What was your 1st computer?

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Remember your first computer?

I do. It was a Sinclair ZX81. It had 1K of memory and a touch-sensitive keyboard. I also had a 16K RAM Expansion Pack which I had to plug into the back. I think I must have about 5 years old and it must have cost my parents a lot of money at the time.

It was brand new, boxed with all the manuals, leads etc. – everything you needed to join the new home computer revolution.

All I knew was that I had to set it up, which I did.

It blew me away. Give that to a kid now and watch them scoff in disgust and confusion. Me, I was captivated by it. I can still remember playing a text-based pacman on it. All coded in under 1k !! Then there was BASIC…

10 PRINT “DAVID THORNE WAS HERE”
20 GOTO 10

DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
…………

Mind-Blowing! (Well, I was 5)

I was hooked. Have been ever since. That computer and every one I’ve ever had since then hold’s special memories for me (I’m have a ROM memory! Sometimes it’s RAM!)

I could go on and on about my other computers but this post would be so long! But you never forget your first.

I just wish I had kept them all. They’re like little babies that you don’t want to grow up…..I know I haven’t!

So what did you ‘break your cherry’ on? What machine stole your computer virginity?
  • Profile picture of the author 2d0k
    Hmm, I really can't remember but it pretty much describes what obsoleteness really means.
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  • Profile picture of the author healingoasis
    As far as i remember, it was a Pentium 3 with 128 MB RAM, 20 GB Harddisk, 16 MB Video Card, 800 MHz process(not sure but it was in MHz) and it was Tomatoe's Motherboard.
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by healingoasis View Post

      As far as i remember, it was a Pentium 3 with 128 MB RAM, 20 GB Harddisk, 16 MB Video Card, 800 MHz process(not sure but it was in MHz) and it was Tomatoe's Motherboard.
      I don't even think they EVER made an 800hz machine. Almost nobody here likely would ever have had an 800khz machine. And they STILL don't make an 800Ghz, so 800Mhz is a good bet. Though many systems in the last generation had like a 800Mhz FSB, and a faster processor.

      My first one was a 1.023Mhz aka 1023khz 6502 Apple II+ with 48KB. For my highschool graduation, my father bought me an Apple II drive. HEY, they were EXPENSIVE!

      Steve
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  • Timex Sinclair 1500



    Specs sound very similar to the OP's. Had to load and save our proggy's from a cassette tape. Had to plug it into a 13" black & white TV like the old video games used to hook up. 8k of RAM, I think it was, with an extra 8k plug-in module, I believe, but I could be wrong about that. Couldn't leave it turned on long or it would over-heat.

    I learned BASIC on this computer. You didn't type in commands, though. Instead, they were listed under and above the other keys. You had to hold down a function-like key to access them.

    Next graduated to an Apple II (was no Mac, then), which was a huge improvement. Anyone that remembers them I'm sure would agree that they were laughable, too. But, hey, at least it had a 5.25" floppy drive instead of a cassette tape!
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    • Profile picture of the author MerlynSanchez
      Commodore 64
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      • Originally Posted by MerlynSanchez View Post

        Commodore 64
        Believe it or not, there's still an on-going Commodore 64 club out there. How those guys keep those machines running after all these years is beyond me.
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        • Profile picture of the author MerlynSanchez
          I know - it's amazing! I have a friend who still has his and is a member of a local Commodore 64 club.

          Originally Posted by Bradley J Anderson View Post

          Believe it or not, there's still an on-going Commodore 64 club out there. How those guys keep those machines running after all these years is beyond me.
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by Bradley J Anderson View Post

      at least it had a 5.25" floppy drive instead of a cassette tape!
      The disk drive was an expensive OPTION. They came with a cassette tape interface. I became a bit of an expert at that. You had to set it up JUST right! I EVEN created an O/S for it. I called it TOS! It could tell you what was on the tape. and allow you to run a given program.

      Steve
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      • Originally Posted by seasoned View Post

        The disk drive was an expensive OPTION. They came with a cassette tape interface. I became a bit of an expert at that. You had to set it up JUST right! I EVEN created an O/S for it. I called it TOS! It could tell you what was on the tape. and allow you to run a given program.

        Steve
        I don't remember the cassette tape interface. For those not familiar with Apple II, here's a pic of that, as well:



        If I remember correctly, it was soon replaced by the Apple IIc.
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        • Profile picture of the author seasoned
          Originally Posted by Bradley J Anderson View Post

          I don't remember the cassette tape interface. For those not familiar with Apple II, here's a pic of that, as well:



          If I remember correctly, it was soon replaced by the Apple IIc.
          It was on the back of EVERY APPLE II and APPLE II+. NON DESCRIPT, it was just a connection to the mic and headphone jacks. There WAS a lot of software you could get on cassette tape too.

          Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Frank Ayres
    I also had a Sinclair ZX81 but without the expansion. i was about 12 and bought it with my birthday and pocketmoney cost me about £70 i think
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  • Profile picture of the author Scouser
    If you were a Commodore fan your usual progression would be C16, VIC20, C64, AMIGA 500, 1200.

    If you were a Speccy fan, you usually had a 48k, then a 128k, then the Atari ST.

    I can still remember in the playground they were the two separate 'gangs' and you had to be in either one.

    Unless you had a BBC Micro or an Amstrad - they were a different breed altogether. I think they're all MAC users now! They must have seen Windows coming before the rest of us!

    All of them were great machines in their day.

    Then along came the consoles - Sega and Nintendo. The rest is history as they say.

    The C64 is still the best selling computer of all time - so loved, that they've made an updated version!

    computerandvideogames.com/297256/news/commodore-64-is-reborn-new-system-out-june/
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    • Originally Posted by Scouser View Post

      The C64 is still the best selling computer of all time - so loved, that they've made an updated version!
      Our first console, and we were so excited about it! That was probably 35 years ago, at least.



      Sounds like 'seasoned' would be the only one here who might remember this one. I believe it was the first video game ever, to my knowledge. And yes, Pong was the only game you could play on it.
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by Bradley J Anderson View Post

        Sounds like 'seasoned' would be the only one here who might remember this one. I believe it was the first video game ever, to my knowledge. And yes, Pong was the only game you could play on it.
        Well, I probably saw it. I certainly remember PONG. My first computer game actually had like 16 games. ALL were simple black and white, and one WAS PONG. Another one was similar. Oh, and some restaurants had PONG!

        Steve
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      • Profile picture of the author ReikiGirl
        Originally Posted by Bradley J Anderson View Post

        Our first console, and we were so excited about it!



        Sounds like 'seasoned' would be the only one here who might remember this one. I believe it was the first video game ever, to my knowledge. And yes, Pong was the only game you could play on it.

        And amazing that 'seasoned' would remember this considering that he's just 26 years old I think?
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        • Originally Posted by edakehurst View Post

          TRS 80 with floppy drive and a cassette drive. LOL!
          Nice! I haven't seen or even thought about one of those in years.
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        • Profile picture of the author seasoned
          Originally Posted by ReikiGirl View Post

          And amazing that 'seasoned' would remember this considering that he's just 26 years old I think?
          WHERE did you get THAT idea? I am like TWICE that age! I was born in the sixties when pinball actually had a pin of sorts, and a ball! Computers were HUGE! That is probably one reason why DEC got SO large SO fast! They were maybe the first to have a nice computer that only took up part of a small room. My first calculator was HUGE! It wouldn't fit in your pocket, used LEDs, and had only +-*/, and I think sqrt. I don't even think it had memory(which then meant enough to hold ONE number!)! Think of it! NO CD! NO minifloppy, let alone microflopppy, NO cassette, NO 8 track, NO VCR, NO microcomputer! Gee, in my early years I was lucky I got COLOR TV! And many shows were still B&W! When they were in color, they TOLD YOU like "Now in TECHNICOLOR"! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technicolor That wikipedia article makes it sound like it wasn't used in the 60s, but they PROMOTED IT! My first recorder was REEL to REEL! And YES folks, I got an 8 track tape player. The GE big mouth(as I recall, but many sites here called it loud mouth). It had a one chip amplifier that apparently overheated.

          http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedi...layer-80471136

          Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author lingo
    zx spectrum
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  • Profile picture of the author iphonesupport
    I bought my first computer in 2000. P3 celeron 600Mhz, 64Mb ram, 20gb hard disk
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    • Profile picture of the author Scouser
      It's not meant to be a lesson in BASIC!! That was my first ever program from the BASIC manual. I did learn loops - it took me a while to get my head around them at first! Next it was on to IFs and FORs and THENs and NEXTs. Then it really got confusing - I was only 5 years old don't forget! I was still learning English!
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      • Profile picture of the author edakehurst
        TRS 80 with floppy drive and a cassette drive. LOL!
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      • Profile picture of the author seasoned
        Originally Posted by Scouser View Post

        It's not meant to be a lesson in BASIC!! That was my first ever program from the BASIC manual. I did learn loops - it took me a while to get my head around them at first! Next it was on to IFs and FORs and THENs and NEXTs. Then it really got confusing - I was only 5 years old don't forget! I was still learning English!
        So was english your first language? BTW if and then go together. for and next go together as well. And MOST computer languages are english based, at least in MANY countries. I've been told that suchh countries include CHINA!

        Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author Scouser
    I fondly remember spending hours playing Pong! How easily were we pleased in them days? Some of us are showing our age!! (35)
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    • Profile picture of the author SergioFelix
      IBM PS/2 Model 50z

      VGA
      Hard Drive 30MB
      3.5'' floppy disk
      i286 @ 10MHz
      Memory 2Mb
      Mouse, Keyboard

      A few facts:
      • The keyboard was still functioning perfectly just 2 years ago (fastest spring keyboard I ever had)
      • The 3.5'' floppy was actually a bad thing in the beginning as in my programming school only 5.25'' floppies were used
      • Even though it was capable of running Windows 3.1 I preferred Norton Commander based on DOS or just DOS
      • If you burnt another 'hole' in a 3.5'' floppy and formatted that as HD, you would get a perfectly functioning HD floppy disk (at least on my machine)

      Really great computer at the time I had it ;-)
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  • Profile picture of the author kingrob84
    my first computer was a used computer and it was a phillup
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  • Profile picture of the author bertyounger
    Epson XT, 1 MB of RAM and 20MB hard drive with floppy drive and a lovely monochrome green monitor. Chucked it after a while but I do have a Toshiba T1200XT Laptop from 1987 that still works with the same specs. It's worth a whopping $90 compared to it's original list of $6499! Work with some old Tandys and an Apple II as well.
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    • Originally Posted by bertyounger View Post

      Epson XT, 1 MB of RAM and 20MB hard drive with floppy drive and a lovely monochrome green monitor. Chucked it after a while but I do have a Toshiba T1200XT Laptop from 1987 that still works with the same specs. It's worth a whopping $90 compared to it's original list of $6499! Work with some old Tandys and an Apple II as well.

      $6500!!!! It better still work! :rolleyes:
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      • Profile picture of the author bertyounger
        Originally Posted by Bradley J Anderson View Post

        $6500!!!! It better still work! :rolleyes:

        By the time it was handed down to me by my former company it was so old and obsolete I refused to use it! I told them I was sending it back and they told me to keep the damn thing rather than pay the shipping! Technology is like sushi, best served fresh!

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  • Profile picture of the author alcymart
    It was a Vic-20 here and about 6 months later a commodore 64.

    Bernard St-Pierre
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  • Profile picture of the author mattlaclear
    My first computer was a 3k memory Vic 20. My dad actually splurged and bought us the 5 k memory expander. It came with a cassette tape that we had to use as the hard drive. We loved that sucker though.
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  • Profile picture of the author traderbenji
    My parents splurged and bought me a pentium 100, can't remember the rest, I do remember we got a 28.8 modem which we upgraded to 56, and I could play the origional c&c on it, was very exciting 20 years ago or so
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  • Profile picture of the author TheFundingGuru
    Originally Posted by Scouser View Post

    Remember your first computer?

    I do. It was a Spectrum ZX81. It had 1K of memory and a touch-sensitive keyboard. I also had a 16K RAM Expansion Pack which I had to plug into the back. I think I must have about 5 years old and it must have cost my parents a lot of money at the time.

    It was brand new, boxed with all the manuals, leads etc. - everything you needed to join the new home computer revolution.

    All I knew was that I had to set it up, which I did.

    It blew me away. Give that to a kid now and watch them scoff in disgust and confusion. Me, I was captivated by it. I can still remember playing a text-based pacman on it. All coded in under 1k !! Then there was BASIC...

    10 PRINT "DAVID THORNE WAS HERE"
    20 GOTO 10

    DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
    DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
    DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
    DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
    DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
    DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
    DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
    DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
    DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
    DAVID THORNE WAS HERE
    ............

    Mind-Blowing! (Well, I was 5)

    I was hooked. Have been ever since. That computer and every one I've ever had since then hold's special memories for me (I'm have a ROM memory! Sometimes it's RAM!)

    I could go on and on about my other computers but this post would be so long! But you never forget your first.

    I just wish I had kept them all. They're like little babies that you don't want to grow up.....I know I haven't!

    So what did you 'break your cherry' on? What machine stole your computer virginity?
    Mine was the ZX81 then the spectrum.

    Different machines no?
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    • Profile picture of the author Scouser
      Well spotted Andrew - my mistake. It was actually the Sinclair ZX81, the predecessor to the Spectrum, I'm surprised no-one else noticed that!

      I have great memories of the Speccy, I had one before I got a C64. After reading the posts in this forum I've decided I'm going to download some emulators and spend a day playing some old classics for old times sake. Shame I haven't got a rubber keyboard for authenticity!
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  • Profile picture of the author awkwardgenius
    Here was mine:

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    I am not a survivor.

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  • Profile picture of the author sailor4528
    S100 bus system using Altair boards. 2 x 8" floppies, 180 kb per side. I built it from a kit which I bought from Comcen Computers in Swansea, Wales in 1979. 8kb of ram before I upgraded to 16 kb. I ran a small business on it using software which I developed myself in MS Basic.
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  • Profile picture of the author lauraca94
    it was a crappy old fat computer lol...:p cant remember pretty well
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  • Profile picture of the author Madruga
    It was an Intel486, or simply called a 486 PC. Being my first PC, I loved that computer so much that I will never forget when I made myself a tattoo on my chest. Jking, but I do remember very well those first days when I used to wake up 3 hours earlier and also go to sleep earlier, only to see that evolution made me go to sleep with 3 hours after my bed time and reaching full nights, and waking somewhere in the middle of the next day xD
    Anyway, this was years ago when I used to be just a kid who was over excited to play Mortal Kombat 2 or Wacky Wheels whenever I wanted to, without having to go anymore to Internet Cafes
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  • Profile picture of the author alina albert
    P III 10gb harddrive,64mb ram,500MHz Processor
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    • Profile picture of the author JamesCousineau
      My first computer was a Timex/Sinclair. I had even splurged for the additional 16K memory plug-in module

      Before that it was room sized computers with punch cards. Entry into the world of computers required an Honours Math degree from a University.

      Just dabbled with these new "toys" until we started our own promotional products advertising business and put in a bunch of Tandy 1000s. Got a real deal at $1500 each. The specialized software for our industry for these computers was $15,000. Even our new technology fax machine costs $5500, and hardly anybody was using fax yet - mostly our Canadian suppliers, not the U.S. Graphics software was so cumbersome that we still were using literal "cut and paste" for our artwork with exacto knives, hot wax and light tables. We had a $25,000 vertical camera for creating film (positives, negatives, and PMTs - for those who remember what that meant) to send away as camera ready artwork for client ad copy. We are talking 1980s here, and all of that was a lot of money!

      This was also pre-Internet as we know it. Only Bulletin Boards back then. LOL, "back then"! The courier services were booming and became the fastest means of communication for transporting artwork. Email and file transfer sure has changed all that.
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  • Profile picture of the author adyarnav
    i assembled it myself
    intel pentium
    64 mb ram
    and
    1 gb hdd

    it was the best at that time
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  • Profile picture of the author brendan9971
    Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer (also marketed as the Tandy Color Computer and affectionately nicknamed CoCo)
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  • Profile picture of the author bertyounger
    Ah, I remember the Trash-80 Model III so well! Good times!
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    • Profile picture of the author Tony_Brayley


      This was my first machine. Vic 20, datasette and later the expansion 16K pack which plugged into the back. I never really did much with this machine except play a game called "outpost".

      My first exposure to computers, however, was in Grade 9 math/computer class. We had this massive machine by the name of Wang (sounds kind of phallic except I don't think it even had a hard-drive, lol! ) It did have a computer card reader, though. I believe that was the only way of getting info. into the damn thing. Then it would spit out a bunch of paper from a tractor-feed, pin printer.

      This was in 1980. I am still not sure what I learned from that whole experience, except for....don't colour outside of the little squares or the machine will stop working!

      Good times! I remember the nerds in the class when they saw it for the first time. You'd swear they were going to have a group orgasm. The sounds they made were absolutely ridiculous!

      Well that's it for the trip down 16K-memory lane, lol.

      Cheers,

      Tony.
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  • Profile picture of the author iDebate
    My first computer was an Apple IIGS, but that was shared. My first personal computer was a Tandy Sensation at a super low price of $4,000 :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author JBorhez
    Ahhhh.....Atari.
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    • Profile picture of the author markreed757
      commodore 64 was my first computer and there was no getting online.

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  • Profile picture of the author dcrdomains
    The first one we got was an IBM PC JR and I spent long hours playing Zork!
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  • Profile picture of the author devonm
    My first computer was a Hewlet Packard Pavilion. It was a 20 gig HD 256 mb RAM. and a cd drive as well as a floppy drive with Windows 95. This was back in 1996. Those were the days. Had 56k internet. Our area had FREE internet at 56k for awhile.
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  • Profile picture of the author michalerikshaw
    it was just a P2
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  • Profile picture of the author Pauline60
    A Sinclair ZX81...and then great excitement when we got the Spectrum, it was amazing...you could play Scrabble on it!!! Then our friends got a BBC and we felt so left behind.
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  • Profile picture of the author CharityHutchison
    My first computer was an emachine that came with everything including a printer for 300$I was really excited about it then but now I would be like eww--it has a HUGE monitor.Now I have an HP.

    Charityjh
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  • Profile picture of the author bertyounger
    It's funny but my most expensive computers was the first one I bought for about $1500, the 8088 XT. I haven't spent anywhere need that amount in the past 20 plus years. Obviously, I don't buy Macs for that reason!
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  • Profile picture of the author LinkbaitGenerator
    Spectravideo SVI-738

    Oh gawd...how embarrassing
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  • Profile picture of the author liza86
    My first computer was pentium 3 and very pathetic.
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  • Profile picture of the author HorseStall
    The first computer I ever worked on was an Apple 2e.

    The first computer I ever owned was an IBM XT.
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  • Profile picture of the author dagaul101
    The Amstrad 6128 will foever bring fond memories
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  • Profile picture of the author kiddoman
    It is not a long time for me to know computer! Anyway, you really know computer well! I learn a lot from this!
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  • Profile picture of the author hireava
    Oh my, can't remember what my first computer is. But the evolution of computer today is way way better than before.
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  • Profile picture of the author asbestosperth
    486dx 200mb of storage. I was very jealous when my mate got a whole 1000gb of storage a year or two later.
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