinclair_Research_advert.jpghttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...stored.jpg/300px-BBC_Micro_Front_Restored.jpg



THIS!
I started out using a BBC Micro Model B which quickly branched out into Acorns and Amigas. I have hugely fond memories of Elite and code your own game books where you would enter hundreds of lines of basic.


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## qu4k3r (Jan 31, 2013)

Epson Equity I+

Intel 8088, switchable to 4.77 or 10 MHz
640KB Ram
2 floppies 5¼" 360KB
No hard drive.
Green monitor don´t know how many inches, maybe 13 I think
Ms-Dos 3.2 but I got a v5.0 copy later
and Genius GM-6 PC Mouse
Due to lack of space I had to throw it in the trash 15 years ago maybe more  but I really loved it! 










Epson Equity 1 Computer Overview & Demonstration -...


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## theubersmurf (Jan 31, 2013)

HammerON said:


> apple II E and my cousin's Commodore 54.


That's nuts, I had an apple II e when I was really young and a commodore 64 a few years later.


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## m1dg3t (Jan 31, 2013)

lemonadesoda said:


> Apple II was 6502 processor.
> Comodore PET was a 6502 processor.
> 
> A lot of peeps here not knowing their CPUs! Or should I say, microprocessors



Some people don't understand the question they posed?!?! 

You asked what PC, NOT what processor


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## freaksavior (Jan 31, 2013)

Custom built with a Pentium II, 128mb of ram, 32mb of vram, and no idea the hard drive.


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## Jetster (Jan 31, 2013)

I'm glad I'm not the only old one here


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## happita (Jan 31, 2013)

Apple II when I was in grammar school, but if we are talking about the first computer we actually owned, then it would be a an HP Pentium 1 100 Mhz, 32MB RAM, and Windows 3.1; it's all I remember of the specs. First time I played some of the best games growing up for sure...first ones that come to mind are Duke Nukem 1 & 2...ahhhh, those were the days


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## tastegw (Jan 31, 2013)

Used and owned are different entirely, so I'll do both:

First pc used: 1983/4/5 in grade school, if I remember correctly they had an IBM (just 1) in the library, I played Oregon trail. (IMO Atari was so much better, had that at home)
No clue on the img specs as I was 5 or 6 years old.

First pc I personally bought and owned was off eBay in like 2002.
CPU: intel something / 433ish MHz single core
GPU: Voodoo 16mb
RAM: 100mhz 128mb (may have been 333mhz, I just remember keeping those sticks)
Hdd: 60gb 5200rpm
Hdd: 16gb 7200rpm
Mobo, no idea
Case: vanilla/beige server tower, no fans

Replaced that a few years later for:

CPU: intel celeron single core 1.8ghz
Gpu: nvidia something, thought I was badass with 64mb card
Ram: 512mb 533?mhz
And a bunch of blah blah blah
Though this rig was leaps better the the old.


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## Absolution (Jan 31, 2013)

Intel Pentium 166Mhz MMX (P55C) with an Asus SP-97V motherboard. The motherboard was really special, because it supported the 83Mhz FSB speed and had an undocumented multiplier, which meant that an AMD K6 (II+?) 500Mhz could be used in it (never got my hands on it though) (83x6)

Still remember the RAM, 16MB EDO RAM


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## SirKeldon (Jan 31, 2013)

First to use regularly was the Z80 Amstrad (when i was 4-6 years old)
First to know what i was really doing ... 486 @ 12MHz (33MHz with Turbo, such old times, also was the machine i used to install my very first Linux )
First to surf the internet with ... Pentium 100MHz
First not inherited so bought ... Pentium4 1.3GHz (manufactured in Costa Rica!!!)
First truly "custom" build (also bought) to overclock and to experiment with hardware ... AMD64 3500+ "ClawHammer"



PS: All inherited computers were always at home, my dad was gaving them to me when he was swapping for a new one.
PSS: Still not sure what to vote, Z80 or 486 ...


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## Frick (Jan 31, 2013)

SirKeldon said:


> First not inherited so bought ... Pentium4 1.3GHz (manufactured in Costa Rica!!!)



Oh you poor thing.


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## FordGT90Concept (Jan 31, 2013)

Apple II GS, then 486DX.


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## Melvis (Jan 31, 2013)

The Amiga 2000, still got it, still runs like a champ!!

What CPU did they use in those again? i cant remember


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## patrico (Jan 31, 2013)

Melvis said:


> The Amiga 2000, still got it, still runs like a champ!!
> 
> What CPU did they use in those again? i cant remember




The A200 shipped with a Motorola 68000 CPU, running at 7.16 MHz (NTSC) or 7.09 MHz (PAL). The CPU could be upgraded to a 68010 by direct replacement lol


my first was bbc acorn proper old school, only had a floppy drive lol


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## qubit (Jan 31, 2013)

I voted Other after 1980, cuz I'm old. 

I think it was a Tandy TRS-80 at a computer literacy course for a week when I was a kid.


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## 3870x2 (Jan 31, 2013)

Raw said:


> Never did get that 486.



That kinda hit me hard for some reason.  Life tends to move on without you sometimes.


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## Nordic (Jan 31, 2013)

My elementary school didn't get computers till I was in 4th grade and I don't remember what those were. The first one I had was a pentium 3 I got about 5th grade as a hand me down.


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## theubersmurf (Jan 31, 2013)

Wish I still had my old Mac Classic, it was stolen, but I had it well into the aughts. Still ran when it was stolen too.


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## ...PACMAN... (Jan 31, 2013)

I was 4, it was my brother's Acorn Electron and I spent many hours playing "Citadel". In fact it was the first game I ever completed.

Many hours playing it with my Sister, listening to Stan Ridgway's "Camouflage" on my brother's  hifi.

GOD i MISS THE 80S


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## de.das.dude (Jan 31, 2013)

amd athlon 3500+, with an ecs mobo and 256mb of ram. 80gb hdd. hdd still in my current rig.


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## bmaverick (Jan 31, 2013)

*TI-99-4A and TI-99-4C and the TRS-80 III *

The TI had sooooo many games, educational software and business software than any of the other machines.  Even the LOGOS Basic was a lead into visual basic software programing.  The graphics with the LOGOS rivaled stuff up to the VGA era.  Also the syntehsized speech module was well ahead of it's time too!  It took Commador a few years to rival that.


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## SirKeldon (Jan 31, 2013)

Frick said:


> Oh you poor thing.



 

It was pretty hard to save some money when i was sixteen, long time ago, sure you know what i'm talking about


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## Raw (Jan 31, 2013)

3870x2 said:


> That kinda hit me hard for some reason.  Life tends to move on without you sometimes.



Lol...it's all good buddy, I'm long over it.  
My life has been pretty darn good since those days past.


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## MT Alex (Jan 31, 2013)

bmaverick said:


> *TI-99-4A and TI-99-4C and the TRS-80 III *
> 
> The TI had sooooo many games, educational software and business software than any of the other machines.



You bet.  Off the top of my head I remember playing Parsec, Munch Man, Tombstone City and TI Invaders.  I used to make my own text adventures in TI Basic, too.  That was great stuff.


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## MxPhenom 216 (Jan 31, 2013)

I guess i should have chose like pentium 3 or 4. I thought the thread was where did you start in terms of first system built.


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## KainXS (Jan 31, 2013)

some 6mhz ibm or something(I think it was the 5150), it was 6mhz of fury, my dad had it for work back in the day and I just played around with it, . . . . . . now i feel old:shadedshu


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## TheMailMan78 (Jan 31, 2013)

MT Alex said:


> You bet.  Off the top of my head I remember playing Parsec, Munch Man, Tombstone City and TI Invaders.  I used to make my own text adventures in TI Basic, too.  That was great stuff.



Munch man? Do you mean "Number Munchers"? The one that had the lil' animations between math problems?


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## qubit (Jan 31, 2013)

bmaverick said:


>



Nerdgasm. Sorry.


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## jgunning (Jan 31, 2013)

Mine was an old KTX brand!It was a beast.I used to play lemmings, the lost vikings and prince of persia 2d.THE BEST. Im not quite as old as some of you guys so i dont go quite as far back..but this is what i first used..haha!

Looked like this:
http://www.sella.co.nz/general/computers/monitors/crt-monitors/58zn4y/display-images/57h6hw/


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## Altered (Jan 31, 2013)

Cyrix 133 MHz was my first personal PC I bought the parts and built it.


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## itsakjt (Feb 1, 2013)

Well I used a Wipro Acer PC when I was 3 years old. Didn't know the config at that time. Later saw that the CPU was AMD DX 4 100 MHz, 8 MB RAM, 540 MB HDD, color monitor(special feature).


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## MT Alex (Feb 1, 2013)

TheMailMan78 said:


> Munch man? Do you mean "Number Munchers"? The one that had the lil' animations between math problems?



No, Munch Man was TI's answer to Pac-Man.


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## Steevo (Jul 25, 2017)

I believe it was a 486, it was 1988 in school, the whole school had like 3 computers, two for the office and one for students in the library, and you had to have a teacher help you use it cause... kids. I was 8


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## RealNeil (Jul 25, 2017)

8088-8MHz IBM Clone

It had a 12MHz. TURBO-Baby!!

It's system memory used to come in plastic tubes. (and that green screen too)


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## Deleted member 67555 (Jul 25, 2017)

RealNeil said:


> 8088-8MHz IBM Clone
> 
> It had a 12MHz. TURBO-Baby!!
> 
> It's system memory used to come in plastic tubes. (and that green screen too)


Monochrome!!!


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## biffzinker (Jul 25, 2017)

Apple II in elementary school back in Michigan was the first computer I had contact with.

First computer I owned was a OEM pre-build with a Pentium MMX 233 MHz.

Edit: First console I owned was a NES, how about that another computer with a 6502.


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## Naql (Jul 25, 2017)

lemonadesoda said:


> For me it started with the ZX81, a Z80 processor based machine by Sinclair. yes, bought from an ad in a Sunday newspaper magazine supplement, delivered by post. That's how it was in the UK in the 80's. But it was very rudimentary, and I quickly upgraded to the BBC Microcomputer by Acorn, bought in a real shop. It was when I first started serious programming in BASIC and machine code in 6502 and 65C02. For all those in the know, BBC BASIC4 was the business. Anyone else know how to PHA, STX, LDA, BNQ etc? The BBC was my first OVERCLOCKED machine, with an updated 65C02 processor and a clock-doubling circuit made by a company called solidisk. Real overclocking! 2x as fast!


Also a zx81 here, with the 16k memory expansion module and cassette tape storage!


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Jul 25, 2017)

i have a strong sense of "deja vu"..........


IBM 386

i still use the keyboard everyday.








First console 1977 Sportsvision 1000


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## DeathtoGnomes (Jul 25, 2017)

fire computer used, not to be confused with owned, dont remember the name of it, but teletype in junior high school, so I think 1977-ish. Learned 10 Print "Hello", 20 END.


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## springs113 (Jul 25, 2017)

Can't really remember but it had a 200 mhz clock with a turbo button pushing it to 400mhz, 256mb ram and a 20gb hard drive.  My parents paid a whopping $4,000+ for it sadly. Now that i think about it,  it cost more than my first car.


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## Beastie (Jul 25, 2017)

zx spectrum 48K


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## hapkiman (Jul 25, 2017)

Had a Commodore 64 when they first came out (my Dad had the Commodore Vic 20).  I had the disk drive attachment, and the cassette tape drive (can you believe they used those).  I remember playing a game called Beachhead for hours on end.  Dang, that was a long time ago.

It had a ROM cartridge slot on the back too.  Had a crap load of games on carts.


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## yotano211 (Jul 25, 2017)

The 1st computer I ever used was a Macintosh Apple II in the 5th grade (1990), the 1st one I ever owned was a Pentium 3 450mhz (1999). I later swapped it out for 550mhz from my sisters ex-boyfriend's computer without telling him. He couldnt tell the difference but I sure did. Had that thing for about 7 years.


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## johnspack (Jul 25, 2017)

I guess technically an 8088,  but I quickly swapped out the cpu for a V20.  Fully loaded with 640k ram!


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## MrGenius (Jul 25, 2017)

An Atari 800XL that I got for Christmas in 1983. Which was based on a 6502C. But I wouldn't know the difference between a 6502 and a 6502C, or if it matters for the poll that it be specifically a 6502, so I voted Other after 1980. Maybe I shouldn't have...but too late now!


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## Caelestis (Jul 25, 2017)

The first PC I owned was a C64

The first PC I used for my homework during my school days was a Schneider Euro AT which had a Intel 80286 inside:





The first PC I bought was a Pentium MMX


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## Ebo (Jul 25, 2017)

I cant remember the name, but it used the "good" old OS Comal 80, back in 1981/82 and it could barely run Basic OS.


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## verycharbroiled (Jul 25, 2017)

ZX81, with 16k module and the sparky printer.

1st "real" pc was a Columbia pc clone.


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## Sempron Guy (Jul 25, 2017)

We got our 2nd family pc back 2005. Second cause back when we had our first I'm more fascinated with the usual kids stuff ( I was 3 or 4 at that time ) so I didn't give a rat's ass what my two brothers is doing in front of a weird looking beige box with a TV . So back to our 2nd familiy pc, since I was leaving for college that year I wasn't able to use it that much

Celeron D 320 2.4ghz
ECS socket 478 board
S3 Graphics onboard
256mb DDR
generic psu and case
Samsung 15" CRT

During college I got this pc, technically not mine, this was my bro's which he also got from our 2nd eldest brother which he he got from our eldest bro till he handed it down to me so basically I'm the 4th owner.

Pentium III 733mhz
Asus board
384mb sdram which I later upgraded to 512mb
geforce 4 mx 440 64mb sdr
40GB seagate drive
generic psu and beige case
15" CRT monitor

attempted to upgrade the gpu to an Asus Radeon 9500 256mb DDR but it keeps on crashing even at desktop. Later did I figure out I mean years after, that the psu is probably a pos. Anyway had that config for 2 years until the board finally gave up and I gladly was able to finally let it go and build a new one back 2008. That P3 rig was my trainer PC. Learned a great deal about computers in general, played a considerable amount of games finished Doom 3 which to this day still confuses me how I was able to withstand the horrors of playing Doom 3 on a geforce 4 mx 440 64mb, 733mhz processor and 384mb sdram. Shame I didn't have any pics, would've been awesome. A complete reminder of where I came from to what I got now. I may not have the best at that time, I mean a P3 rig in 2005 is already outdated but hey those where the good times for me.


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## Warrgarbl (Jul 25, 2017)

One of these... Atari ST, pretty sure it was a 1040ST. Didn't do much with it besides clicking around, trying the console and playing classics like Monkey Island and Dungeon Master II. My father also had (and still has) one of those :






Found that thing very interesting, but never quite figured out what 10 year old me could do with it. Later noticed that it is used in Terminator II and found that super awesome. Anyway


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## Frogger (Jul 26, 2017)

MITS Altair 8800 COMPUTER  https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/first-pc-build-ever.24334/#post-246469


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## WhiteNoise (Aug 10, 2017)

My first PC was a PIII 500E  with 64mb of PC100 ram and TNT 2 Riva video card. I paid $835 for this at Fry's Electronics back when I was 27 years old. (The video card I purchased separately and put in myself)

Within 6 months I built my first PC from scratch and been building ever since.


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## cornemuse (Aug 11, 2017)

Timex-Sinclair TS-1000

I used my kids Fisher-Price log cabin shaped cassette player / recorder, it worked better than my more expensive cassette player / recorder.
Still have around, somewhere, , , ,


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## Seba_82 (Aug 11, 2017)

My first PC was a 386... very old lady...


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## niko084 (Aug 11, 2017)

Oh... I'm pretty sure it was an Atari 400.
I remember the days of soldering ram upgrades...


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## vega22 (Aug 11, 2017)

first i used was a zx81 my uncle built. my dad got us a spectrum not long after.


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## infrared (Aug 11, 2017)

My first experience with computers was as a kid in Junior school, there were only a few so you had to book a time slot lol. It only had some basic games, I remember some puzzle crystal maze type things, and a program where you had to program a robotic tortoise or something. A really basic paint program.. We actually had a color printer for it too!



The A3000 used an 8 MHz ARM2 and was supplied with 1 MB of RAM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Archimedes

Voted pentium 4, first family pc was a P4 northwood with the old pga socket, my first pc was with a newfangled lga775 with a P4 640   (missed out on amd athlons! )

There's some amazing old machines being posted up


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## CAPSLOCKSTUCK (Aug 11, 2017)

The first one i used was a BBC Micro in school, it was 1981


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro


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## MDDB (Aug 12, 2017)

ZX Spectrum


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## Recon-UK (Mar 15, 2018)

Pentium D 930 Presler (Hot ASF! also slow ASF.. lol)

Started PC in 2009 ish.











Foxconn bboard.





4GB Kingston DDR2 800mhz

ATi X1300 256mb.








The idea was to PC game... was not doing that lol.. was horse poop.

Did all sorts with it, used toothpaste as thermal goop, learnt how not to overclock a PC etc etc...


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## Vego (Mar 15, 2018)

1981 - ZX Spectrum, Comodore 64, Amiga 500, Amiga 600, Amiga 1100, 386SX, 486SX, 486DX100, Pentium MMX 166, Celeron 300A, Celeron 333@450, Duron 600@900, AthlonXP 2500@3200, C2D 6400, C2D 6850, Q6600, i920, i7 930, i7 965, i5 2500k, i7 2600k, i7 3770k, i7 3960X, i7 4770k, i7 4960X, i7 4820k,  Xeon e5 1660, i7 5960X, i7 6700k, i5 7500, i7 7700k, all x99 CPUs, all x299 CPUs except i5


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## CrAsHnBuRnXp (Mar 15, 2018)

Holy thread revival batman!


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## Recon-UK (Mar 15, 2018)

CrAsHnBuRnXp said:


> Holy thread revival batman!


You are welcome


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## Slizzo (Mar 15, 2018)

Old poll but it was bumped so I voted. Back when I was a kid my Dad bought a Leading Edge Model D (like the first pictured here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leading_Edge_Model_D) and that was my first experience.

Shogun, MS Flight Sim 1.0, Karateka. Good days.


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## jboydgolfer (Mar 15, 2018)

I would have to say the tail end of the 70s to the beginning of the 80s , in the labs at UMass.  My father worked for the University, and he had  all the keys, literally.  That would have to be when I became initially interested .


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## Kissamies (Apr 8, 2018)

Well, I count my PII PC as my real first PC.

Pentium II 400 @ 450MHz
Asus P5B
160 (2x 64 + 32) MB SDRAM-100
3D Power GeForce 2 MX 32MB
IBM 10GB HDD
Philips 52/32/52x CD-RW
Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 Digital
Crappy 250W PSU
Windows 98 SE

Ran Star Wars Racer smoothly. Diablo II LoD was the most played on that PC.


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## rtwjunkie (Apr 8, 2018)

I voted 6502, because I know the Commodore 64 had a 6510, which was a variant of the 6502.  Still, an option for 6510 needs to be up there, since the computer it was adapted specifically for is the best selling ever.

So, there you go, 1984, I first started learning computers on Commodore 64 in high school.  Our Computer department had 14 of them.  I took BASIC one semester and something that is a blank right now another semester.

Hmmm, need multiple options too.  First computer bought personally was a Pentium 3 in 1998/99.  Used them at work off and on before that but never paid any attention to what they were.


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## cucker tarlson (Apr 8, 2018)

Celeron 400, 64GB SDRAM, Voodoo AGP 16MB, Seagate 6.4GB.


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## BiggieShady (Apr 8, 2018)

I voted Z80:

On that poll list there should be legendary Motorola 68000 (Amiga 500) and successors


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## AlwaysHope (Aug 22, 2018)

Compaq Deskpro was my 1st PC. Still got it with it's glorious beige colored case...


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## RealNeil (Aug 22, 2018)

8086 12MHz.


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## Ahhzz (Aug 22, 2018)

rtwjunkie said:


> I voted 6502, because I know the Commodore 64 had a 6510, which was a variant of the 6502.  Still, an option for 6510 needs to be up there, since the computer it was adapted specifically for is the best selling ever.
> 
> So, there you go, 1984, I first started learning computers on Commodore 64 in high school.  Our Computer department had 14 of them.  I took BASIC one semester and something that is a blank right now another semester.
> 
> Hmmm, need multiple options too.  First computer bought personally was a Pentium 3 in 1998/99.  Used them at work off and on before that but never paid any attention to what they were.



Damn skippy. C64, Jumpman, Basic BASIC and Compute! magazine.


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## Tatty_One (Aug 22, 2018)

I think mine was a Commodore 64 from 1982, the thing with the cassette, 8 bit I think, it came with a stock matchstick men game


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## Ahhzz (Aug 22, 2018)

Tatty_One said:


> I think mine was a Commodore 64 from 1982, the thing with the cassette, 8 bit I think, it came with a stock matchstick men game


gotta fast forward to the next game heheheh. And making notes on the tape for what counter point each program was.... 
Also, in school, we used Apples: I'm the fastest non-touch typist of the word "catalog" that you'll see heheh. 
when Dad brought home a borrowed floppy drive and a modem for the C64, I was in heaven....


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## Frick (Aug 22, 2018)

CAPSLOCKSTUCK said:


> i have a strong sense of "deja vu"..........
> 
> 
> IBM 386
> ...



Very late reply, but did that keyboard come with a 386? I thought the Windows key was introduced to Win95.


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## Dinnercore (Aug 22, 2018)

My first pc that I used regularly was a 386 that was previous an Uher 286 / 16. My dad had done some stuff with it, and I remember the oh so satisfying click from the front buttons for reset and turbo. And the beeps it made. 
I liked it, it was a magic box. I was ~4-5 years old at that time and could do absolutly nothing on it without asking my dad how to. This didn´t stop me however from spending a lot of time in front of it. Very soothing fan noise too. 

Still have it sitting somewhere in a large box with the CRT, got it a couple years ago from my dad. It´s not working, mostly because he stored it outside in the shed where it was open to temperature and humidity. I need to bring it back to life, but I don´t know where to start on it. PSU is definitly dead and I have no replacement.


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## eidairaman1 (Aug 22, 2018)

Apple-II, Elementary


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## robot zombie (Aug 22, 2018)

^^^Ditto. Apple II in the early 90's. Was the coolest thing in the world to me as a kid.

Crazy to think those things were in use for decades.


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