What was your first computer?

[Will5455]

first computer to use was a custom computer with amd thingy on asus moboard first to use frequintly was a dell 755 micro form and first to own was (and is) a hp pavilion g6 with a core i3 2330m and amd radeon 7400m graphics card

[fuente]

My baby was Pentium 4 2.0, I immediately fell in love with PCs and the internet and man, was I hooked

[flanylla]

IBM ThinkPad R50e. I seem to recall the RAM being upgraded to 768MB. Sadly that computer was sold for parts years ago to someone...

[mrreality13]

circa: 1999 was a hp with a cele something or other that my aunt gave me that had been in a house fire in winter and frozen in about 8 inches of water from firemen in oh feb...took it home tore it down let it sit about a week to dry out re assembled and it fired up and was in service for almost 4 yrs after then i started building em (no coding)-last rig i built was a domed s939 amd something...

[frank_richard]

my first computer was Lenovo R61i laptop, which i purchased in 2008, it's specs were 2 gb ram, 80gb hard disk and intel celereon processor with windows 7.

[beifeng]

My first computer? This question brought me back to 20 years ago!

I started my career as a Chinese language translator and I needed a computer to handle my jobs. So I went to the electronic market and "gathered" the CPU, ROM, hand disk, the motherboard, and main machine.. It was a PC in no brand, but it worked amazingly...

[PSX]

My first computer was way back in 1986 which was called ATARI 65XE. I could have ATARI ST but my parent couldn't afford it. It got some great games for it such as ZYBEX, Dragnus and so on.

Then one year later, I got Commodore 4 as they have better games such as Turrican, Turrican 2, IK+, Rick Dangerious, Pitstop 2, Golden Axe and so on.


Then in 1991, I got Amiga 500 Cartoon Classic with Bart Simpons, Captain planets, Lemmings(I love the puzzle game with Excellent Music!). There is too many Games lists on what I like such as Supercar 2, Lotus 2, Speedball 2, Xenon 2, Turrican 2(bit harder than C64 Versions!) and so on.

Then in 2000, I got PC Petium 3 700MHZ with 512MB ram and it was most Costly PC I ever bought from PC WORLD(Never again as might well build your own PC Spec!) and got some good games for it but not good as Amiga thought!

[ejolson]

My first computer was way back in 1986 which was called ATARI 65XE.

I remember those. The ST still has a very modern look to me. What was the first machine for which you wrote a computer program?

[Tonysharka]

My first purchased computer was Intel Pentium 3 and i have played the game in it was DOOM

[Imperf3kt]

Hi
My first computer is Pentium 3 with 2GB ram at that time it is sufficient for me and loves to work on it. but nowadays no one wants to use slow PC every one love speed and save time I am a writer and photographer I love to write about animals and their wildlife I started my recent blog on it HunterHunts. I don't know how it going on but I love to write and follow my passion. Sometimes I love to play games plz suggest me a good gamer laptop or Pc.

Are you sure there was 2GB RAM on that Pentium 3 computer?

Many Pentium 3 motherboards were built using an Intel 440BX or 815 Northbridge that only supported 512MB maximum. VIA had a chip set that supported more and there must have been a server-class motherboard from Intel that did the same. Do you remember any more details?

I believe the post you are replying to and the one below it, are made by spambots

[ejolson]

Hi
My first computer is Pentium 3 with 2GB ram at that time it is sufficient for me and loves to work on it. but nowadays no one wants to use slow PC every one love speed and save time I am a writer and photographer I love to write about animals and their wildlife I started my recent blog on it HunterHunts. I don't know how it going on but I love to write and follow my passion. Sometimes I love to play games plz suggest me a good gamer laptop or Pc.

Are you sure there was 2GB RAM on that Pentium 3 computer?

Many Pentium 3 motherboards were built using an Intel 440BX or 815 Northbridge that only supported 512MB maximum. VIA had a chip set that supported more and there must have been a server-class motherboard from Intel that did the same. Do you remember any more details?

I believe the post you are replying to and the one below it, are made by spambots

It's interesting that spambots speak in broken English.

For me there is a distinction between first computer and first video-game machine. The former is programmed by the user to perform computations while the latter is not. Before the unbreakable DRM on recent game consoles, the difference between the two was more about usage than hardware: Among programmers it was not uncommon to buy a PlayStation 3 in order to write code for the IBM Power4-based cell processor inside. Among nonprogrammers it was not uncommon to buy an Intel-compatible PC with the sole intention of playing games or browsing the Internet.

In this thread, I think the interesting question is "what was the first computer for which you ever wrote a program?" Many of the replies to this thread that were not made by spambots answered the question in this sense. I think it would be nice for more humans to participate in this discussion along those lines.

Do you think there are spambots that have written any programs?

[davidcoton]

Do you think there are spambots that have written any programs?

I have a nasty feeling that I've tried to maintain such programs.

[LTolledo]

do "calculators" qualify as "computers"?
or the question "....does not compute..."?

[ejolson]

do "calculators" qualify as "computers"?
or the question "....does not compute..."?

If the first code someone wrote was for a programmable calculator, that sounds like an interesting post to make on this thread. I have a friend who some time ago claimed one of the best ways to learn programming was using z-80 assembler on a TI-8x calculator. At the same time, playing Tetris on a calculator does not compute, but maybe that's just me.

[Imperf3kt]

Oops, sorry, I misread the post and mistook it as spam.
I'm still convinced the post below is spam though and a few others dotted throughout.

The first computer I programmed on was a Playstation 2 home entertainment console . No, I'm not kidding and no, it wasn't modified in any way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yabasic#PlayStation_2

[dorfidreader]

P2 was my first computer with window 98.

[rpdom]

do "calculators" qualify as "computers"?
or the question "....does not compute..."?

If the first code someone wrote was for a programmable calculator, that sounds like an interesting post to make on this thread. I have a friend who some time ago claimed one of the best ways to learn programming was using z-80 assembler on a TI-8x calculator. At the same time, playing Tetris on a calculator does not compute, but maybe that's just me.

I think I already posted that the first thing I programmed was a calculator. Casio FX-502P. I still have it and it powers on (after 40 years) although the keys don't seem to work. I shall clean it up inside and see if I can fix that.

If I can't fix it it may end up going to Silicon Heaven along with all the others.
[edit] Proof it is still alive, just a bit battered.

FX502P.jpg (123.89 KiB) Viewed 3715 times

[LTolledo]

If the first code someone wrote was for a programmable calculator, that sounds like an interesting post to make on this thread.

the very first code I ever wrote was on the Casio FX-850P, in BASIC. I was trying to source it again but cannot... obviously its too old (32 years ago) however I got hold of a working and functional updated version of that, pictured below to the right.

pocket_computers.jpg (127.54 KiB) Viewed 3744 times

of course the main use was programming complex engineering calculations, but also programmed some games (mostly card game types) on that "pocket personal computer".

to the left of that is another "vintage" programmable calculator the FX-3800P (also in good working condition), to which I learned "primitive" calculation sequence programming and loops. was a year prior to acquiring the Casio FX850P.

[LTolledo]

The first computer I programmed on was a Playstation 2 home entertainment console . No, I'm not kidding and no, it wasn't modified in any way.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yabasic#PlayStation_2

I didnt know that this was even available on the PS2....

[Neocute]

Mine was a "Hector/" (also known as Victor //)


After that:
- Amstrad CPC 6128
- 486 DX2 66mhz (win 3.1)
- Calculator Casio FX 6910G
- 486 DX4 75mhz (win 95/98)
- 486 DX4 100mhz (win 2000)
- Pentium IV 3.20Ghz (xp + Linux)
- Notebook/barebone Asus C90S (Win7 + Linux)
- Now I have a "homemade" i7 4770k (win10 + Linux) ...
- Raspberry PI4... Soon^^

[LTolledo]

Off-topic on an Off topic discussion (sorry )

there was a game we played on those "vintage" calculators like the one posted by @rpdom

only one designated calculator is used in the game
start by pressing the buttons in the sequence below
[ 1 ]
[ + ]
[ + ]
[ 0 ]

somebody holding a timer announces "start!"
the one with the calculator presses the
[ = ] button several times as fast as he/she can
the timer announces "stop" after an agreed span of time (usually 5 secs or 10 secs)

the one with the highest total wins!
reset by pressing [ 0 ] or retyping the sequence above

I dont think this is possible with "modern" calculators due to type of button used (is it?)
checked with my FX-3800P, its still possible... but am not as fast as I used to be

again sorry for the off-topic

[drgeoff]

Off-topic on an Off topic discussion (sorry )

there was a game we played on those "vintage" calculators like the one posted by @rpdom

only one designated calculator is used in the game
start by pressing the buttons in the sequence below
[ 1 ]
[ + ]
[ + ]
[ 0 ]

somebody holding a timer announces "start!"
the one with the calculator presses the
[ = ] button several times as fast as he/she can
the timer announces "stop" after an agreed span of time (usually 5 secs or 10 secs)

the one with the highest total wins!
reset by pressing [ 0 ] or retyping the sequence above

I dont think this is possible with "modern" calculators due to type of button used (is it?)
checked with my FX-3800P, its still possible... but am not as fast as I used to be

again sorry for the off-topic

That only works on calculators that have "automatic constant" mode. On the calculator you used it was invoked by pressing an operator key twice. Some other calculators do not need the second press of the operator key. Ie:

3+2= gives 5
6= gives 8
23= gives 25
Note that for this type the constant number is after the operator, unlike the type in LTolledo's case where the constant number is before the operator.

Other calculators had a 'K' key for this purpose.

[RossDv8]

Wow! what a variety of first computers. I 'had a brief introduction to computing in about 1971 with a couple of rooms full of punched tape and punch cards. I didn;t see a computer again until I accidentally found myself working for Universal Computer Services in 1977. In addition to the the services they provided to a clientele selling hire purchase, leasing and insurance, they had an idea that in the future their clients would be able to have all the relevant information on desks in small businesses.

So I ended up with the early TRS-80, the one that looked like the later Commodore and Atari, where everything was built into the keyboard - except that I think that TRS-80 had a separate tape drive for data. Anyway, I managed to learn enough BASIC in a couple of weeks to provide a workable finance and leasing program for the firm UCS allocated me to for my first 3 month stint, by purchasing one for myself.

By 1981 I had a TRS-80 model III with about 48kb RAM and the screen, keyboard and two 180kb floppy drives built into a nice stylish case. I thought I was in heaven. Until in about 1985ish I acquired an Epson QX-10 with a 'massive' 256kb RAM, 32 shades of green display (for photographic work) light pen connection and twin linear drive 400kb floppies. And best of all, running cp/m.

Now I have graduated to a Raspberry Pi...

[rpdom]

32 shades of green

I bet you could write a book about that experience

[RossDv8]

Re: What was your first computer?
Report this postQuote
Thu Sep 26, 2019 6:22 pm

RossDv8 wrote: ↑
Thu Sep 26, 2019 5:05 pm
32 shades of green
I bet you could write a book about that experience

Probably In 1986 we were doing signwriting with the thing. Using a colour printer in 15 inch wide fanfold printer paper. Some of our banners were 5 metres long by 15 inches wide, but I recall a few longer. Theoretically it was a proprietary package, and we were supposed t o pay through the nose for every new set of graphics or fonts. But the Yanks didn;t realise that a few of us kangaroos and emus could program.. I was still using the QX-10 for a few jobs around the turn of the century - just for fun, because it was such a beautiful thing to type on. Mainly to print shop window advertising.

Hmmm, I's best stop there or it 'will' be a book...