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The W - One Question... - What was your first computer? (Page 2)
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BigSteve
Pepperoni








Since: 23.7.04
From: Baltimore, MD

Since last post: 6276 days
Last activity: 6004 days
#21 Posted on | Instant Rating: 2.92
About 11 or 12 years ago I got an IBM PS/2 for my birthday. That was quite a machine. I think it ran off of MS-DOS and had Windows 3.1 installed. I can still remember having to use that stupid command prompt thing on DOS and always forgetting what the specific titles were for each of my programs. The main use for this computer was gaming. I remember having Commander Keen, Duke Nukem, Wolfenstein, and quite a few others.
Ffej
Boudin rouge








Since: 15.1.02
From: Flatwoods, KY

Since last post: 5757 days
Last activity: 4066 days
#22 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.71
My first was the Atari 800XL that came with a big book of programming and a Choplifter Cartridge. Then we got a Commodore 64 and I played mad Hangman off the cassette tape drive.

(edited by Ffej on 8.9.05 1234)


Ffej- The 2005 NCAA "W" Tourney Pick 'Em Champion
spf
Scrapple








Since: 2.1.02
From: The Las Vegas of Canada

Since last post: 3060 days
Last activity: 395 days
#23 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.57
    Originally posted by Cerebus
    My first computer was a Texas Instruments TI99/4A (old-computers.com). I had some games with it. The ones I can remember off hand are MUNCHMAN which was a PAC-MAN ripoff and PARSEC which was a STARGATE DEFENDER ripoff. I also had this shooting game where there were two guys on each side of the screen and you controlled one of them trying to shoot the other. you dodged bullets by ducking beneath a tree.

    You could program in BASIC with it. I even remember my very first program.

    010 CLEAR SCREEN
    020 PRINT "Dad is a jerk!"
    030 END
    RUN

    ...He WAS a jerk, too, because I didn't get the Speech Synthesizer which would have made this program all the better.

That pretty much sums up my first computer experience. Same computer, same BASIC programming, same awful games that seemed so awesome at the time. I just remember being able to save my basic programs by hooking up a tape recorder to the computer.



bash91
Merguez








Since: 2.1.02
From: Bossier City, LA

Since last post: 4233 days
Last activity: 2091 days
#24 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.41
    Originally posted by cranlsn
    With all the games and hardware available now, I still think M.U.L.E. and the text based adventures were some of the best games I've ever played.


For the longest time, I thought those were the only purpose for the ugly Commodore 128 in the family room. I still have a soft spot in my heart for the wonderful world of Irata and trying to get back to the store after foolishly trying to prospect a 3rd square.

Tim



Vocatus atque non vocatus, Deus aderit. -- Erasmus
BigSteve
Pepperoni








Since: 23.7.04
From: Baltimore, MD

Since last post: 6276 days
Last activity: 6004 days
#25 Posted on | Instant Rating: 2.93
Slightly off-topic but since old and crappy but still excellent video games have been mentioned, I wasn't the only person here to have played Oregon Trail, was I? Perhaps I'm overstating it's popularity outside of my six year old realm.
samoflange
Lap cheong








Since: 22.2.04
From: Cambridge, MA

Since last post: 3806 days
Last activity: 3798 days
#26 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.73
    Originally posted by BigSteve
    Slightly off-topic but since old and crappy but still excellent video games have been mentioned, I wasn't the only person here to have played Oregon Trail, was I? Perhaps I'm overstating it's popularity outside of my six year old realm.


It was part of a required computer class when I was in 5th grade. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego was part of the same class in 6th grade.

At some point we also had Yukon Trail, but I recal Oregon being a far superior experience, mostly due to being able to hunt buffalo.



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RAW Satire - 03.14.2005
Mr. Boffo
Scrapple








Since: 24.3.02
From: Oshkosh, WI

Since last post: 3886 days
Last activity: 3847 days
#27 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.12
    Originally posted by BigSteve
    Slightly off-topic but since old and crappy but still excellent video games have been mentioned, I wasn't the only person here to have played Oregon Trail, was I? Perhaps I'm overstating it's popularity outside of my six year old realm.

No way. I remember all those MECC games. Oregon Trail, Odell Lake, Number Munchers, Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? They were all awesome.

I remember you'd get near the end of Oregon Trail, and you'd have to decide if you wanted to go down the river (while avoiding the rocks, of course) or pay to use the toll road. Or when someone in your party would die of cholera with absolutely no notice. Good times...



In the real world, WWE believes that no matter what our race, religious creed or ethnic background in America, we all share the common bond of being Americans. American-Arabs are a part of the fabric of America, and they should be embraced by all of us.

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Last updated August 23rd, 2005
tarnish
Landjager








Since: 13.2.02
From: Back in the Heart of Hali

Since last post: 569 days
Last activity: 9 hours
#28 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.03

An Apple ][+ in 1981. This was followed by a ][e in '83 and my Dad picked up a //c for himself the next year (and got hisself one of the half-height fold-up monochrome LCD screens to go with it, making it truly "portable").

We upgraded to the //e "platinum" or whatever it was called when those came out in '85 and then ditched that for the glory that was the IIgs ("Woz Edition") in '86.

Dad got his first Mac a few years later. Yes, I grew up an Apple whore. Someday I'll be one again, I'm sure; once the Intel Macs arrive (with corresponding price cuts, I hope), my fiancee will definitely be getting a Mac.




/tarnish...

Buggrit, buggrit, Millenium Hand & Shrimp!
HairRaiser
Kishke








Since: 13.1.03
From: S. Attleboro, MA

Since last post: 6045 days
Last activity: 5380 days
#29 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.15
TRS-80, old gray case with the near impossible to push keys and 16K RAM. I got that one because it was the same type as the computer class at my middle school used. Actually, it was the teacher's with a whopping 4K of RAM. He was jealous... :-)

Unfortunately that machine and my CoCo 3 didn't follow me to Mass when I moved to get married.



March 22, 2004 - Finally the WotD!
BOSsportsfan34
Pepperoni








Since: 2.1.03
From: MA

Since last post: 1381 days
Last activity: 1380 days
#30 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.84
Mine was a Pentium 60 with 32MB of RAM. Pretty sad by todays standards.





"UUUUUHHHHHHHH....UUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHUHHH..."
bash91
Merguez








Since: 2.1.02
From: Bossier City, LA

Since last post: 4233 days
Last activity: 2091 days
#31 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.07
    Originally posted by BOSsportsfan34
    Mine was a Pentium 60 with 32MB of RAM. Pretty sad by todays standards.


That's it, I'm old

The first computer I ever used was a TRS-80 in a computer class for the G&T section which meant we played a lot of some weird Star Trek simulation and learned how to program infinite loop pictures.

My first computer was a Commodore 64 with both floppy and tape drives and a copy of M.U.L.E. (pc.ign.com). I also remember a really primitive word processing program whose name escapes me and a daisy wheel printer with interchangeable wheels for different fonts. It also provided me with an entrance into the world of CRPG's with the first of the great SSI Dungeons and Dragons games, The Pool of Radiance (gamebanshee.com). It's been onwards and upwards ever since.

Tim



Vocatus atque non vocatus, Deus aderit. -- Erasmus

All others things being equal, the simplest solution is usually stupidity. -- Darwin Minor
Mr. Boffo
Scrapple








Since: 24.3.02
From: Oshkosh, WI

Since last post: 3886 days
Last activity: 3847 days
#32 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.12
Ours was a second-hand PC with an 8086 processor, a 20 MB hard drive (that we figured we'd never use up), and a monochrome monitor (yellow and black). It had some simple games programmed in BASIC that I very much enjoyed playing.
AWArulz
Scrapple








Since: 28.1.02
From: Louisville, KY

Since last post: 90 days
Last activity: 90 days
#33 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.69
Mine was a Southwest Tech 6800 based system. It had a mighty, mighty 6k of memory and after I upgraded it to 28K it would run CP/M and Wordstar. I had to solder and wirewrap the new memory into it - and I had to initially put the four board together to make it work. Backed it up onto a casette at first, then I got an 8" floppy for it.

The first color and prepackaged PC I had was the Vic-20 - I LOVED that PC. It used the same floppy as the TRS-80. That was external, of course. It was HUGE.

My Palm pilot is more powerful than either of them. Crap, my phone (not a treo) probably is.

Feel better, Bash? I do too. Dr. Dirt's was an ENIAC.



(edited by AWArulz on 4.8.06 2225)

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We'll be back right after order has been restored here in the Omni Center.
Merc
Potato korv








Since: 3.1.02
From: Brisbane, Australia

Since last post: 4723 days
Last activity: 4702 days
#34 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.95
The first we owned as a family was a Vic 20 with a tape drive. Start loading the game, go play outside for 30 minutes and you're ready to go. I don't remember the name of the game, but you were a dashing swordsman in the desert. I also used to copy Basic programs from a book that made the screen change colours. WOW!
Oliver
Scrapple








Since: 20.6.02

Since last post: 3305 days
Last activity: 3299 days
#35 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.70
My first computer was a Commodore 64, as well...but we never had the tape drive; we had the 1541 disk drive! We were styling with that.\

We never had any of the carts that fit into the back of the keyboard unit, outside of the Fastload cart.

The funny thing about that system: the monitor made for an excellent gaming screen, outside of the size. My best friend has one and it STILL works.



Here, look at the monkey! Look at the silly monkey!
Kevintripod
Knackwurst








Since: 11.5.03
From: Mount Pleasant, Pa.

Since last post: 14 days
Last activity: 3 days
#36 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.19
Commodore 64.......I only used it to play games on.

My 2nd computer is the same one that I'm still using now (Gateway Performance 700).



"Oh it's on like Donkey Kong." - Stifler, American Wedding
Lise
Mrs. Guru








Since: 11.12.01

Since last post: 3081 days
Last activity: 2854 days
#37 Posted on | Instant Rating: 9.00
First Family: Timex Sinclair (we had the crazy ticker-tape printer even) but all I remember doing with it is playing Frogger on cassette.

First completely mine: 8088 with dot matrix printer I bought off of a BBS friend for $50
Karlos the Jackal
Lap cheong








Since: 2.1.02
From: The City of Subdued Excitement

Since last post: 3002 days
Last activity: 1957 days
#38 Posted on | Instant Rating: 8.00
Timex Sinclair 1000. I probably still have a cassette tape somewhere of games that I wrote to play on it.

(Aaaand that's pretty much all the programming I ever did.)

--K



Last 5 movies seen: Inside Man - V for Vendetta - The Devil Wears Prada - Tsotsi - Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working With Time
The Goon
Banger
Moderator








Since: 2.1.02
From: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Since last post: 853 days
Last activity: 831 days
#39 Posted on | Instant Rating: 8.08
    Originally posted by Merc
    The first we owned as a family was a Vic 20 with a tape drive. Start loading the game, go play outside for 30 minutes and you're ready to go. I don't remember the name of the game, but you were a dashing swordsman in the desert. I also used to copy Basic programs from a book that made the screen change colours. WOW!


This is pretty much my story word for word. I remember having to flip the tape over at times to continue loading some games. I ended up playing some Pac-Man knockoff most of the time.
spf
Scrapple








Since: 2.1.02
From: The Las Vegas of Canada

Since last post: 3060 days
Last activity: 395 days
#40 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.57
The first computer that I had was a TI-99. I remember typing out the long-ass programs in BASIC and putting them on tapes so that I could play Grizzly Quest or something like that. I also remember the games that you could buy for it, set up like cartridges for the Atari. You could customize things like the name of the teams in Football. I loved that computer.



Now I'll never be able to lead SPF's spfers! (The W)
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