Your first (few) non-PC and PC computers

[lordkenmore]

What is perhaps surprising is how long it took for the 8 bit machines to completely vanish. I know Apple was still making Apple II machines into the 90s, and apparently the Commodore C64 was around into the 90s as well.

Although I suppose there still was a market. Some people probably bought not knowing any better. ("I know my brother bought one of these in 1983! It must be good!") There would be some sales because of legacy software--schools probably helped keep the Apple II series alive. One option for the Macintosh LC was an expansion board that was basically an Apple IIe. The idea was that schools could migrate to a Mac, but have access to all the software they'd bought.

I suppose another aspect keeping 8 bit machines alive might have been price--a cheap way of getting a computer, even if it was horribly out of date. Ironically, if I were the person I am now back when I got my first computer, and if I had taken a realistic view of my actual needs, I might well have ended up with an 8 bit machine. The Mac was fun--but a Laser 128 (Apple II compatible) with AppleWorks (which I had some experience with) would have been "good enough" for the bulk of my school work.

 

[whirlcool]

That Apple //c I had with Appleworks did just about everything I could want it to do. And it was pretty quick too. It did fine logging into local BBS systems which were all the rage back then. If it hadn't been stolen in 1986, I might well have had it into the 90's. I paid almost $3,000 for the complete system & software and I wanted to get the best use out of my money!

I think this is why people kept their computers way longer was that they made large financial investments in them and wanted to get the most out of them.

Usually a need precipitates an upgrade in computer systems. A lot of MS-DOS users migrated to Windows when the Internet came along. Then when USB came out, people moved on to Windows 98, and so forth. When their computer can't do something they want it to do, people generally wait until then to upgrade.

 

[volsboy1]

My first home computer was a Apple 2 and that is what I grew up with because my Dad and Mom love Apple everything.I think it has to do with my Dads work.My Mom used them at the firm but, Dad being a Marketing exec everything is Apple.I hate Apple, Dad bought me a Powerbook for Xmas and it drives me nuts.I build all my P.C.s from the ground up and you can't do that with a Mac and everything cost's so much more just being a Mac,I told Dad that I could have a full blown gaming Laptop for what he paid for that Powerbook with change,he still tries to convert me either STR8 or a Mac user.My P.C. that I just got done with has a Amd Fx 8150 with a Asus Sabertooth with 24 gigs Corsair and two Nivida 580 S.L.I. cause I game alot, I have Windows installed on a 128 gid SSD Hardrive  my other H.D. are in a Raid array.I have always been a A.M.D. fan I paid 210 bucks for a 8 core processor cause Intel well the processor I wanted was over a 1000 bucks.The price for hardrives has went through the roof.I bought 4  Hitachi Hardrives last year two 2 T.B. and 2 1 T.B. and I think I got them all around 380 bucks.Well after that Earthquake in Japan they have had a supply problem I have seen a 1 TB Hitachi for 350 bucks now.I think it's all a load of crap though.I think that sense Western Digital bought Hitachi Hardrive business and Seagate bought Samsung they are going to keep prices high.I love SSD Drives though love the instant on no wait to boot and even though I have tons of ram Windows has to have it's  virtual memory.My Dad still has that Apple 2 and it works perfect he still tinkers with it.

 

[applianceguy47]

During the late 80s I had brochures for and really wanted an IBM computer.  The prices ranged from $2200 to $3600.

 

 

My first "real" computer  was in 1996.  I paid like $1300, plus the cost of a monitor and other peripherals for a total of $2000 at CompUSA. 

 

I remember how busy that store was. There was that buzz.  That 'its happening now and everyone wants it' buzz. 

A much different feeling that you would have got during the final years of CompUSA.

I had a hard time accepting that CompUSA was shutting their door in 2008.  They are still online and have a few stores in Florida, I've heard.  whatever.

 

So a Packard Bell XCRAP666.  After 30 days, AND I HADN'T EVEN BEEN ONLINE YET, the machine melted down.  Had been using it for money management and word processing.

No customer service. horrible.

I was mad.

I took it back and got a BOL IBM which I kept until 2008.  That was a good machine. 

 

Can you believe how far we have come with computers and all the changes that it has afforded our world? 

 

 

[whirlcool]

I am surprised more people here haven't said they owned a Packard-Bell at one time or another. They were very ubiquitous. It seemed that they were everwhere from about 1986 through the 90s.

Then one day I noticed that stores no longer stocked them. Gone. Totally. I found that they didn't shut the company down, but just withdrew from the US market. They were still available in other parts of the world. See link.

They even have laptops now. Anyway, the company had an interesting history to say the least!

[this post was last edited: 4/20/2012-20:09]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packard_Bell

 

[DADoES]

 
Atari 800 with 48K RAM, circa 1982.  Had the cassette drive at first, soon added the model 810 5-1/4" diskette drive.  Then the 1027 letter-quality impact printer.  Did some minor BASIC programming.  Submitted a program to graph trig functions on-screen to Atari Program Exchange (shareware) but it wasn't accepted for publication.

Set up bookkeeping at work in 1984 on an 800XL with 1050 diskette drive and 1025 dot-matrix printer (a rebadged Okidata).  Used Atari Bookkeeper, AtariWriter, and VisiCalc.  Found a parallel adapter a couple years later which allowed upgrading to a real Oki printer (which was a large improvement over the unidirectional 1025).  Also switched to SynCalc and added its companion SynFile+.  Used the system until 1989.

Have had a multitude of PC/clones since then.  Currently have 7 PCs in the house.  Three are used regularly, of which two run 24/7.  One needs to be tossed out.  One needs to go to work.  Remaining two need to find a purpose.

 

[applianceguy47]

Allen,

 

I must have been just at the end of their run.  When I returned to CompUSA, they said that there were a lot of problems getting service, and they didn't give me any problems in making the return.

 

 

[this post was last edited: 4/21/2012-01:06]

 

[whirlcool]

When I returned to CompUSA, they said that their were a lot of problems getting service and they didn't give me any problems in making the return.

Was that a Packard-Bell you returned?

 

[applianceguy47]

yes

 

I can't say for sure, but I don't think they were carrying them after that.

 

[qualin]

We used to call Packard Bell machines, "Packard Hell" machines, because they tended to use bottom of the line components, they cut costs everywhere and were notoriously unreliable.

Customers used to call in with these machines because they used a "Softmodem" which emulated the modem using the soundcard, didn't work worth a damn.

The only machines I can think which were worse were the IBM Aptiva machines..

Now, Acer seems to be filling in that gap.....

 

[lordkenmore]

Packard Bell sort of interested me years back because I then thought it was Packard Bell (that is, the old time radio company). Now I know better--indeed, these days, I see many "old" names and, unless I know for certain otherwise, think it's possible that it's some other company that has bought the rights to the name for a given product line.

Even though they had a bad reputation, I think I have seen some machines survive and turn up in thrift stores. And years back, I knew someone who used one in her business. She spent so much time using a computer that if it hadn't worked acceptably, I doubt it would have survived.

 

[tolivac]

Used to have a Commodore Vic20 years ago-remember typing all of the instructions into it-and if it wasn't right-the program didn't work and you had to type the commands over.Mine didn't have the casssette player.Bought mine from a freind used-he didn't like using it-then sold the Vic20 to a collector-got more than I paid for it.
Remember Packard Bell was a Hi -Fi console maker-and nice ones at that-think they made a MISTAKE going into the computer biz.they should have stayed with Hi-Fi.and remember folks calling their computers "Packard Hells".Last time I saw those they were on a closeout table at Circuit City-being sold "As is" with no warrantee or anything.Left them.Oh yes-think Packard Bell made Tv's at one time,too.

 

[circlew]

Packard-Bell stereos and TVs were frequently seen as prizes on "Let's Make a Deal".

 

[lordkenmore]

"Customers used to call in with these machines because they used a 'Softmodem' which emulated the modem using the soundcard, didn't work worth a damn."

And I thought "Winmodems" took the prize for the worst idea ever. (Note for those who don't know: these were minimal modems, that, I understood, made the computer do more work. The problem that irritated me was the needed software was often Windows only, which made them hard to use for those of us who,like some housekeepers, refuse to do Windows.)

"Now, Acer seems to be filling in that gap....."

Is Acer a problematic brand now?

 

[lordkenmore]

"Used to have a Commodore Vic20 years ago-remember typing all of the instructions into it-and if it wasn't right-the program didn't work and you had to type the commands over."

I remember that little problem from computer programming class in high school. I think that class did a lot to improve my typing!

I even see it today. I am not a computer geek, but I do sometimes use a terminal emulation program in which one can type various commands. If one gets one letter wrong, it just doesn't work.

 

[qualin]

I would say that Acer doesn't make the most expensive computers in the world and leave it at that.

 

[lordkenmore]

Acer doesn't make the most expensive computers

Well, cost guarantees nothing, except the price one pays. There are, in general, cheap products that are horrible, and cheap products that are acceptable and sometimes even embarrass far more expensive products.

Still, I get the point.

I, myself, have only seen Acer laptops in stores. I have played with them, and consistently have gone away feeling that they really aren't a product that I could live with. Biggest gripe: the flimsy feeling keyboards. I also hate the mirror like screens. But, to be fair, these problems are not unique to Acer. They are present in just about everything cheap. For that matter, some laptops are even worse.

 

[whirlcool]

The only machines I can think which were worse were the IBM Aptiva machines..

WE had a friend who bought a IBM Aptiva machine with Windows 95 loaded. He upgraded the memory and bought a copy of Win 98 to upgrade the system. He loaded it, everything seemed to go fine. But when you rebooted the machine, all you got was a black screen. I tried to reload it, but never could get it to work.

Since the machine was only about a year old at the time we called IBM tech support.
I was astonished when the tech told me that this machine would only run Windows 95.
He said it can't run Windows 98 or anything else because the motherboard is not compatible with those versions.

A few days later I called IBM tech support myself and was told the same thing.
What a waste of money!

 

[whirlcool]

IBM sure went from being the PC industry leader in PC's to the bottom in a few short years, didn't they. Personally, I think someone mismanaged the hell out of the PC division. But the Thinkpad series of laptops were great machines. They were almost indestructible! Then they went ahead and sold the entire thing to Lenovo.

 

[lordkenmore]

IBM sure went from being the PC industry leader in PC's

I don't know the full IBM PC history, but from what I know, I question if IBM really ever was a real leader. At least with desktop computers. A story I heard was that IBM basically created the IBM PC by flinging parts off the shelf together. Which was why the IBM compatible was so easy to make.

Although the Aptiva that can't be upgraded to Windows 98 probably does set the lowest low!

All this said, I'm currently using an IBM desktop, bought used for next to zero last fall. It has been quite acceptable, although I wouldn't go out of my way to buy the same computer again.