What was the first computer you owned?

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RE: What was the first computer you owned? - pier4r - 12-19-2017 06:06 PM

Really vague memory of a 286 used the first time in the early 90' .

RE: What was the first computer you owned? - salvomic - 12-19-2017 06:09 PM

(12-19-2017 06:06 PM)pier4r Wrote: Really vague memory of a 286 used the first time in the early 90' .

I worked with 286 and then 386 in that time at home, sometimes with a NeXT (a NeXTcube) at work: black wonderful (and expensive) machine, then...

Digital Equipment Corp. Rainbow 100 - striegel - 12-19-2017 07:16 PM

I was able to buy it for a very good discount at the time because I was working for a DEC distributor. Its first hard drive was 5 MBytes.

It ran both CP/M 86/80 and MS-DOS. Originally I equipped it with an amber monitor but later I replaced that with a color monitor. This system could display 132 columns by 24 lines of text.

Over time I upgraded things to the point where it had an IBM-compatible 3.5-inch floppy drive, 20 Mbyte hard disk, a 286 processor with 287 floating-point co-processor, 1 MB RAM card, and a vertical floorstand.

Oh yes, it was running Windows version 3.0 using a serial Microsoft Mouse. (Although I don't have the computer any more, I still have that mouse).

For a while I was one of the top Rainbow technical experts in the country and DEC used to refer people to me for help.

Alan

RE: What was the first computer you owned? - mwthomasjr - 12-19-2017 09:16 PM

Atari 400 8bit PC

RE: What was the first computer you owned? - rprosperi - 12-19-2017 10:04 PM

(12-19-2017 07:16 PM)striegel Wrote: For a while I was one of the top Rainbow technical experts in the country and DEC used to refer people to me for help.

Alan

Alan, as a Rainbow user, do you recall a DOS text editor called SEDT, which was written by a DEC employee for both Rainbow as well as vanilla DOS machines?

As a user of DEC's EDT for many years, this was by far the best text editor for me (except TECO of course) and I used it for many, many years, and was eventually sad to see it not moved into Windows, etc.

I still have a copy of the docs and software intact... somewhere in one of 30+ boxes.

RE: What was the first computer you owned? - Marc van Lemmen - 12-19-2017 10:46 PM

My first computer was a Cosmac Elf II (1802 with 256 bytes) kit. Learned a lot making it and programming it. Then a TRS-80 level 1, and after that a ZX Spectrum. The last 'home' computer was an Atari 1040 STfm.

RE: What was the first computer you owned? - Steve Simpkin - 12-19-2017 11:24 PM

My first home computer was an Ohio Scientific Challenger 1P in 1979. It cost $350, had 4kB of RAM and came with Microsoft floating-point BASIC in ROM.
I still own it and it still works!
http://www.technology.niagarac.on.ca/people/mcsele/hobby/ohio-scientific-computers-series-600-challenger-1p-superboard/

RE: What was the first computer you owned? - Craig Bladow - 12-20-2017 12:46 AM

(12-19-2017 11:24 PM)Steve Simpkin Wrote: My first home computer was an Ohio Scientific Challenger 1P in 1979. It cost $350, had 4kB of RAM and came with Microsoft floating-point BASIC in ROM.
I still own it and it still works!
http://www.technology.niagarac.on.ca/people/mcsele/hobby/ohio-scientific-computers-series-600-challenger-1p-superboard/

I had one of those too, 4 kB RAM upgrade cost $79, you can get 4 GB of RAM for half that today!

RE: What was the first computer you owned? - John Smitherman - 12-20-2017 02:47 AM

Timex Sinclair 1000

RE: What was the first computer you owned? - Joe Horn - 12-20-2017 03:00 AM

TRS-80 Model II in 1979. Text-only B/W screen. 8-inch floppies. Z-80 processor.
[Image: trs80ii.jpg]

SEDT text editor - striegel - 12-20-2017 01:21 PM

(12-19-2017 10:04 PM)rprosperi Wrote: Alan, as a Rainbow user, do you recall a DOS text editor called SEDT, which was written by a DEC employee for both Rainbow as well as vanilla DOS machines?

As a user of DEC's EDT for many years, this was by far the best text editor for me (except TECO of course) and I used it for many, many years, and was eventually sad to see it not moved into Windows, etc.

I still have a copy of the docs and software intact... somewhere in one of 30+ boxes.

Absolutely! And I agree since I have been a VMS user since the early 1980's. The author of SEDT was Anker Berg-Sonne. I am certain that I was still using SEDT on Windows machines into the early 2000's. In fact, I kept on using LK450 keyboards for years because of SEDT and VT240 emulators.

SEDT no longer runs under my current Windows 10 64-bit operating system but it was compatible with Windows XP.

Alan

RE: What was the first computer you owned? - DA74254 - 12-20-2017 02:20 PM

My very first owned, as in bought, paid and set up myself (not self built) was a Commodore 12MHz 286 with the "new advanced type" 3 1/2" floppy, 40MB Hard disk and 1MB RAM. Running DOS 4.01, upgraded to 5.0

Since then, I've always built/assembled my own PC's and my latest as of now is an Asus Sabretooth Motherboard with a Cori i7 Hex-core Intel, running with 20GB RAM and a 2GB GPU (MSI), having a total of well over 20TB disks with a 180GB SSD for C-drive. Running Win10Pro Insider programme.
Used mainly for photo and video editing.

I also own and use a small Asus netbook with 32-bit Atom CPU and Win7 for my Arduinos and 3D-Printer (which I've hacked and thus not Win10 compatible), in addition to Connkit for the 49/50G's that won't run on my 64-bit PC's.

RE: What was the first computer you owned? - grsbanks - 12-20-2017 02:25 PM

(12-20-2017 02:20 PM)DA74254 Wrote: Connkit for the 49/50G's that won't run on my 64-bit PC's.

Interesting. I got them working on Windows 10 Pro 64 bit. You need to deactivate driver signature enforcement to install the HP USB driver.

RE: What was the first computer you owned? - DA74254 - 12-20-2017 02:46 PM

(12-20-2017 02:25 PM)grsbanks Wrote:
(12-20-2017 02:20 PM)DA74254 Wrote: Connkit for the 49/50G's that won't run on my 64-bit PC's.

Interesting. I got them working on Windows 10 Pro 64 bit. You need to deactivate driver signature enforcement to install the HP USB driver.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try that on my Dell "living-room-laptop" that runs (OEM) Win10Home when I get back from sea/work.

RE: What was the first computer you owned? - Etienne Victoria - 12-20-2017 03:12 PM

Ti-58C

RE: What was the first computer you owned? - SAllendorf - 12-21-2017 05:25 AM

(12-20-2017 01:21 PM)striegel Wrote:
(12-19-2017 10:04 PM)rprosperi Wrote: Alan, as a Rainbow user, do you recall a DOS text editor called SEDT, which was written by a DEC employee for both Rainbow as well as vanilla DOS machines?

As a user of DEC's EDT for many years, this was by far the best text editor for me (except TECO of course) and I used it for many, many years, and was eventually sad to see it not moved into Windows, etc.

I still have a copy of the docs and software intact... somewhere in one of 30+ boxes.
Absolutely! And I agree since I have been a VMS user since the early 1980's. The author of SEDT was Anker Berg-Sonne. I am certain that I was still using SEDT on Windows machines into the early 2000's. In fact, I kept on using LK450 keyboards for years because of SEDT and VT240 emulators.

SEDT no longer runs under my current Windows 10 64-bit operating system but it was compatible with Windows XP.

Alan

I started using SEDT in the mid-80s and licensed the source code in the early 90s. One of the first things I do on a new computer is get SEDT working. I still use it daily on the Unix-like systems at work (and home). Muscle memory...

-Scott

RE: What was the first computer you owned? - Giancarlo - 12-21-2017 08:36 AM

A second hand TI58C with leisure module.

The previous owner told me that he preferred the TI because HP logic was upside down.

I trusted him until i discovered the hp48. I Was never able to come back.

Giancarlo

RE: What was the first computer you owned? - jebem - 12-21-2017 02:07 PM

I owned a second hand Intel 8008 8-bit cpu development board that I got from one of my teachers at university in L.M. (now Maputo) in Mozambique, probably around 1975.

Then I owned a Sanyo MBC-1000 running CP/M on a Z80 processor, around 1980 or 82, can't remember.
Later on I acquired a Sanyo MBC-1150 and a MBC-1250 in mid 80's, bothy running CP/M. I sold them but kept the 1150 that have a dented keyboard and nobody wanted to buy it on eBay.

Also around early 80's I had quite a few Sinclair ZX81 and Spectrum machines as well. Great machines for experimentation at the hardware and firmware levels.

I will not mention my first programmable calculators here, as I see them as very specialized computers, and my understanding about what the OP is asking for is about general purpose computers.

RE: What was the first computer you owned? - rncgray - 12-21-2017 02:16 PM

Motorola D2 development board (6800) in 1979.

RE: What was the first computer you owned? - rprosperi - 12-21-2017 02:40 PM

(12-21-2017 05:25 AM)SAllendorf Wrote:
(12-20-2017 01:21 PM)striegel Wrote: Absolutely! And I agree since I have been a VMS user since the early 1980's. The author of SEDT was Anker Berg-Sonne. I am certain that I was still using SEDT on Windows machines into the early 2000's. In fact, I kept on using LK450 keyboards for years because of SEDT and VT240 emulators.

SEDT no longer runs under my current Windows 10 64-bit operating system but it was compatible with Windows XP.

Alan

I started using SEDT in the mid-80s and licensed the source code in the early 90s. One of the first things I do on a new computer is get SEDT working. I still use it daily on the Unix-like systems at work (and home). Muscle memory...

-Scott

Scott - did you by chance ever get it working on 64-bit Windows? Even after years away from it, I would be interested in using it again of possible.