My First Hard Drive...........
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Location: Brighton. UK. (Via Liverpool).
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My First Hard Drive...........
.............was an amazing 4gig!!!
Just talking with a mate about my first home PC from Time Computers called The Time Machine.
I can't remember what processor it had in it but it had a 4gig hard drive, 64 meg graphic card, and a free half meg digital camera that was the most basic thing you have ever seen!
It was nice thinking back about pc's and how they have come on so much and I wonder about what is around the next corner regarding home pc's....
Can you remember your first PC/Laptop?
Just talking with a mate about my first home PC from Time Computers called The Time Machine.
I can't remember what processor it had in it but it had a 4gig hard drive, 64 meg graphic card, and a free half meg digital camera that was the most basic thing you have ever seen!
It was nice thinking back about pc's and how they have come on so much and I wonder about what is around the next corner regarding home pc's....
Can you remember your first PC/Laptop?
My first computer was an Acorn Atom (precursor of the BBC Micro).
Memory upgrades were £11.50 per 512 bytes - my last USB flash drive would have cost over £80,000,000 at those prices
Memory upgrades were £11.50 per 512 bytes - my last USB flash drive would have cost over £80,000,000 at those prices
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I remember my first PC, I splashed out for a Pentium 75 as this was the new rage, chosen over a 486. It had 800 odd meg hard drive, I'm sure 32 meg of ram, a lovely 14 inch crt monitor, and an external 28,800 modem. Somehow I still managed to play Quake online with a friend of mine! My mother still has it although upgraded to a mighty P100. My first computer though was a C64............
Mistrust in Management
First PC
Bought it in HKG and it had a 20mb hard drive. I asked seller if he thought that was big enough for my future needs - he said why do you think you will need anything larger than that?!!!!
Pre windows of course - and funnily enough it achieved about 80% of what I manage now on non-internet related tasks but in a non-pretty DOS kind of way.
Regards
Exeng
Pre windows of course - and funnily enough it achieved about 80% of what I manage now on non-internet related tasks but in a non-pretty DOS kind of way.
Regards
Exeng
Oh Shazbat!
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First computer at batninth towers was also a Time machine, but much earlier than yours BRL.
It had 1MB RAM, and a 270MB Hard Disc. I upgraded it to 4MB RAM so it would run Windows 3.1 properly.
I now carry more than 270MB in a memory stick on a lanyard with my security pass, and my phone runs a more advanced version of Windows.
It had 1MB RAM, and a 270MB Hard Disc. I upgraded it to 4MB RAM so it would run Windows 3.1 properly.
I now carry more than 270MB in a memory stick on a lanyard with my security pass, and my phone runs a more advanced version of Windows.
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I'm sure it was a Commodore 64 after laughing at a mates ZX81. Cant remember the cost but it was probably not that cheap.
Compare that with a system I picked up for the youngest the other week.
HP Compaq. 160 Gb HD, 3 GHz processor, 1 Gb memory, 19" flat screen, Vista, Pentium etc... No other software but have that anyway. Got the sales chap to throw in an external Wi-Fi wotsit and gave him a shade under £290. OK, special offer but it does the business for her Facebook and music downloads.
Compare that with a system I picked up for the youngest the other week.
HP Compaq. 160 Gb HD, 3 GHz processor, 1 Gb memory, 19" flat screen, Vista, Pentium etc... No other software but have that anyway. Got the sales chap to throw in an external Wi-Fi wotsit and gave him a shade under £290. OK, special offer but it does the business for her Facebook and music downloads.
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Blimey.. this takes me back. I also had a ZX81 and upgraded to a spectrum-48k. All my mates then had spectrum 128k's so gave up and asked santa for a BMX the following year. On reflection that may have affected the development of my PC skills but dinnarf have some fun on my rayleigh burner.
Also I can remember being given some early art software with this new fangled 'mouse' thingy... haha that'll never catch on I thought.
DPT
Also I can remember being given some early art software with this new fangled 'mouse' thingy... haha that'll never catch on I thought.
DPT
Spoon PPRuNerist & Mad Inistrator
My first computer was a Sinclair ZX Spectrum, 48K RAM, AFAIR. Rubber keyboard and tape recorder storage, hitched up to the TV. Hard disk? What hard disk?!
First proper PC in the house was my father's - a Philips 8088 with a massive 20MB hard drive and 1 MB RAM. DOS 2.X, I think
My first was a relatively recent 486SX 25 with 4 MB RAM and 100 MB disk. DOS 5 and Windows 3.1
We've all passed as lot of water since then, as Jack Warner would have said!
SD
First proper PC in the house was my father's - a Philips 8088 with a massive 20MB hard drive and 1 MB RAM. DOS 2.X, I think
My first was a relatively recent 486SX 25 with 4 MB RAM and 100 MB disk. DOS 5 and Windows 3.1
We've all passed as lot of water since then, as Jack Warner would have said!
SD
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Very first computer was a bits-in-a-bag, take it home and solder it together.
Can't remember the processor but I do remember the 2K RAM (4K upgrade £75), hex display, tin box 'case' (£10.50 extra) and Tiny Basic when you upgraded the memory cost £19.95 on a C15 tape.
Program/data storage? Forget it!
Can't remember the processor but I do remember the 2K RAM (4K upgrade £75), hex display, tin box 'case' (£10.50 extra) and Tiny Basic when you upgraded the memory cost £19.95 on a C15 tape.
Program/data storage? Forget it!
cheerful pessimist
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Like a number of posters my first computer was a ZX Spectrum with rubber keys that got heavily modified and upgraded over the years. With all the hours spent typing out and checking programs from the pages of the magazines I now wonder if I shouldn't have gone into supplying Audio Cassettes to go on the front of the magazines. But that idea would never have caught on.
First PC was an XT Amstrad 1640 DD/ECD with two 5 1/4" drives.
I still have both of them. In cupboards. Though the audio cassette recorder for the Spectrum is still on active service.
First PC was an XT Amstrad 1640 DD/ECD with two 5 1/4" drives.
I still have both of them. In cupboards. Though the audio cassette recorder for the Spectrum is still on active service.
Chief Bottle Washer
I've still got my first: an Apple IIe, in its original box
Hard drive: what hard drive?
Hard drive: what hard drive?
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First computer I played with was Siemans R330 64k core memory, 1.5M 18inch disk drives, and on bad days loaded from paper tape. Operating system was in German, and the PSU produced 60 amps at 5 volts. CPU electonics over 9 boards - not exactly a home computer but my thanks to the RAF for the introduction. Next up was the DEC PDP 11 series 2M Memory, CPU on one card (but a big one ) allowed fault finding to a bit in a regisiter. Still looking at a later model PDP 11/84 18MHz clock still providing a service with a well known ATC service provider. they were the days when you could replace a chip. never did understand how windows worked. now feeling a bit old.
Rickity
Rickity
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First computer I ever used was a dual processor computer. You had to manaually switch between them if you were processing or printing. 5Mb HDD, 8 inch floppies, green screen and a daisywheel printer. First pc I used was a Tandy TRS 80. My dad bought a ZX80 for us to play with. Then I had a Commodore 64. Loved that one. My first PC was an IBM XT with a 20Mb MFM hard disk drive. Autoroute fitted in a 1Mb space and took half an hour to work out Lands End to John O'Groats! Since then spent an absolute fortune on Pcs but I am loving my Dell Vostro 1700 laptop with 8600Gt video card. games run loverly.....
I played with a few friends' home computers - Spectrum, BBC, C64 - but the first machine I owned was the PC-XT clone I bought myself in '88. A couple of years later I paid a lot to upgrade it to a whopping 286-20 with 2MB RAM... but kept the 20MB hard drive. Those were the days... 
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Im definitely feeling old! First computer got to grips with was a Sharp MZ3500, twin floppies (360K) green screen and ran CPM with Wordstar. Brilliant keyboard though, much better than ones get these days.
Still got my Speccy 48k in original box and tapes of games. Shame dont have tape player these days!
After much use of Speccy first proper PC was a homebuilt 286/16 with 10mb and 640 K ram. Still got the MSdos 3.2 and harvard graphics, and wordstar disks somewhere!
Dont make em like that anymore!
Still got my Speccy 48k in original box and tapes of games. Shame dont have tape player these days!
After much use of Speccy first proper PC was a homebuilt 286/16 with 10mb and 640 K ram. Still got the MSdos 3.2 and harvard graphics, and wordstar disks somewhere!
Dont make em like that anymore!
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My first computer was a Vic20, can't remember how much RAM, cassette for storage!
First PC was an Amstrad MegaPC, 386 CPU running at 25Mhz, 1Mb RAM, 40Mb hard drive!
Memory upgrade to 2Mb cost £104!!!
Now running
a) AMD 64x2 4200, 2Mb Ram, 320+250Gb Dual monitors and PCLinuxOS
b)Biostar XP3000, 1Mb, 320Gb, 19" widescreenTFT, PCLinuxOS
plus an Acer lappy, and an EeePC
Things have changed.
First PC was an Amstrad MegaPC, 386 CPU running at 25Mhz, 1Mb RAM, 40Mb hard drive!
Memory upgrade to 2Mb cost £104!!!
Now running
a) AMD 64x2 4200, 2Mb Ram, 320+250Gb Dual monitors and PCLinuxOS
b)Biostar XP3000, 1Mb, 320Gb, 19" widescreenTFT, PCLinuxOS
plus an Acer lappy, and an EeePC
Things have changed.
First cpmputer I played with at home was a TRS-80, with expansion pack and two 5.25" floppies in an external case.
Next came an IBM PC Portable - sewing machine size, 30Mb internal Winchester (!) disk, internal amber screen, external colour screen.
Then a succession of IBM PC/AT clones. Work buys my computers nowadays !
Next came an IBM PC Portable - sewing machine size, 30Mb internal Winchester (!) disk, internal amber screen, external colour screen.
Then a succession of IBM PC/AT clones. Work buys my computers nowadays !
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My first computer was a Sinclair ZX81 bought for me by my Grandfather. I still have it, and I suspect it probably would still work too.
At university in 1988 I bought my first PC...
12MHz 286 processor
1MB RAM
5.25" floppy drive
3.5" floppy drive
And for the time a very good graphics card, that could do up 800x600 pixels in 16 colours!
All the above was brand new.
Attached to it was a second hand colour monitor I bought at an auction for about £140. It was 12", and colour monitors were quite rare. This one turned out to be multi-sync, which was even rarer, and the price had I bought a new one would have been £1000!!!
In 1991 I upgraded it by installing a hard drive. It was an RLL drive. the whole thing is 5.25" wide and fills TWO standard drive bays familiar on most PCs nowadays. It had a dedicated ISA card that connected it to the computer.
The monitor I got rid of years ago, even at 12" it was just too bulky. The computer still sits under my bed.
Guess what? It still works, and boots to MS-DOS 5 in about 15 seconds. Windows? What's that!?
At university in 1988 I bought my first PC...
12MHz 286 processor
1MB RAM
5.25" floppy drive
3.5" floppy drive
And for the time a very good graphics card, that could do up 800x600 pixels in 16 colours!
All the above was brand new.
Attached to it was a second hand colour monitor I bought at an auction for about £140. It was 12", and colour monitors were quite rare. This one turned out to be multi-sync, which was even rarer, and the price had I bought a new one would have been £1000!!!
In 1991 I upgraded it by installing a hard drive. It was an RLL drive. the whole thing is 5.25" wide and fills TWO standard drive bays familiar on most PCs nowadays. It had a dedicated ISA card that connected it to the computer.
The monitor I got rid of years ago, even at 12" it was just too bulky. The computer still sits under my bed.
Guess what? It still works, and boots to MS-DOS 5 in about 15 seconds. Windows? What's that!?