Your first (few) non-PC and PC computers
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Mine Was a VIC-20 in 1982. Bought it at Service Merchandise.
It had the cassette drive and it was very reliable. I used to write sort routines using the cassette as "scratch pad" space.
Later I upgraded to the VIC-1541 floppy disk drive. That was a hoot.
In one of the classes I took in college we studied the 6502 processor (used in the VIC and many other early machines) I then created a memory expansion card.
The good ole days.
It had the cassette drive and it was very reliable. I used to write sort routines using the cassette as "scratch pad" space.
Later I upgraded to the VIC-1541 floppy disk drive. That was a hoot.
In one of the classes I took in college we studied the 6502 processor (used in the VIC and many other early machines) I then created a memory expansion card.
The good ole days.
gefilterflo
Well-known member
Mine was a "mini-tower" 3-foot tall Gateway 2000 486 66DX2 with 16MB of RAM, a Trinitron monitor and Windows 3.1 that I upgraded to 95b, next was an HP Pavilion 7125 P1 133, then a Celeron 400 Toshiba Satellite 2595CDS that still works, a Special Edition G3 iMac, then a 1.4GHz P4 Dell Dimension 4300s, then my current computer, another Satellite: A355-S6879.
autowasherfreak
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My first 3 computers were all Commodore Vic 20, C-64, and C-128. After that I bought a Magnavox IBM PC it had no hard drive just two 3 1/2 floppies. The first computer I ever used was a Apple IIe when I was in high school.
My first was a Vic 20 also. Learned computers in college on the Fortran systems. Finally, after several more to a Dell Optiflex that I have had for several years and still works fine but sometimes is slower than molasses. I know it needs more memory but I think my broadband service is not giving me the speed I should have. Sometimes it is fast, sometimes it is not.
Bob and David
I started to work in 1972 for GSI (mother company to TI. Was a programmer on the 827's and 870's then ASC's and TIMAP. Had some of the first calculators out, then the watches and the %I 00/4A. David like you had everything for it. I workjed in the houston Stafford plant until transferred to New Orleans. My team there worked on the automated statics for oil research.
Final project was with the
3d Horz stat for 3D modeling. with the down turn got laid off in 1986 but whoo hasn't been laid off from them.
TI's big problem wa they would not let other companies do outside probrams and TI using their own language.
TI also pushed to go with the asynconis driven insted of the clock driven
CPU's Beat the heck out of the early computers. ASC's were great systems.
Good and Bad memories of it all.
I started to work in 1972 for GSI (mother company to TI. Was a programmer on the 827's and 870's then ASC's and TIMAP. Had some of the first calculators out, then the watches and the %I 00/4A. David like you had everything for it. I workjed in the houston Stafford plant until transferred to New Orleans. My team there worked on the automated statics for oil research.
Final project was with the
3d Horz stat for 3D modeling. with the down turn got laid off in 1986 but whoo hasn't been laid off from them.
TI's big problem wa they would not let other companies do outside probrams and TI using their own language.
TI also pushed to go with the asynconis driven insted of the clock driven
CPU's Beat the heck out of the early computers. ASC's were great systems.
Good and Bad memories of it all.
Commodore VIC-20
Commodore 64
Packaged Hell, er Packard Bell
Dell Dimension XPS D300
Mac mini*
iMac*
MacBook Pro*
*still in use
Commodore 64
Packaged Hell, er Packard Bell
Dell Dimension XPS D300
Mac mini*
iMac*
MacBook Pro*
*still in use
@ Kevin - I love that your //e was sportin' the DuoDisk! I lusted after one of those in the worst ways.
Ben
Ben
applianceguy47
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1982, I was like 15.
$49 at JCPenny
Timex Sinclair 1000
It was the size of a standard book with a SMOOTH qwerty keyboard. Had like 0 memory. Used a standard TV as a monitor.
I was a kid and really didn't know a lot about them.
$49 at JCPenny
Timex Sinclair 1000
It was the size of a standard book with a SMOOTH qwerty keyboard. Had like 0 memory. Used a standard TV as a monitor.
I was a kid and really didn't know a lot about them.
applianceguy47
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and the printer used thermal paper and was the paper was the size and type one would use in a credit card receipt printer.
In fact, I think that is what happened with that type printer. It has like a 4" cord.
In fact, I think that is what happened with that type printer. It has like a 4" cord.
applianceguy47
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Then 6 months later...
Computer land
The Sinclair 2068
$150 or $200
and two weeks later, they no longer sold the line and Timex cancelled them. yeah.
Computer land
The Sinclair 2068
$150 or $200
and two weeks later, they no longer sold the line and Timex cancelled them. yeah.
applianceguy47
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The keyboard was more user friendly and I believe it had much larger memory of like, 12 bits.
They had cute little cartridges one could insert into the machine to play games and other programs. I think I had like 2 of the cartridges.
I can't remember what I did with these fine spectacles of technological advancement.
They had cute little cartridges one could insert into the machine to play games and other programs. I think I had like 2 of the cartridges.
I can't remember what I did with these fine spectacles of technological advancement.
but whoo hasn't been laid off from them.
So many of us used to joke over the years that if we held a "reunion" for all who had either left on their own free will, or not in "those" situations, the Astrodome and downtown convention center combined wouldn't be big enough to hold everyone lol.
So many of us used to joke over the years that if we held a "reunion" for all who had either left on their own free will, or not in "those" situations, the Astrodome and downtown convention center combined wouldn't be big enough to hold everyone lol.
the printer used thermal paper
Erik, I used to work with the man who designed, developed, and patented the thermal printhead. He was affectionjately referred to as the father of the thermal printhead. He was very humble about it--I didn't realize for over 15 years his significance, and it was a very major significance at the time of the development technologically for what new printing applications it oculd be used for as well for the corporation. What drove this development was the need for a 80 column printing device integral to a "portabe data terminal", it looked like a portable typewriter that one connnected to phone lines to upload, download, and process information for various applicatoins.
Erik, I used to work with the man who designed, developed, and patented the thermal printhead. He was affectionjately referred to as the father of the thermal printhead. He was very humble about it--I didn't realize for over 15 years his significance, and it was a very major significance at the time of the development technologically for what new printing applications it oculd be used for as well for the corporation. What drove this development was the need for a 80 column printing device integral to a "portabe data terminal", it looked like a portable typewriter that one connnected to phone lines to upload, download, and process information for various applicatoins.
58limited
Well-known member
This is a great thread. I had forgotten about my old TI computer and even now I am just remembering all of the components and the game cartridges that I had. I did not have the Peripheral Expansion box, just the memory expansion modules that plugged into the right side - everything plugged into the right side so this thing ended up about 3-4 feet long across the desk. The PE box fixed that problem.
Dad had a few patents (TI got the $$ of course) and it was interesting hearing him talk about what they designed. TI was run by engineers and designed a lot of great things, but often they sold the ideas or shelved them - the engineer mentality kicked in: the challenge and joy was creating new things and solving problems, once that was done they had a habit of moving on to the next project instead of going to market with what they had just completed from the 70s.
One project my dad worked on back in the 1980s that suffered this fate was a diagnostic system for cars: The car's computer system (new primitive stuff back then) would interface via infrared signals with a hand-held device held by the mechanic as the car was driven into the service bay. The hand-held device would send the codes to a "satellite" on the ceiling that was linked to a central computer and information was sent back to the mechanic's hand unit. By the time the driver exited the car the problem was known and parts were being pulled for the repair. Ford Motor Company was very interested in this system but TI lost interest - I can't remember if they sold the technology or just shelved it. This same basic technology can be seen all over today: automatic highway toll lanes, etc. TI lost out on a huge cash cow.
Dad also worked on defense contracts in the 1960s and 1970s. He worked on the SR-71 Blackbird and helped to develop smart bomb guidance systems among other things. Somewhere in the attic I have an old circuit board from a Tornado fighter and a few boxes of new integrated circuits.
[this post was last edited: 4/15/2012-11:37]
Dad had a few patents (TI got the $$ of course) and it was interesting hearing him talk about what they designed. TI was run by engineers and designed a lot of great things, but often they sold the ideas or shelved them - the engineer mentality kicked in: the challenge and joy was creating new things and solving problems, once that was done they had a habit of moving on to the next project instead of going to market with what they had just completed from the 70s.
One project my dad worked on back in the 1980s that suffered this fate was a diagnostic system for cars: The car's computer system (new primitive stuff back then) would interface via infrared signals with a hand-held device held by the mechanic as the car was driven into the service bay. The hand-held device would send the codes to a "satellite" on the ceiling that was linked to a central computer and information was sent back to the mechanic's hand unit. By the time the driver exited the car the problem was known and parts were being pulled for the repair. Ford Motor Company was very interested in this system but TI lost interest - I can't remember if they sold the technology or just shelved it. This same basic technology can be seen all over today: automatic highway toll lanes, etc. TI lost out on a huge cash cow.
Dad also worked on defense contracts in the 1960s and 1970s. He worked on the SR-71 Blackbird and helped to develop smart bomb guidance systems among other things. Somewhere in the attic I have an old circuit board from a Tornado fighter and a few boxes of new integrated circuits.
[this post was last edited: 4/15/2012-11:37]
firedome
Well-known member
Was a OS/MVS/COBOL Programmer
for Equitable Bank in Baltimore back in the old punch card days,and had been wanting an ALTAIR since I first saw it in Popular Electronics in '75 but waited and got an Apple II around '78. Wish I'd kept it! Moved on to Apple IIc, Apple IIe, Macintosh, Mac clones, early iMacs, G3/G4... still and forever will be in the Apple fold.
for Equitable Bank in Baltimore back in the old punch card days,and had been wanting an ALTAIR since I first saw it in Popular Electronics in '75 but waited and got an Apple II around '78. Wish I'd kept it! Moved on to Apple IIc, Apple IIe, Macintosh, Mac clones, early iMacs, G3/G4... still and forever will be in the Apple fold.
dirtybuck
Well-known member
Let's See...
My first computer was a Packard Bell, which was bought in 1992 (with the help of a friend) right before the Labor Day weekend. It had a 16 mhz processor, and both 5 1/4 and 3 1/2 floppy drives. Can't recall the hard drive size, but it came with 2 mb of RAM (eventually raised to 64). I also remember my first GB hard drive (I think it was a 1.3 and $149.00 in 1996 or 97), and I was in hog heaven thinking I had such a tremendous amount of storage space.
As time went on, the PB was replaced with a custom computer made to my specs back in 2000 (a birthday present to myself), a 256 RAM Dell (after the custom computer died), and a Compaq tower computer my nephew gave to me a few years ago that recently took a trip to the recycling center (2 of the capacitors were going out, and the fan was ALWAYS on..so annoying).
To replace it, I very recently (not even two weeks ago) bought a "new" HP DC5100 off of Amazon.com. It was a leased office computer. For now, it has a "whopping" 40 GB hard drive (which I intend on updating to a 250, which happens to be the largest I can put into it), 1.5 GB of RAM, and very accessible and easy to switch out parts (the new optical CD R/W, DVD R/W drive from Amazon should be here by Wed.). Two techs have gone over this computer and told me for the price I paid (60.00), I got a very good deal.
As for laptops, both have been Toshibas (one dead and one still going strong).
My first computer was a Packard Bell, which was bought in 1992 (with the help of a friend) right before the Labor Day weekend. It had a 16 mhz processor, and both 5 1/4 and 3 1/2 floppy drives. Can't recall the hard drive size, but it came with 2 mb of RAM (eventually raised to 64). I also remember my first GB hard drive (I think it was a 1.3 and $149.00 in 1996 or 97), and I was in hog heaven thinking I had such a tremendous amount of storage space.
As time went on, the PB was replaced with a custom computer made to my specs back in 2000 (a birthday present to myself), a 256 RAM Dell (after the custom computer died), and a Compaq tower computer my nephew gave to me a few years ago that recently took a trip to the recycling center (2 of the capacitors were going out, and the fan was ALWAYS on..so annoying).
To replace it, I very recently (not even two weeks ago) bought a "new" HP DC5100 off of Amazon.com. It was a leased office computer. For now, it has a "whopping" 40 GB hard drive (which I intend on updating to a 250, which happens to be the largest I can put into it), 1.5 GB of RAM, and very accessible and easy to switch out parts (the new optical CD R/W, DVD R/W drive from Amazon should be here by Wed.). Two techs have gone over this computer and told me for the price I paid (60.00), I got a very good deal.
As for laptops, both have been Toshibas (one dead and one still going strong).
Bob/David
We were the first to use the Silent 700 at our desk at GSI. Really something. I was on the 3rd floor east side of the SC building. The pipe space or second floor under us was where they did the testing of the dot matrix printer and print heard in likie 1976 and 1977. Day and night they ran them for failue had people changing paper and ribbons. We could hear the zing zing all over tha wing.
Across from our computer center was the TIMAP 980 final assably. After they built was sent o our center for testing then cleaned and shipped to clients.
Bob do you remember th big power failure in the summer of 1978 or were you alrady in the NW building? Millions of dollars lost from chip growing to final slice and dice.
I agree with you Bob on the filling of the conventon center being filled. Most were gone before the 10 year yellow badge. I guess you were the silver badge whn you got cut I was yellow. That day in 1986 was today 4/15 got the word and had to lay off my last 60 employees then I got and the two above got it too. Sad sad day.
We were the first to use the Silent 700 at our desk at GSI. Really something. I was on the 3rd floor east side of the SC building. The pipe space or second floor under us was where they did the testing of the dot matrix printer and print heard in likie 1976 and 1977. Day and night they ran them for failue had people changing paper and ribbons. We could hear the zing zing all over tha wing.
Across from our computer center was the TIMAP 980 final assably. After they built was sent o our center for testing then cleaned and shipped to clients.
Bob do you remember th big power failure in the summer of 1978 or were you alrady in the NW building? Millions of dollars lost from chip growing to final slice and dice.
I agree with you Bob on the filling of the conventon center being filled. Most were gone before the 10 year yellow badge. I guess you were the silver badge whn you got cut I was yellow. That day in 1986 was today 4/15 got the word and had to lay off my last 60 employees then I got and the two above got it too. Sad sad day.
whirlcool
Well-known member
My brother had one of those Timex T1000 computers. He found a company that made a case with a standard keyboard for it. All you had to do was take the cover off the T1000 replace the ribbon cable going to the keyboard to the ribbon cable for the new case, screw the PC board in and voila! a computer with a standard keyboard. He wrote a program to keep track of all of his families medical records.
A neighbor had one of those TI 99/4A computers. I helped him learn BASIC with it. I thought it was a really nifty computer. However I thought it's downfall was lack of easy expansion. It was fast, but all those connections and boxes! Now if TI had just made a box big enough for it all to fit into they may have had something as popular as the Commodore 64.
Does anyone remember those DECwriter printers? You usually saw them with mini computers such a the DEC PDP series or BASIC Four computers. They were dot matrix printers that were on a tall stand. Most of them had keyboards on them so they could be used as terminals but never saw one used that way. Lots of airlines used them in their pilot crew rooms to print the hourly weather sequence reports. They would just run and run 24 hours a day with hardly ever a problem.
I always thought that they would make a great home printer as they were reasonably fast and used full sized computer paper.
A neighbor had one of those TI 99/4A computers. I helped him learn BASIC with it. I thought it was a really nifty computer. However I thought it's downfall was lack of easy expansion. It was fast, but all those connections and boxes! Now if TI had just made a box big enough for it all to fit into they may have had something as popular as the Commodore 64.
Does anyone remember those DECwriter printers? You usually saw them with mini computers such a the DEC PDP series or BASIC Four computers. They were dot matrix printers that were on a tall stand. Most of them had keyboards on them so they could be used as terminals but never saw one used that way. Lots of airlines used them in their pilot crew rooms to print the hourly weather sequence reports. They would just run and run 24 hours a day with hardly ever a problem.
I always thought that they would make a great home printer as they were reasonably fast and used full sized computer paper.
whirlcool
Well-known member
My brother had one of those Timex T1000 computers. He found a company that made a case with a standard keyboard for it. All you had to do was take the cover off the T1000 replace the ribbon cable going to the keyboard to the ribbon cable for the new case, screw the PC board in and voila! a computer with a standard keyboard. He wrote a program to keep track of all of his families medical records.
A neighbor had one of those TI 99/4A computers. I helped him learn BASIC with it. I thought it was a really nifty computer. However I thought it's downfall was lack of easy expansion. It was fast, but all those connections and boxes! Now if TI had just made a box big enough for it all to fit into they may have had something as popular as the Commodore 64.
Does anyone remember those DECwriter printers? You usually saw them with mini computers such a the DEC PDP series or BASIC Four computers. They were dot matrix printers that were on a tall stand. Most of them had keyboards on them so they could be used as terminals but never saw one used that way. Lots of airlines used them in their pilot crew rooms to print the hourly weather sequence reports. They would just run and run 24 hours a day with hardly ever a problem.
I always thought that they would make a great home printer as they were reasonably fast and used full sized computer paper.
A neighbor had one of those TI 99/4A computers. I helped him learn BASIC with it. I thought it was a really nifty computer. However I thought it's downfall was lack of easy expansion. It was fast, but all those connections and boxes! Now if TI had just made a box big enough for it all to fit into they may have had something as popular as the Commodore 64.
Does anyone remember those DECwriter printers? You usually saw them with mini computers such a the DEC PDP series or BASIC Four computers. They were dot matrix printers that were on a tall stand. Most of them had keyboards on them so they could be used as terminals but never saw one used that way. Lots of airlines used them in their pilot crew rooms to print the hourly weather sequence reports. They would just run and run 24 hours a day with hardly ever a problem.
I always thought that they would make a great home printer as they were reasonably fast and used full sized computer paper.
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