The Retrocomputing Thread

[NejinOniwa]

Wikipedia gives me brand launch of Presario in '93. 742 is not on the list, but the CDS 744 is pretty high up...undated though, so I dunno - but from the specs I'd say around 95-96-ish.

[AMDKurt]

Ok, thank you ^_^

[Bella]

yea, you tend to get what you pay for there.

lesee, moar specific instructions, cause there's nowhere and then there's NOWHERE.

like, goffstown nowhere or cheever nowhere? :\

oh, the oldest computers  have:
original shitty (technically no longer exists, except for speakers and hard drive) which was built in 97', and
tanky, who was running Sec-chan so somewhere aroun 99 i'd assume.

Yep.

You're off by MILES, but I will admit, the latter is surprisingly close.

Is a computer still a computer, if all that exists is a HD and speakers? Do you still have Tanky?

So anyway. I'm probably going to buy those laptops on Monday (when the shop's open again). My father's not very happy with this idea. He already has be pegged as a "junk collector" and paying $35 for a pile of possible junk will reinforce my reputation. xD

[VonDaab]

Oh, come to think of it...
One of my first computers, if not the first was an old intel286 or 386, cant remember, but it had Win3.1 and a very heavy power switch (yes, a switch, not a button) that really made a distinctive "clack" sound when switched on.
Also had a monochrome laser printer the size of a large dog! woo!

But yeah, most games were accessible by DOS only.
Doom sure was an exciting game when I was 11...

Sadly, I dont have this machine anymore. It got replaced by a 100mhz Pentium in 1999 or 2000, and this again by a 600Mhz Celeron in 2002.

Out of these I have only the 600Mhz Celeron, that is currenly in use by my parents, as their less than 5 year old Fujitsu Siemens broke down... ultimate fail.
Oh yeah, the Celeron has Ubuntu on it, and runs surprisingly smooth, considering that it has only 256Mb's to work with.

[Chocofreak13]

that IS fail. >__<

if you ever find somethin' old in ur basement, POAST TOAST~

and bella, henniker? or further? :\

[Red-Machine]

You got a 100MHz Pentium in '99/'00 and a 600MHz Celeron in '02?  Um, why?  Was money an issue of something?

I had a 150MHz Pentium MMX in '96 and a 1.5GHz Pentium 4 in '01.

[VonDaab]

Well excuuse me if I'm not from the wealthiest family...

[Red-Machine]

lol, Sorry, I wasn't having a go or anythin.  I'm just amazed you could still buy computers like that around then; unless you got them used, that is...

[VonDaab]

Well, they were used, and they were computers my big brother arranged us. As my parents had zero computer knowledge.

My big bro had a VIC-20 and a C64 back in the 80's, early 90's.
I remember Street Surfer on it...

[Chocofreak13]

my busdriver offered me an old laptop she has lying around this one day. xD

i still want it....i hope she wasn't kidding.

i think she said it was roughly the thickness of a brick, and i THINK she said it was ibm. :3

[AMDKurt]

IBM is zeh old school stuff :'D I have a keyboard from IBM and it has no windows key xD

[VonDaab]

Well, yeah, IBM Model M keyboards are most probably made out of the indestructible Nintendium alloy, just like the NES and GameBoy of the same era.

Oh yeah, I had a photo of my Compaq lappy and also a retrotastic mouse.

[Dr. Kraus]

I used to have a compaq! was an older one then this tough, I'll post some pictures of my retro comps/mac's later

[NejinOniwa]

Wow, this thread is getting even more popularity than Topicless these days ^w^

[Bella]

VonDaab, that 3.1 machine sounds like the bomb-- a power SWITCH? That's just too cool. And that's a crazy looking mouse. :^D

(I wish somebody would create a retro-looking new computer-- you know, toggle switches, rows and rows of cool-but-essential-pointless status lights, old CRT-terminal-looking monitor and all that jazz... lol)

Choco-san-- you're getting farther away. Lemme give you a few hints: Lakes Region. White Mountains. Does the acronym "WV" mean anything to you...?

...
So yeah, today I finally bought those three laptops! ^^


1995 Apple Powerbook 190cs (that's the colour screen model!)
I love this one... it's just so little and adorable. Plus it has the coolness of being a classic Mac from the OS wars era. ^.^


1998 Gateway Solo
I'll be honest, I probably wouldn't have bought this one if it wasn't selling for $5. It seems to be the most modern-looking of the three-- it has a very flat, notebook-like keyboard (unlike the others which look more like downsized desktop keyboards-- you know what I mean?). It also has a nifty port-flap in the back!


~1998 IBM Thinkpad 770z
This one's a big, hulking fortress of a laptop, with all sorts of crazy buttons and switches and slides and clicky-things and LITTLE FLIP-DOWN FEET, it's so. friggin. awesome. ;v;

And just like Kurt's IBM keyboard-- this one doesn't have any Windows keys! xD

Unfortunately, this one seems to be the roughest of the three-- it's keyboard was full of cat hair and dust (still in the process of cleaning it out), it's covered in scratches and has a coffee-mug-ring on the lid, and smells like freakin' cigarettes (the store owner must have been chain-smoking in the back room). D:


The future Lakes Region Museum of Computing History's first artifacts. xD

But yeah, at the same used computer store the owner just took in an operational computer tower running WINDOWS 3.1-- I considered buying it, but 1) it was $50, a bit out of my price range and 2) is a desktop. I'm really more of a laptop person... all-in-one computers hold a certain appeal with me. (Hell, even my DESKTOP is an all-in-one computer.)