What was your first computer?

[Kev_B]

I recently reminisced about my first computer, an Amiga 600 in the mid-90s.

I'm sure you've all had some weird and wonderful systems over the years, but what was the first? What was good (or not so good) about it?

Personally I loved playing Settlers on the Amiga - I was only 8-9, after all - but I didn't enjoy the multiple disks or time needed to install it!

[Tudor]

Machine code every time. No bloat of an interpreter or compiler, just a fast assembler.

[Kev_B]

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@Sololobo wrote:

For those with a short memory 🤔 see this thread: https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Forum-Archive/Your-First-Computer/m-p/2193392

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It felt like time for a reboot - and chance for newer members to get involved in the conversation 🙂

[Eeeps]

OK - Don't want this to sound like The Four Yorkshiremen Sketch but here goes...

Mine was a home build (well a work build really) loosely based on the ZX81 - Known as the ZDX81 after the department that instigated the project in 1982.

Although based on the Z80 (still one of my favourite processors) it didn't really share too much with the ZX81. It would run most of the Basic programs however.

Of course we had it tough in those days; UV erasable proms to hold program code and all code developed in 8080 assembler on an Intel MDS80 with 51/4 inch floppy drives.

Fun times.

[dannylau]

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@Eeeps wrote:

OK - Don't want this to sound like The Four Yorkshiremen Sketch but here goes...

Mine was a home build (well a work build really) loosely based on the ZX81 - Known as the ZDX81 after the department that instigated the project in 1982.

Although based on the Z80 (still one of my favourite processors) it didn't really share too much with the ZX81. It would run most of the Basic programs however.

Of course we had it tough in those days; UV erasable proms to hold program code and all code developed in 8080 assembler on an Intel MDS80 with 51/4 inch floppy drives.

Fun times.

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I photocopied a printed  cct board and it erased the EPROM 😀

[VM-Jon]

Atari 800XL

[Pars]

I'm another whose introduction to computing dates back to the 1980s.

At home this was a ZX81 home build kit rapidly followed by a 16K Spectrum that I upgraded to 48K.

At work it was a Commodore PET with tape drive.

[HughJarsse]

'The first computer I worked with had 8K! You could do a lot in 8K in those days.'

8K.....8K!! my zx80 had just 1K, until I added a 4K rampack. Mind you, you could do a lot with 1K in Z80 machine code though!!

First 'proper' commercial computer I had dealings with at work, had the original 8 1/4 'floppy' disks...more like dinner plates. Massive green screen, and keyboard that sounded like a morse coder when used 'clack, clack, clack' (proper key switches rather than membranes in those days) and a huge dot matrix printer with rolls of the old sprocket sided paper with alternate green and white lines on them...(sounded like a machine gun when printing, they were placed in acoustic cabinets to (try) to reduce the noise!)

Them were the days................NOT!!😲

[Tudor]

'The first computer I worked with had 8K! You could do a lot in 8K in those days.'

8K.....8K!! my zx80 had just 1K, until I added a 4K rampack. Mind you, you could do a lot with 1K in Z80 machine code though!!

The 8K machine was a business machine that was 6ft high and about 4ft by 4ft, not a tiny desktop!

[Ann_Droid]

Hi

Mine was exactly the same as everyone else who posted here.

Single Binary Device that controlled the lighting in our house.  LIGHT switch.

NO we did not have a double light switch.

Did use a mechanical adding machine at school.

Eventually I upgraded to an 8 bit 48 KB Spectrum.

Never lived in Yorkshire, but they couldn't beat a single binary device could they?

[newapollo]

My first computer was a Dragon32. The tape loading was slow. I used to press break and alter the game code which was invariably in basic so that I never died in any games. Was generally in the format if lives = 0 then lives = lives + 1, or if lives =5 then lives = lives + 1. I learned the "basics" of basic.

I then upgraded to a Commodore64. Wow the difference in graphics and sound. I found it harder to break into games to increase my lives as most where written in machine code, however I learnt Commodore Basic and a little bit of machine code.

I used to go into the local computer shop which had 2 C64's. I think it was called something like the Multi Coloured Compter Shop, it was supposed to be the first computer shop to open in the UK. The boss was great and gave lot's of discounts, however he knew little about programming but was really into games and new computers.

On one I used to input a few lines of  basic code  which had the background of the screen flashing with raster loading lines so customers (and staff) would stand waiting for the "game" to load, before eventually having to switch the computer off POKE 53280,x and POKE 53281,x in a repeating loop

The other one I used to do was a simple POKE 649,0    This disabled the keyboard so the computer had to be switched off .

Oh, the joys of Novaloader where we would get a cassette with around 50 games on, all of which loaded in seconds rather than 10 minutes.