What Classic Computers Have You Owned?

[Pantechnicon]

Just remembered a couple more oddballs I've got knocking around in the back of the house:

- Signetics Model I - Assembly language device with an integrated LED character display. I bought it because I used to work for the company that Signetics became - Philips Semiconductors.

-Commodore Colt, PC-10 III - These are actually x86 architecture, so I wouldn't usually be inclined to mention them but for the fact that they're Commodore-manufactured PC's . I think the PC-10 may be a 286. It has a hard drive in it. One of these days I'll probably dust it off and load up MS-DOS 5 and Windows 3.0 (yes, I have shrinkwrapped copies of both). How's that for a classic Dosbox ?

[Niku-Sama]

only got 2.

IBM compatable 80-88 XT based desktop
Timex Sinclair ZX80

the 80-88 works, has a tv out on the vidrocard along with a XT monitor out, i have the XT monitor and the Switched keyboard to go along with it. boots, posts no OS though

the ZX-80 is unknown

i have some TI-99/4a carts too 2 games, some doubles of finance or house software that was the last thing i bought at the flea markent and i havent been able to go back since. mabe this weekend

[bangtango]

Hm ...

TRS-80 Model III
TRS-80 COCO
Franklin Ace 1000 (Apple II compatible)
Apple IIe
Apple IIe (Black Bell and Howell Model)
Apple IIc
Commodore 64
Commodore 128
Commodore SX-64
Commodore 16
Commodore Plus 4
Atari 800
Amiga 500
Amiga 1200
TI-99/4A

PC XT
PC Jr
PC 286/12
PC 386 DX2/40
PC 486/33
PC 486/66
PC 486/100

I've got three or four Macs but I'm not sure what the models are. I've got a Mac Plus staring at my on my desk right now.

All of those and never a Vic 20?

My own answers would be the Commodore Vic 20 and 64. I wouldn't mind playing one, or both, of them again. The 64 I had is history and the Vic 20 is missing some of the hookups.

[icbrkr]

Pretty much all of em in the US: http://www.particles.org .. I'm too lazy to list em

[Flack]

All of those and never a Vic 20?

Maybe my view of history is skewed, but I always thought of the Vic 20 as simply a predecessor of the '64. Once I had a C64 I never thought about buying an older, less-capable version of the same machine. Maybe they aren't as similar as I thought, I just always assumed that since they look almost identical. Are there any Vic 20 games worth picking up the system for that weren't ported to the C64?

[Damaramu]

My first computer, highschool graduation present back in '94:

486DX 33mhz

I loved that computer and did a lot of gaming on it when I could. A friend brought me a copy of Wolfenstein 3D the day I got it. Did a lot of local BBS-ing on my 2400 baud modem. Good times.

[Steve W]

My first computer was a Texas Instruments Home Computer, given to me for Christmas 1983. A year or two later, my brother picked up a Timex Sinclair 1000 (or pilfered it from work), didn't care for it, and gave it to me. I didn't care for it either, so it went on a shelf.

For years, it was just the TI and me, until around 1989 or 1990 when my brother gave me an old Commodore Amiga 1000. He also had some friends who pirated games, so I ended up with loads of stuff for it. I found out that a friend of a friend also had a lot of games, so in the end I probably have around 500 disks with probably 700 games on them. I did actually purchase a good amount, but it was so hard to find stores that still sold Amiga software around here. I bought what I could and then borrowed copies from my friends to fill out my library.

I stuck it out with the Amiga until late 1995, when this whole 'Information Superhighway' thing started picking up steam, and I wanted a newer machine to access it. My best friend was working for the IT department of a small oil company, and when I told him I was considering getting a PC, he (a pacifist) told he he would come over and beat the living crap out of me. He had gotten to the point where he couldn't stand to look at a PC if he wasn't working. I ended up buying a Power Computing 100 Macintosh clone. That was the beginning of my Mac life. After the Power Computing 100, I bought a UMAX C500 clone, graduated on to an eMac 800 (which is my current desktop), and now a 1.5Ghz G4 Powerbook.

Along the way, i've bought several other computers, but I haven't really gotten into them too much. I've got 3 or 4 Atari 8-bit models, an Atari 520ST and a 1040STFM, an Amiga 1200 (without power supply, so i've never used it), a VIC-20 (also without power supply), an Apple IIc (no power supply, this is becoming a recurring theme), several TRS-80 Co-Co models, a Texas Instruments CC-40 portable, a TRS-80 Model 100, and even a Mattel Intellivision Computer Module, if you count that one as a real computer (most wouldn't). I've started passing on computers when I find them in the wild, mainly because i'm beginning to run short on storage space now. I've got Rubbermaid storage tubs all over the place, filled with classic gaming stuff and computers. I left a $5 Commodore Plus/4 in a store last month because I knew i'd never fool around with it. I have to really want the machine now for me to pick it up.

[Kid Ice]

Are there any Vic 20 games worth picking up the system for that weren't ported to the C64?

Did they port the Scott Adams adventure games?

Also, for whatever reason, I liked Radar Rat Race and Miner 2049er better on the Vic.

I went directly from the Vic to the 128. Actually, that's not totally accurate...I owned a Commodore 16 for a few days. When I found out it wouldn't work with my 1541 drive and game controllers, that got kicked to the curb.

In my collecting years I've had several TI99s, Atari computers, and Vics and 64s. No Tandy or Apple machines, I just never saw them around (I did have a Mac IIci as my "real" computer for a year or two before I got a PC).

[VintageVGMR]

Well,

I had a Vic-20 when I was in my ealry teens.

I now have a Commodore 128 with no games.

My other dinosaur system was a 286 with a whopping 10 Meg hardrive and a hercules video card.

I think all three of those count.

[idrougge]

I started out with an Amiga 500 in 1992. Got a C64 with it.

Right now, I've got:

C64s all over the place
VIC 20 (old and new)
C128
C128D
C128DCR
Atari 130XE
Loads of Atari ST models
Dragon 32
Spectrum 48k
Spectrum 128k (not working)
Spectravideo SV328
Sord M5
Spectravideo 728 MSX (several)
Sinclair ZX81
TI-99/4A
Vtech Laser 200
ABC 80
ABC 800
ABC 806
Some old workstations and a 68020-based minicomputer
All kinds of Amigas for various uses


I also have some antique PDAs. It's great to collect PDAs when you run out of space.

[LAGO]

The only one for me is the C64, which I still own. Although I did get to play an Apple II regularly at school back in the day.

[norm8332]

Computers I have All fully functional:

Apple: IIc qty 2

Atari: 1040st

Commadore : PET 4032 w/4040 disk, VIC-20 qty 8, C64 brown qty 2, C64c qty2, C128, Plus4

Sinclair: ZX80, ZX81 qty 2, Timex 1000,ZX Spectrum+

Tandy: COCO2, Micro COCO

TI 99/4a qty 2

Various IBM compat. from 8088 up.

My favorite is the VIC 20, I somehow ended up with 8 of them. I have had to repair about half of the commodores by replacing chips etc. The sinclairs also break easy. Also tons of disk drives, printers, etc, ect. to go with it all.

[willowmoon93]

Well I originally owned a TI-99/4A, an Apple ][e, a Commodore 128, & an Atari 520ST. All of those computers wound up going to other people or thrift stores later on (-what was I thinking?-)

Fast forward to the present -- now I own:

(2) Vic-20's
(2) Commodore 64's
(1) Apple ][GS
(1) Timex-Sinclair 1000
(1) Coleco ADAM
(1) Atari 400
(1) Atari 800
(2) TI-99/4A's

Wish I owned an old TRS-80 Model I or III. That model I was the very first computer I learned on. Ah, the memories...

[6502]

First computer was an Atari 800XL. My dad bought it at the Ft. Hood PX in 1984. Also bought a tape recorder, a crappy Commodore branded joystick, and "Fraction Fever" on cartridge. Whoop! Yeah, Fraction Fever. My parents had resisted my pleas for a 2600 for years. They finally relented for a "real computer" (which seemed to be the big thing to do in those years, everyone trading up from the consoles to home computers). But for awhile there they would only buy me edutaintment software. Fortunately, my father started letting me get whatever software I wanted when we finally got a disk drive in 1985 to replace the abysmal tape recorder (which I nicknamed "the Black Hole" since any programs I typed in disappeared into the tape recorder never to be seen again).

Lots of great memories of that Atari 8-bit. Learned Basic, 6502 assembler, and dabbled a bit in C, which helped me out (or perhaps pointed me in the right direction) years later when I went to college and got a CS degree. Used it for word processing (good ol' Paperclip!) and even convinced my father that the purchase had been worthwhile after all by writing an inventory program for his gun collection. :P Of course, I played a ton of games on that thing, from all the great arcade classics to RPGs (Ultima, Phantasie, and Alternate Reality being my favs) to wargames. Actually, lots and lots of wargames, something my father took an interest in too.

Unfortunately, my faithful Atari died in 1991, so I moved "up" to an IBM-compatible (a monstrous 386 with 2MB of RAM, woo). It's never been the same since though, modern PCs just don't have the personality those early home computers did.

I haven't had any other classic computers since that Atari. Of course, I used Apple IIs a lot in school, but many other computers I never even saw outside of commercials and the like (such as the TI or Timex computers) or stores (like C64s or Tandys). I wouldn't mind having a working Atari 8-bit setup again, but I don't have much interest in other home computers. It's hard for me to get excited about computers/consoles I didn't own in their heyday.

[Nature Boy]

My classic computer lineage is all of two machines long:

Atari 400
Atari 800 XL

Started off with the 400 because the 800s were too much money for my dad to spend. Also started with a 410 Tape Drive for the same reasons (mind you *everybody* started with tapes back in the day.

I know we had an 810 Disk Drive because my dad had Archiver for it. We also ended up with a 1050 Happy Drive. But I can't remember how long we suffered loading tapes (I *do* remember how fantastic it was to have something load correctly and quickly, as opposed to waiting 5 minutes and then having to start all over).

That took me through high school, and I didn't have another computer until I got a 286 PC.

What a great series of machines though (the 8-bits). Most of my favourite retro games come from those machines. River Raid (which had balloons and tanks that fired at you, unlike the VCS version), Star League Baseball, MicroLeague Baseball, M.U.L.E., Blue Max, Bruce Lee, Encounter, Kennedy Approach, Last Starfighter, Miner 2049er, Jumpman, Zenji, Shamus, and, uh, Strip Poker...

[SuperPsycho]

I've had but don't have:

Amiga 2000
Atari 1200XL

I have:
Commodore 64
Commodore SX-64
Commodore Amiga 1200

Atari 130XE

Apple IIe platinum
Apple //c
Apple IIgs

Epson PX8

Colecoadam(no printer/ps unit)

I'd say the Apple IIgs is my favorite.