I just thought of something; my first two computers were an ELF-II and a VIC-20...and people wonder why I give my PCs names. 
Hell, I wondered about it until just now.
Hell, I wondered about it until just now.
Do you remember your first ever PC?
- Thread starter Grall
- Start date
Oh yes. Question is, do YOU remember Wren?
They made some of the highest performing SCSI HDDs around 1990-91, then they got bought out by Seagate. Before that, Seagate was known as one of the worst, if not THE worst quality harddrive manufacturer. Their HDDs were cheap, but unreliable, and typically used obsolete stepper motors and cogwheel actuators to position the heads rather than voice coils...
After they bought up Wren, the quality level rose significantly. Probably one of the most important acquisitions they ever did. Seagate probably wouldn't be around in the form they are now if they hadn't done that.
[Brick_top]
Newcomer
I had a Sinclair Zx spectrum 48k
then a 128k+
Olivetti prodest pc1 - nec v40 cpu -8mhz and 512kb ram. with two floppy drives.
Then it was 286, 386, 486 and others I can't remember
then a 128k+
Olivetti prodest pc1 - nec v40 cpu -8mhz and 512kb ram. with two floppy drives.
Then it was 286, 386, 486 and others I can't remember
Intel P133, 32MB, 1,2GB HDD, CDROM drive, SB-Pro compatible Crystal Semicon soundcard, S3 Trio 64 /1MB, 15" color CRT, Win95 OSR2 = 1999 DM bought 13 years ago and still running (albeit with a replacement 233MMX and 96MB).
Later that same year I also bought a Canon inkjet for 450 DM and a 33.6 external modem for 300 DM which I only got to work properly 2 years later haha.
I fondly remember trying to get sound to work in various games under DOS. Messing with some shareware version of UniVBE and then being amazed how smooth it made the graphics was also nice.
The best thing though, I could finally beat Dune 2 which I had played on a friend's 386 back in the early 90s. Actually even better, I bought Total Annihilation when it came out in October '97 for 74 DM (on sale, haha) and have been in love with that stupid game eversince
Two years later I bought a PII 450 with a Voodoo Banshee in it and played my first "real" 3D shooter - Unreal - after getting to know the ugly side of PC gaming -- the need for post release patches (wouldn't even start without it) But what a wondrous experience it was. Such a rush. Also, my first run in with emulators - being able to run Ocarina of Time and Mario 64 in UHLE was a revelation. Good times.
Later that same year I also bought a Canon inkjet for 450 DM and a 33.6 external modem for 300 DM which I only got to work properly 2 years later haha.
I fondly remember trying to get sound to work in various games under DOS. Messing with some shareware version of UniVBE and then being amazed how smooth it made the graphics was also nice.
The best thing though, I could finally beat Dune 2 which I had played on a friend's 386 back in the early 90s. Actually even better, I bought Total Annihilation when it came out in October '97 for 74 DM (on sale, haha) and have been in love with that stupid game eversince
Two years later I bought a PII 450 with a Voodoo Banshee in it and played my first "real" 3D shooter - Unreal - after getting to know the ugly side of PC gaming -- the need for post release patches (wouldn't even start without it) But what a wondrous experience it was. Such a rush. Also, my first run in with emulators - being able to run Ocarina of Time and Mario 64 in UHLE was a revelation. Good times.
My first PC was a Packard Bell with a 50MHz 486DX2 with 4MB RAM, a 500MB hard drive, a 4x CD-ROM drive, and a 1MB Cirrus Logic onboard VGA adapter running Windows 3.1/MS BOB. This was purchased in 1994 with a 14" monitor and 3 year in-home warranty for the cool price of just under $2000. Within a year it had been upgraded to 12MB RAM. Within another year - 20MB RAM and an AMD 586 100 @ 133 - my first foray into overclocking whereby a mere dip switch on the mobo provided a 33% performance boost; ah, those were the days!
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This one wasn't terribly fast, but the IQ was great for its time IMO. It had very nice alpha textures, I remember the camouflage nets, wire fences and stuff like that in Half-Life/Opposing Force looked great compared to other hardware at the time. Many bashed the i740, but for that reason alone I rather liked the beasties.
Blazkowicz
Legend
huge hard disk, 32bit memory SIMMs and even a CD drive twice faster as usual. I'm jealous, even retrospectively!
my first own hardware purchase was a 4MB stick for the family computer, but it didn't fit, I had the pesky 9bit SIMM
A friend of a friend's first PC (having switched from an Amiga 2000 as I recall) was a 486-50 with VESA local bus graphics and a NEC SCSI 2.5x CDROM. I don't remember any other specifics. The NEC drive was the one that had a lit LCD display on the front and a rotating door that accepted a caddy, if anyone else remember these drives. It looked pretty damn sexy, except CD caddies were awfully designed of course. And, it was PC beige as well. Today, such a drive would be black, naturally.
I remember this man becoming very demeaning and arrogant towards us Amiga hold-outs after his new purchase... Hah. Then again, it was a pretty cool PC I have to say. It put up JPEGs on the screen super fast (from what I was used to), using a DOS image viewer that was highly regarded at the time, whose name I can't recall anymore.
I remember this man becoming very demeaning and arrogant towards us Amiga hold-outs after his new purchase... Hah. Then again, it was a pretty cool PC I have to say. It put up JPEGs on the screen super fast (from what I was used to), using a DOS image viewer that was highly regarded at the time, whose name I can't recall anymore.
Do you still have bob ?
I remeber it quite vivid..as I came from this:
Amiga 1200
GVP A1230-II (68030 @ 50Mhz) + FPU (68882 @ 50Mhz) + 8 Mb FAST RAM (all internal)
320 MB HD (Internal)
Golden Image 3A-1D Floppy with trackdisplay (external)
14" CRT
To this:
Intel 486DX4 100Mhz
Asus PCI/I-486SP3
S3 Vision864
2x8MB SRAM
Soundblaster 16
800MB HD
1.44MB floppy
4xCDROM
15" CRT
I didn't fell much like a upgrade....to this date I regret selling my AMIGA back then
Amiga 1200
GVP A1230-II (68030 @ 50Mhz) + FPU (68882 @ 50Mhz) + 8 Mb FAST RAM (all internal)
320 MB HD (Internal)
Golden Image 3A-1D Floppy with trackdisplay (external)
14" CRT
To this:
Intel 486DX4 100Mhz
Asus PCI/I-486SP3
S3 Vision864
2x8MB SRAM
Soundblaster 16
800MB HD
1.44MB floppy
4xCDROM
15" CRT
I didn't fell much like a upgrade....to this date I regret selling my AMIGA back then
huge hard disk, 32bit memory SIMMs and even a CD drive twice faster as usual. I'm jealous, even retrospectively!
my first own hardware purchase was a 4MB stick for the family computer, but it didn't fit, I had the pesky 9bit SIMM
It was a great first computer for sure! I was a little disappointed at how quickly it had to be upgraded in order to run the games I wanted to play (Dark Forces, Diablo, Command and Conquer) but once I did the upgrades it was able to do everything I wanted it to.
Nope, came pre-loaded on the system and I haven't had that system for at least 12 years now. It was an interesting UI, to say the least. I could see a future 3d version of that UI returning to the home once holographic or similar 3d displays become widespread.
I remeber it quite vivid..as I came from this:
Amiga 1200
GVP A1230-II (68030 @ 50Mhz) + FPU (68882 @ 50Mhz) + 8 Mb FAST RAM (all internal)
320 MB HD (Internal)
Golden Image 3A-1D Floppy with trackdisplay (external)
14" CRT
To this:
Intel 486DX4 100Mhz
Asus PCI/I-486SP3
S3 Vision864
2x8MB SRAM
Soundblaster 16
800MB HD
1.44MB floppy
4xCDROM
15" CRT
I didn't fell much like a upgrade....to this date I regret selling my AMIGA back then
I had almost identical Amiga 1200/40MB setup!
Blizzard 68030 MKIII with 68882 and 8MB FAST
My HDD was upgraded to Cavair 850MB from that 40MB internal one
Luckily for me a month ago I bought A4000/040 (loaded with extras) for my brother and for another 4 months it will be to my disposal
Fun to look at Scene productions on 32'' LCD! Almost no interlace visible I had almost identical Amiga 1200/40MB setup!
Blizzard 68030 MKIII with 68882 and 8MB FAST
My HDD was upgraded to Cavair 850MB from that 40MB internal one
Luckily for me a month ago I bought A4000/040 (loaded with extras) for my brother and for another 4 months it will be to my disposal
Nice, I almost fell like buying a A1200/A4000 myself now
Damn I loved that platform
I wish I'd bought an A1200 as well, it was a great system. Compact, and with AmigaOS's low overhead, sufficiently powerful AND expandable as well. It was held back graphically by Commodore's refusal to spend pretty much ANY money on R&D though, but still it was decent enough overall.
If the triple-cursed Irving Gould and Mehdi Ali hadn't been allowed to wreck the company with their extravagant salaries and expense accounts, and shortsighted stupid decisions...damn, maybe the Amiga could have been like another Apple platform today; small-niche, but still flourishing and with dedicated followers.
If the triple-cursed Irving Gould and Mehdi Ali hadn't been allowed to wreck the company with their extravagant salaries and expense accounts, and shortsighted stupid decisions...damn, maybe the Amiga could have been like another Apple platform today; small-niche, but still flourishing and with dedicated followers.
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