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                        Posted by satchmo on 
    Wed Jun 29th 2005 at 12:03am
                     
                    
                        
                        Posted 
    2005-06-29 12:03am
                     
                 
                
            
            
                
    
                    
                             satchmo
                            satchmo
            
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                        Inspired by MoneyShot's "What's this" thread, I want to know whether you can remember the specs of your first PC.
For me, it goes back to 1986, when hairs were big and ties were thin (and Michael Jackson was a well-respected pop superstar).
It was a 80286, an IBM clone. I can't even remember the speed, but it could be 8 MHz. I think it had a huge 128k of RAM, and an enormous HDD (6 MB). I ran programs at a stunning resolution of 640x480, with 16 colors! I was so thrilled that it could display colors like cyan and magenta. Come on, it's magenta we're talking about.
I was going to keep it forever, but it stopped booting up ten years later. Now it's probably sitting around at a Chinese landfill in Shanghai, cold and hungry.
Hold on, I need a break....I can't continue anymore.
                                            
                        "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by Spartan on 
    Wed Jun 29th 2005 at 12:14am
                     
                    
                        
                        Posted 
    2005-06-29 12:14am
                     
                 
                
            
            
                
    
                    
                             Spartan
                            Spartan
            
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    Apr 28th 2004
                     
                
                        My first comp was a 200mhz Packard Bell with I think around 32mb of ram. This was in 1996.
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by Foxpup on 
    Wed Jun 29th 2005 at 12:23am
                     
                    
                        
                        Posted 
    2005-06-29 12:23am
                     
                 
                
            
            
                
    
                    
                             Foxpup
                            Foxpup
            
                        member
     
            380 posts
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    Nov 26th 2004
                    Occupation: Student
                            Location: the Land of Oz
             
                
                        1994
Intel 486DX2 (66 MHz - is that fast, or what?)
Local Bus VESA (640x480x8 - that's a whopping 256 colours)
32Mb XMS (a lot of RAM back in those days)
1Gb Hard Disc (yes, a whole gigabyte)
1.44Mb 3.5" Floppy Disk (cool, right?)
4x CD-ROM (an amazing four times the speed of a normal CD player)
Creative Labs AWE 32-bit Stereo Sound (yes, 32 bit)
Roland Sound Canvas GM-GS Capital Tones MPU-401 (neat, eh?)
The last two items comprise a sound system that's fairly advanced even by today's standards (and it cost a helluvalotta money, btw)
I still use this machine for playing old DOS classics.
                                            
                        Better to be in denial than to be human.
Bill Gates understands binary: his company is number one, and his customers are all zeros.
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by satchmo on 
    Wed Jun 29th 2005 at 12:41am
                     
                    
                        
                        Posted 
    2005-06-29 12:41am
                     
                 
                
            
            
                
    
                    
                             satchmo
                            satchmo
            
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    Nov 24th 2004
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                        Man, Foxpup, that was an uber machine back in 1994.  You musta ownd all your neighborhood.
                                            
                        "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by satchmo on 
    Wed Jun 29th 2005 at 1:26am
                     
                    
                 
                
            
            
                
    
                    
                             satchmo
                            satchmo
            
                        member
     
            2077 posts
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        Registered: 
    Nov 24th 2004
                    Occupation: pediatrician
                            Location: Los Angeles, U.S.
             
                
                        I never kept any of my old computers.  I usually gut them, taking out whatever I can salvage, and dump them.  Sounds cruel, but I don't have a lot of storage space to spare.
My last computer is still at my parents' place.  It can run Half-Life 2, but not well.  It cannot run Far Cry.  It was a Celeron 1.1 GHz with 512 MB of PC330 and Radeon 9200.
                                            
                        "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by NameWithHeld on 
    Wed Jun 29th 2005 at 8:46am
                     
                    
                 
                
            
            
                
    
            51 posts
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        Registered: 
    Oct 26th 2004
                    Occupation: Super Secret Special Forces
                            Location: Out the back of woop woop, Aus
             
                
                        my first computer is still my current computer.
i am so poor, what am i to do?
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by Andrei on 
    Wed Jun 29th 2005 at 10:56am
                     
                    
                        
                        Posted 
    2005-06-29 10:56am
                     
                 
                
            
            
                
    
                    
                             Andrei
                            Andrei
            
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    Sep 15th 2003
                            Location: Bucharest, Romania
             
                
                        My first computer was a
pentium 90 with 4mb/ram, a 8mb video card (a virge i think)and a 760 mb
HDD .I used to play 3d blocks on my dad's spectrum before getting this
machine though.
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by Dred_furst on 
    Wed Jun 29th 2005 at 1:42pm
                     
                    
                 
                
            
            
                
    
            455 posts
        135 snarkmarks
        Registered: 
    Sep 3rd 2003
                            Location: UK
             
                
                        My first pc was in 1992 and that was a bbc micro model B
                                            
                        I need a new sig
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by rs6 on 
    Wed Jun 29th 2005 at 4:27pm
                     
                    
                 
                
            
            
                
    
                    
                             rs6
                            rs6
            
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            640 posts
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    Dec 31st 2004
                    Occupation: koledge
                            Location: New Jersey, USA
             
                
                        My first computer was a 286 and thats all I remeber. I had when it was VERY outdated. I always got hand-me downs from my dad.
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by habboi on 
    Wed Jun 29th 2005 at 4:36pm
                     
                    
                 
                
            
            
                
    
                    
                             habboi
                            habboi
            
                            The Spammer of Snarkpit
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    Dec 11th 2004
                            Location: United Kingdom
             
                
                        Pentium 3, broken sound card so games crashed...
2mb ram, crappy Gateway make.
TBH it was rubbish and now this new Dell with Radeon 9800, 3MB Ram, 2.5ghz processor is great.
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by satchmo on 
    Wed Jun 29th 2005 at 4:44pm
                     
                    
                 
                
            
            
                
    
                    
                             satchmo
                            satchmo
            
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            2077 posts
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        Registered: 
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                            Location: Los Angeles, U.S.
             
                
                        I can't believe my parents spent over $2000 for my first PC. It was that 286 I mentioned earlier. I've never spent so much on a computer ever since.
And that's not even with inflation figured in.  It was probably more like $3000, considering it was 1986.
                                            
                        "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by Crono on 
    Wed Jun 29th 2005 at 6:05pm
                     
                    
                 
                
            
            
                
    
                    
                             Crono
                            Crono
            
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                            Location: Oregon, USA
             
                
                        First computer ever, was around 1985, wasn't mine until 1990 or so. Machintosh Plus. Oh yeah, that's right, 32Mhz ... 1 whole meg of ram, upgradable to 4. No HDD, No color, fun ass games, and a printer that never left a repair shop. (Same with our first VCR, seems my parents weren't very smart when it came to fixing stuff, since it'd be cheaper to buy a new whatever then to take it to sleezebag electronics repair men) The Mac was $1500. Jaw drops
Then, we had a 286 something or other, IBM monitor, if I remember properly. I remember, I bought a Micro Star release of Duke Nukem 2, which I could never play, ever, because the FDD was low density and the disc was high density.
After that (many years later) got a 486 and used Windows for the first time, probably around 1996 or so. Had some sort of other computer I can't remember at the same time.
Then, I got the first non-hand-me-down (this is about three years before the Mac blows the video, lasted a good 12 years though) it was a 233 Mhz Pentium, stocked up to about 300Mb of ram (1998 or so) and I think I finally got a 3D card: VooDoo Banshee, which still works fine (Had a Diamond Stealth lying around, sadly, by the time I got an AGP port it was severly out dated)
Then I had another computer, I built, didn't choose the parts though, 533Mhz Celeron, FIC motherboard (disgusting), 512 Mb ram PC133, and I finally got a GeForce 2 (MX440 :sad: ), all it needs now is a fan and it'd work.
Then, I made a HUGE upgrade some years later to a XP 1700+ and 512Mb PC2700, 60 GB IBM HDD, something else ... oh GeForce 4 Ti4200. And one more minor upgrade a couple years later to 512Mb PC3200, blah blah blah.
I say it's time for another upgrade, but I don't have money.
But pretty much all the computers that have ever been in my house have been custom made. It's just half the time, my dad jacked some of the parts from work and we had a pain in the ass time using them because he got some obscure board that had some weird socket that we couldn't find for a decent price. He brought home the Diamond card in like 1997 too, the year it came out. Would have been sweet to use at the time.
                                            
                        Blame it on Microsoft, God does.
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by satchmo on 
    Wed Jun 29th 2005 at 10:03pm
                     
                    
                        
                        Posted 
    2005-06-29 10:03pm
                     
                 
                
            
            
                
    
                    
                             satchmo
                            satchmo
            
                        member
     
            2077 posts
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        Registered: 
    Nov 24th 2004
                    Occupation: pediatrician
                            Location: Los Angeles, U.S.
             
                
                        Have any of you used Windows 2.0? I remember the first time I saw it, and I was just blown away. The GUI looked amazing compared to any DOS program.
Just think...Windows blowing me away with its graphics.
                                            
                        "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by Andrei on 
    Wed Jun 29th 2005 at 10:10pm
                     
                    
                        
                        Posted 
    2005-06-29 10:10pm
                     
                 
                
            
            
                
    
                    
                             Andrei
                            Andrei
            
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            2455 posts
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        Registered: 
    Sep 15th 2003
                            Location: Bucharest, Romania
             
                
                        I have. After an entire life of using something that resembled norton
commander via dos, it was enchanted by how user-friendly this mystical
OS was.
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by satchmo on 
    Wed Jun 29th 2005 at 10:55pm
                     
                    
                        
                        Posted 
    2005-06-29 10:55pm
                     
                 
                
            
            
                
    
                    
                             satchmo
                            satchmo
            
                        member
     
            2077 posts
        1809 snarkmarks
        Registered: 
    Nov 24th 2004
                    Occupation: pediatrician
                            Location: Los Angeles, U.S.
             
                
                        Yeah, I remember the days of PCTools and small utilities to park your HDD's heads.
How many here at the Pit can still edit a CONFIG.SYS file?
                                            
                        "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by SaintGreg on 
    Thu Jun 30th 2005 at 3:45am
                     
                    
                 
                
            
            
                
    
            212 posts
        51 snarkmarks
        Registered: 
    Dec 3rd 2004
                     
                
                        Mac plus also!  I don't remember any of the games we had, but I
remember that as a kid (I was like 5 at the time) it was fun as hell.
                                            
                        To get something to work, sometimes you just have to beat your head against the wall longer; the skin grows back, but the brick doesn't.
Source hates soup!
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by G.Ballblue on 
    Thu Jun 30th 2005 at 7:47pm
                     
                    
                 
                
            
            
                
    
            1511 posts
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        Registered: 
    May 16th 2004
                    Occupation: Student
                            Location: A secret Nuclear Bunker on Mars
             
                
                        <DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Forceflow</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>
MS-Dos
</DIV></DIV>
The ultimate operating system.  Or whatever it was.
                                            
                        Breaking the laws of mapping since 2003 and doing a damn fine job at it
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by Addicted to Morphine on 
    Fri Jul 1st 2005 at 5:38am
                     
                    
                 
                
            
            
                
    
            3012 posts
        529 snarkmarks
        Registered: 
    Feb 15th 2005
                     
                
                        I have no idea what the specs were, but the first computer my family
owned was this old macintosh that i could play "maniac mansion" on in
black and white after installing with those huge floppy disks...
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by Myrk- on 
    Sat Jul 2nd 2005 at 12:29pm
                     
                    
                        
                        Posted 
    2005-07-02 12:29pm
                     
                 
                
            
            
                
    
                    
                             Myrk-
                            Myrk-
            
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            2299 posts
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    Feb 12th 2002
                    Occupation: CAD & Graphics Technician
                            Location: Plymouth, UK
             
                
                        Had an Amiga, used to play all those old sk00l games with Lep, both of us would cram around its insanely large keyboard. Then we had a 286, and so on.
                                            
                        -[Better to be Honest than Kind]-
                                    
             
        
            
            
                                     
                                
                    
                        Re: What's your spec (old-school version)?
                        Posted by Fjorn on 
    Sat Jul 2nd 2005 at 1:28pm
                     
                    
                 
                
            
            
                
    
                    
                             Fjorn
                            Fjorn
            
                        member
     
            250 posts
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    Jun 5th 2004
                    Occupation: Student/Amateur Writer
                            Location: California - USA
             
                
                        My first comp?
Some DOS box with a green screen, no sound
spent lots of hours playing(and cursing) Zork :razz:
                                            
                        Signature? What signature!?