oberon

What was your first computer, and approximate date you started using it? Also please state your age for reference purposes.

I'm 21, and the first computer I used was a Commodore 64, in late 1986. The games for that were awesome!

They've certainly come a long way since then.

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Antagony

Ah come on, you can't count playing games as using a computer! Especially not at the age of 4.

I too am 21.

Although I was also probably playing on a Commodore64 at the same time as you were, I'll say the first time I really *used* a computer was the age of 6 or 7. I believe it was a 286 IBM PC.

I sure did crash that thing a lot, but in the same rite I learned to recover my crashes so that my parents wouldn't kill me.

Ah, those were the days.

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Johnny Rotten

My first computer was a Commodore 64. First computer I actually owned was a Pentium 166. I'm 24.

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oberon

antagony:
What do you consider "using" them? I think a lot of gamers wouldn't appreciate your opinion.

The truth is I really did play games on a C64 when I was about 4. They were mostly educational games, like Carmen Sandiego. Some action games and stuff like that.

But if you want something that's more "real", I programmed my first QBASIC game in DOS 5.0 in 1988-1989 ... it was a weird version of Hangman, I think. This was on an IBM PS/2 with a 386sx/15 or something like that.

Those computers never crashed for me...

And yeah, those were the days...

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Ambition

I guess I'm a cookie-cutter person just like everyone else. I started with a C64. Then a handful of years later moved up to a 386/20 ... I think with 4M of RAM.

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wraithhibn

I'm almost 21, and the first one I remember owning was a 386-16 that cost 3000.

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Crimson

Amstrad CPC 464 - Loading games off a tape since 1990

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Snowman

im 17 and started with a p166 64megs of ram(alot back then) and windows 95

i dont think i found porn on the internet till i got my K6/2 500

DJ Teac

My first Computer was one of the first 133mhz, im 18 know (19 in 2 weeks )

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labob

My first computer was a Commodore 64 w/1541 floppy drive & dotmatrix printer. The deal set my parents back $1200 @ the federated group. The promise my sister and I made to my parents was "it'll improve our grades, honest" I don't know about our grades, but I did teach myself BASIC, and learned very quickly that I wasn't born to be a programmer.
I did become a lifelong fan of Microprose & Sid Meier (Acrojet, Gunship, Airborne Ranger, etc....)

Ah, those were the days. BTW, I'm 32

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ToiletDuck

1980, was 9 years old, dad bought an Atari 400, loading games off a tape deck, who thought it could get any better.

juanvaldes

Apple ]['s in Kindergarden. Educational game and typing and stuff.

First hand-me-down was a LC III, but my first bought computer was a PowerMac dual 450 back in 2000.

XHydralisk

I remember in elementary school, we used to play oregon trail on some macs: I don't even remember what they where.

It was "advanced" as graphics went back then.

The_Dude

my first one that i owned is one i'm using now.

yes, it's shitty

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Rinndalir

1989, I was 11 and my dad brought home a 1986 IBM 286 from his job, they got brand new machines so they let him have it. All steel case that weighed at least 50lbs, orange monochrome monitor, 5 1/4" drive, 5 mhz (or was it 10, too long ago ) processor, DOS 3.2...oh yeah...it's sitting in a closet at my parent's house, and it still worked last time I checked.

Best thing about it was the Model M "clicky" keyboard that came with it, which I am STILL USING TO THIS DAY.

scapegoat

Ohh hell ya.. Those where the days Oregon Trail on our Schools first computers, Apple ][e's

My first home computer was probably a Tandy 386 if i remember correcly

merkerguitars

First computer I used was an Apple IIGs...color screen man...no hard drive...everything ran off of 3.5 of 5.25 floppys. Then my parents "rented" a 386 that had dos 6.22 on it....they joys of command prompt then we bought a packard bell with a 486 dx processor and 64mb of ram and a 2 gig hard drive with windows 3.1 that was the shit.....and then eventually upgraded it to windows 95

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GreasyP

I'm 21, too. Didn't have a C64, though--my buddy had one, and I was always insanely jealous. We'd play on it for hours. My first computer was even older (I think), it was an IBM XT compatible with QD-DOS. My dad took it from his work in '84 or '85, when I was 2 or 3. I must have started being a nerd very young, because I wrote BASIC programs on it even back then.

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Binder

i'm 35 now. i was about 12 and my first computer was a vax, well not really, i had a vt52 terminal and a 300baud coupler modem and dialed into a vax.

my first pc was a 286 clone i think i was about 16

Zotz

My first was a Commodore Plus 4 in 1985. At the time, I thought it was an upgraded C-64. It turned out to be nothing more than a glorified word processor that wouldn't run C-64 apps. I finally got the C-64 in 1986 though and loved it.

ChipX86

TRS-80 CoCo Model 1. I wish I still had it I learned to program on that thing.

Cynthetiq

I'm 34.

I started on an Apple II+, 48k base with a 16k upgrade.. started with tape player and a 5 1/4. Had friends with Atari 400/800 and we all learned different things with programming from sprites to player missle graphics. My mentor was the guy who wrote Buck Rodgers for the Apple.

I went on to make games for Disney in the late 80's. Working with the guy who did the arcade stand up Star Trek, on his team we made.Dick Tracy, Aracnophobia, Ducktales, Mickey's ABC's, Donald's Alphabet chase and a few others.

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suisidesyco

im 13 so i have the luck to have a windows 95 pc and i started to use it the night i got it. it was a extremely fast 33mhz computer (sarcasm), 100mb and 16 mb of memory not bad comparing to some of yours.

KillerYoda

I'm 20 and I think my first was an Apple II when I was in elementary school. Pretty much the Oregon Trail and Silent Service were the only things I could run on that thing.

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DEI37

My first unit was a C-64...must have been nine or ten when we got it. I'm 25 now. First PC was a 486-DX2/50MHz with 4MB RAM, and a 420MB hard drive. Had Windows for Workgroups 3.11. My main rig now is an Athlon 1200 with 512MB PC2100 DDR, and a 20GB hard drive all running WinXP. I've had it for about two years now.

WildZero

Comodore VIC-20
It had a 6502A processor running at 1.0227 MHz and 5KB of RAM.
I remember typing out games in BASIC and saving them on a cassette tape.

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Empty_One

I'm 30, and the first computer I used was an Apple ][ that my elementary school had. I did programing on it, learning from that wonderful magazine Home Computing.

The first one I bought, I bought used, and totally got ripped off. When I was 19 (1992) I bought a 286 from some guy at my mom's work. Paid something like 1100 for it. Man was it a piece of shit.

a1t3r3g0

Hmm.. first computer I used was probably in 1989... but I cannot remember what the heck it was! I was 5 years old at the time. Yep! 5!

440sixpack

First computer of any kind I owned was an Apple IIc compatible called the Laser 128. This would have been around 1987 or so (I was 16 at the time). First PC was in January 1994, a 486-DX2 66MHz w/8MB RAM, 400MB HDD, and a Diamond Viper VLB video card. All for just $2940.

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GreasyP

Doesn't anybody else see a problem here?

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kipperoo3

I'm 20, any my first computer was a Mac LC-II. It was pretty cool for the time (~1992) and it cost my mom almost a grand. I remember it had 256 colors, and about a year after I got it I upgraded it with a 1x external cd-rom and speakers. It was the shit.

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i8one2

A new in the box MATTEL AQUARIUS 2


When the Keyboard Component project was canceled, Mattel searched in a hurry to produce a small and cheap computer. They contacted Radofin Electronics Far East, based in Honk-Kong, who was manufacturing most of the Intellivision products. Radofin had just developped a line of three Z80 based computers. Mattel decided to sell the two first under their brand. The Aquarius 1 and 2 were born.

The Mattel Aquarius uses a special version of the Microsoft Basic. When it is used with basic, only 1.7 KB are available.

There were no redefinable characters, but 256 predefined were available : 128 ASCII (numerals, upper and lower case alphabet, punctuation, symbols) and 128 graphic patterns. That was the only "graphical" features of the Aquarius !

Unfortunately the specifications were so poor for a 1983 computer, that the Aquarius "1" litteraly bombed. Three months after its release, Mattel decided to cancel the project and to sell back the rights and stocks to Radofin.

Radofin continued to sell Aquarius 1 & 2 under its own name, but without success...

Cool addons were developped for the Aquarius, but never made it to the shelves (apparently). There were a Master Expansion Module equiped with disk-drives and expansion slots for future addons. It even offered the CP/M compatibility !

Another sympathetic extension was the Home Computer System Command Console which allowed the Aquarius to directly control up to 255 electric devices. But when the computers is used with this extension, it can't be used for anything else !

There were also a Modem planned and Mattel even announced network services for games and programs downloads...




NAME AQUARIUS
MANUFACTURER Mattel Electronics
TYPE Home Computer
ORIGIN U.S.A.
YEAR 1983
BUILT IN LANGUAGE Specific Microsoft Basic interpreter
KEYBOARD Rubber type. 49 keys
CPU Zilog Z80A
SPEED 3.5 mHz
RAM 4 kb (up to 16 kb), 1,7k free for user
ROM 8 kb
TEXT MODES 40 x 25
GRAPHIC MODES 80 x 72, 320 x 192
COLORS 16
SOUND 1 voice
SIZE / WEIGHT 34,5(W) x 15(D) x 5,5(H) cm.
I/O PORTS Tape, Printer, Bus
POWER SUPPLY External power supply (12v)
PERIPHERALS Thermic printer and plotter (1200 bauds)
Tape-recorder (600 bauds)
Mini-expander addon
RAM expansions (4k & 16k)
Master expansion module & disk-drives (vaporware)
Home Computer System

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oane

Mine was a PC-xt or something.

Wow, we have come a long way!

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sngx1275

C64, it was all decked out. Tape drive, disk drive, printer, burned through several joysticks.

Then next computer was a Macintosh SE/30

Then the first computer I actually bought myself was a P2 300 HP.

Now I got one I built with an ASUS mobo, 512megs of ram, 50x cd, 4x4x24 cdrw (haha yeh its slow), 12x DVD, 30 gig, 60 gig, 80gig, all 7200 rpm 80 gig is ATA 133, the others are ATA100. Old GF2MX classic 32meg. 19" crappy mag monitor, epson stylus 760 printer. think thats about it.

Spungfoo

My first one was a C64 which I hardly ever used except to use some crude painting program and play some fishing game. I'm kicking myself now for getting rid of it as a teenager. (I still have the mouse from it, oddly enough) My next one back in '98 was an HP 8485z... 450 Pentium 3 cpu, 96 mb RAM, 12 gig hard drive, integrated ATI rage video card. Served me well for about a year then everything went to hell... I'm still using the keyboard from it though. Built my own after that.

suisidesyco13

i know its a problem im wasting my life away but i dont care and sorry about the other username my stupid cousin made it.

chodarama

Apple IIc, but I don't remember the year. Anybody remember playing Karateka?

zfleebin

IBM PS1

tgg7979

Thats not what hes talking about

SecretMethod70

First computer I USED was a 486 around the time I was in 6th grade (94/95) - it had a dot matrix printer

First computer I OWNED is this one I'm using right now. Started using it after I built it in August of 2001.

I am 20.

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