what was the specs of your first computer/?

[Boyd01]

Apple ][ with 16k memory, purchased from The Computer Workshop of Pittsburgh on 6/22/1978 for $1,225. The standard Apple ][ only had 4k RAM and it wasn't able to run floating point BASIC. The Apple ][ had integer BASIC in ROM, but you needed to have 16gb RAM to load floating point, which was done from your own cassette tape drive (no floppy drive was available at that time). It included an RF modulator so you could plug it into a TV set for a monitor (via composite video).

Later, I got two floppy disk drives, a "SilentType" (thermal) printer, maxxed out the RAM to 48kb and got an "AppleSoft Card" which plugged into a slot. It had 16kb of ROM (to reach the computer's max of 64kb total memory). It contained floating point BASIC, so it was always available without needing to load BASIC into RAM at startup. Also got a 9" Motorola black and white monitor, which was much sharper than the color TV. Later, I even got a graphics tablet that a PC user was selling pretty cheaply.

Got my first Mac in 1986 - the 512kb "Fat Mac", along with an ImageWriter II printer and Hard Disk 20. That was really state of the art, but quite expensive!

First computer I used was a Burroughs B55 (?) Mainframe in a CS101 course at the University of Virginia in 1967. We had to keypunch IBM cards with our ALGOL programs, wrap them with a rubber band and put them in a slot for the guys in white coats to feed to the mainframe. Later in the day, they would be placed in alphabetical "pigeon holes" to pickup, along with line printer output of our program. Most of the time, it just kicked out with a syntax error on one of the cards, and you had to repeat the whole thing. Could take days just to debug a simple little program!

 

[AlumaMac]

486 DX2 66 MHz, 16 MB ram, single session cd-rom that used a plastic caddy And SCSI. Cost a fortune.

A PC with SCSI, very fancy. Was it onboard or a card?

 

[Fishrrman]

Apple //c, 1986.

After that, Macintosh SE, 1987.

 

[AlumaMac]

In 1985, I bought a TRS-80 Color Computer 2 for $30 . A display model.

CPU: 6809E
Speed: 0.89Mhz
Base Ram: 16kB
Storage: None
Video Ram: none (relied on internal ram to draw screen).
External Storage: Audio Compact Cassette

I upgraded to 64kB, added Dual 180kB floppies, a DM printer, 300 baud modem over the next year.

I wrote test reports for high school on it and used it for about 5-6 years into college.

Wow, $30 seems really cheap even for a display model. I really enjoyed learning BASIC on the TRS80CC’s we had in elementary school.

 

[Jack Neill]

I don't remember the exact specs as I was really young, but it was a 286 12Mhz and a 40 MB hard drive I think. It had DOS 3 I think and the Magnavox Headstart Environment. I know it wouldn't run Windows 3 at the time. First time I hit a spec wall on a machine, I was happily playing Star Trek 25th Anniversary and Judgement Rites dropped. I did all my chores and saved up my allowance and my dad took me to Wal Mart to get it, we were in the isle and I was looking at the box and my dad asked me if it would work on our computer because he had no clue about specs and despite it saying it needed a 16Mhz 386 I said yes because I didn't want to pass up my chance to get it and play it. I was hoping the words " System Requirements" were just a suggestion, and we bought it. I still have never been as excited in my life to play a video game as that. I got home and tried to install it and found that the word "Requirement" was in fact not a suggestion, and I didn't get to play it. I was so emotionally crushed. Our next computer was a HP 486 and for some reason I don't remember, it still didn't work. In my garage somewhere in a box is a mint condition floppy edition of that game that never got to install. I own both 25th and JR in Steam now and have played both a 1k times but I will never forget that disappointed feeling of hitting that spec wall.

Probably off topic of the OPs question but I felt like telling that story.

 

[pshufd]

In that case, my first computer was a Babbage Difference Engine.

We had an abacus from Chinatown.

 

[I7guy]

We had an abacus from Chinatown.

Sundial.

it was a long time ago, like 40 years…ibm xt, one floppy, 20 meg hard drive, cga monitor.

 

[cmaier]

I'm going to win this contest!
When I was young, my dad gave me his original computer to play with. It was made by Tandy/Radio Shack.

Radio Shack TRS-80 Model III

Introduced: July 1980 Price: $2495 w/ 32KB RAM (THAT'S KB!), dual drives. CPU: Zilog Z-80, 2.03 MHz (THAT'S MHz!) RAM: 4KB (THAT'S KB!) Ports: Cassette tape, expansion, serial Display: 12-inch B/W monitor: 64 X 16 text Storage: 2 internal 178KB (THAT'S KB!) floppy drives External cassette @ 500 / 1500 baud OS: BASIC in ROM, TRS-DOS on disk

I did word processing, BASIC language programming, Machine language programming, and used it as a terminal.

Since the first computer I ever used was a TRS-80 Model I, I think I have you beat. (You had drives? We had a cassette player, and we liked it. Up hill both ways.)

I used to go into radio shacks and type in a three line program to print random characters, in a loop. The radio shack employees would always think I broke their machines. At some point later, me and a pal won the international computer problem solving contest by writing our code on his TRS-80 color computer. (The “coco”)

 

[Bluetoot-]

I got home and tried to install it and found that the word "Requirement" was in fact not a suggestion, and I didn't get to play it. I was so emotionally crushed.

One day we might live in a world where kids never have to question system requirements. Sad, really. An outdated system builds character.

 

[Macky-Mac]

Commodore VIC-20

It was too long ago for me to remember anything about the specs.

 

[CooperBox]

Mine was a Sinclair ZX81 too. Such great fun! That was followed by a Sinclair Spectrum, then an Oric Atmos. I still have all three in pristine condition, and as they hold such memories I can't see myself parting with them. Good hand-me downs one of these days for the grandchildren.
And I also quite regularly use an Apple G4 Cube running OSX 10.4 Lion........

 

[Lee_Bo]

Gateway 486 100mhz processor, 32 meg ram, 256 meg hard drive.

 

[jdb8167]

I started with a Compac "portable", I'll have to look up the specs.
View attachment 1753019

"The Compaq Portable was announced in November 1982 and first shipped in March 1983,[1] priced at US $2,995 (equivalent to $7,700 in 2019) with a single half-height 5¼" 360 kB diskette drive or $3,590 for dual, full-height diskette drives. The 28 lb (13 kg)[2] Compaq Portable folded up into a luggable case the size of a portable sewing machine."

CPU	Intel 8088, 4.77MHz
Memory	128 kilobytes (expandable to 640 KiB)
Storage	Two 5.25" floppy disk drives or, optionally, one floppy drive and a 10 MB hard drive
Display	Built-in 9" green screen monitor
Graphics	Unique CGA-compatible video card
Mass	28 lb (13 kg)

I wrote a ton of 8086 code on one of those for my first job out of college. Never even thought the screen was too small.

 

[Captain Trips]

The first computer I owned was an Atari 130XE. I no longer have it, but it would have had the "base"specs since I was in college at the time and couldn't afford to spend much.

 

[monokakata]

I see I'm not the only person whose first computer was from DEC. I had a PDP-11/23, built into a VT100 terminal (called a VT103). It had 160kb RAM and 6 serial ports. Storage was DEC RX01 8" floppies, 512 kb per disk. DEC RT-11 o/s, FORTRAN IV compiler and every app was built with FORTRAN IV.

This was 1981. It was, in effect, a personal computer. It sat on a (large) desk in my workroom. I transported it many times for remote on-site work (road race (running) timing) and it worked well.

Oh, and it cost something like $20K. Yes, indeed.

 

[adrianlondon]

A bit jealous of the person above who had a Tandy TRS-80. Our school had one, next to the ZX81, and I thought it was brilliant.

A year or so later, I got my first computer. "Made in Wales" Dragon 32. I looked down upon my friends with their Sinclair Spectrums as all they could do with it was play games. I did get addicted to Jet Set Willy on one though.

 

[LuisN]

I started with a Compac "portable", I'll have to look up the specs.
View attachment 1753019

"The Compaq Portable was announced in November 1982 and first shipped in March 1983,[1] priced at US $2,995 (equivalent to $7,700 in 2019) with a single half-height 5¼" 360 kB diskette drive or $3,590 for dual, full-height diskette drives. The 28 lb (13 kg)[2] Compaq Portable folded up into a luggable case the size of a portable sewing machine."

CPU	Intel 8088, 4.77MHz
Memory	128 kilobytes (expandable to 640 KiB)
Storage	Two 5.25" floppy disk drives or, optionally, one floppy drive and a 10 MB hard drive
Display	Built-in 9" green screen monitor
Graphics	Unique CGA-compatible video card
Mass	28 lb (13 kg)

I still have mine, the one with 10MB HDD and 640KB ram. Good machines. I also have a Sinclair ZX Spectrum

 

[unrigestered]

"my" first computer was a TRS-80 that my father handed to me when he got an MSX as a replacement in 1983

specs:
CPU: 8bit Z80 @1.7MHz
RAM: 4KB base (expanded to (or by) 16KB if i recall correctly)
Display: monochrome green
Sound: none existent (i think)
Storage: datassette

had been tinkering on it since 1979 though when he got it


first that i bought with my own money in 1988 (used, as stuff was very expensive back then)
CPU: 16bit Intel 286 @8MHz
RAM: 640KB + 360KB expansion board (that took a full length ISA slot)
Graphics Card: Hercules Monochrome
Display: monochrome (yellow-ish IIRC?)
Sound: PC buzzer
Floppy: 5.25" with 1.2MB capacity
HDD: MFM 20MB with a transfer speed slower than a single speed CD-ROM (forgot the actual value by now)

 

[Rafterman]

Tandy Color Computer, the Mighty CoCo.

Followed by a Tandy 1000 EX. The promo:

A 256K PC-compatible computer, ready to use the MS-DOS software you bring home from the office, as well as software designed for the home or classroom. The integral 90-key keyboard has the same layout as the Tandy 1000SX, ideal for business programs. You'll find an advanced three-voice sound circuit for sophisticated sound an music generation through the built-in speaker. There's also a headphone jack with volume control - perfect for the classroom. Graphics-oriented Personal Deskmate software features six programs and handy pull-down menus and pop-up boxes for selecting funvtions.

 

[jav6454]

I just recall my first cpu it was 33 MHz and 4 megs of ram and a cd rom. to me it was the most amazing thing ever

300 Mhz Intel Celeron
32 MB RAM
6 GB HDD @ 5400 rpm
Integrated graphics (unsure what they were)

 

[ucfgrad93]

CompuAd 16 MHz, 2 MB RAM, 40MB HDD, dual 3.5” floppy disk drives. Purchased when I was a student at the University of Central Florida in 1991.

 

[satcomer]

I was in college my college mainframe was central VAX machine the one programing was done on that VAX machine! iIf I think bout maybe that's how I choice my Military career as you g adult in Satellite System Repair career! However the US Army did away in 90s and changed me the System Maintenance on satellites instead!

 

[hwojtek]

MOS Technology 8052 and Zilog Z80 CPUs, VIC-IIe and VDC video, 128k RAM, 5.25" dual sided floppy drive.

 

[icanhazmac]

TI 99/4A Specs​

RAM	256 bytes - Memory expansion card can be added : 4 KB or 32 KB (up to 52 KB)
ROM	26 K
VRAM	16K
Orgin	United States
Year introduced	1979
Built in software	TI Basic
Keyboard type	48-key QWERTY layout. Mechanical with springs.
Processor	TMS9900
Clock	3.3 MHz
Video	NTSC: TMS9918A/TMS9928A, PAL/SECAM: TMS9929A, 256 x 192, 64 x 48, 32 x 24. 16 Colors available. Standard mode: 24 lines and 32 columns of 8x8 pixel characters, with 2 colors (foreground and backgroud) per group of 8 characters. Text mode: 24 lines and 40 columns of 8x6 pixel characters. Monochrome display: 2 colors (foreground, background) for all characters. No sprites. Multicolor mode: 48 lines and 64 coloumns of 4x4 boxes. Each box can have its own color. Graphic mode: 192 lines and 32 columns of 1x8 pixels "characters". Each character can have its own set of two colors. In addition, the VDP can handle up to 32 sprites. Each can have a color of its own (background is always transparent).
Color Palette	16
Sound	TMS 9919 Complex Sound Generator. The sound chip can emit simultaneously up to 3 tones and 1 noise (which can be a periodic or a white noise). The theoretical frequency range is from 28 Hz to 111 kHz and the volume can be adjusted on a scale of 0 to 15.
Interfaces	1 x Cartridge, 1 x Expansion Port, 1 x Composite Monitor Out, 1 x Cassette Interface, 1 x Joystick (non Atari compatible)
Disk drive	No built-in drive.
Power supply	External

 

[Herdfan]

1985 IBM PC-XT with 8086 and 10M hard drive. Coupled to an Okidata dot matrix.

I want to say it cost around $5K back then, but made college sooooo much easier. Upgraded to a color monitor a couple of years later.