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What was the first computer you ever owned?

Discussion in 'Computers' started by KenBrace, Apr 12, 2015.

  1. KenBrace

    KenBrace Staff Member Administrator

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    Remember that day when you received your first computer in the mail or brought it home from the store?

    Pretty exciting wasn't it?

    It's always fun watching that first boot up, customizing the desktop, setting up your files, etc.

    What was the first computer you ever owned?

    Was it a laptop or a desktop?
     
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  2. lerxst

    lerxst New Member

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    The first computer I remember having at home was a Commodore 64. It would have been around 1982-3 and it was primarily purchased for my brother.

    My main memory of the machine was that the games came in cassette format rather than discs. You'd insert them into the player (which couldn't be substituted for a regular cassette player) and be forced to listen to the most abrasive screeching noises as the game took anywhere between 5 -10 minutes to load. To be honest, there wasn't much else you could do with the computer other than play games or do your homework.

    The frst computer that I purchased with my own money was a big deal though. After a few years of living in shared accomodation, I bought my own house and one of the first things I did was get myself online, Bear in mind that this was in 2002 and not many homes actually had internet access back then. I was excited to have unlimited web access, having only been used to a restricted service at college and work. These days, I couldn't do without the internet. I've come to rely on it for so many aspects of my life and I'm sure this is the same for most people.
     
  3. Pipergale

    Pipergale New Member

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    The first ever computer that I owned was an Atari computer, which is a really old-school block of a computer, for those who are not familiar. It did not have Windows or anything on it. I just used to play old-school games on it, like Outrun, and Bomb Jack. I don't know if those names will ring any bells for anybody lol. Is my age showing?? Hahaha!!

    I did not my own computer until late last year, when my mother purchased a newer laptop and gave me her older one to keep. The computers and laptops that I'd had access to, up until that point, had always been family laptops and computers, which we all had to share. I used to hate it. But I love the freedom that comes with having my own computer. For one, I don't have to erase any internet history :p
     
  4. Alex

    Alex New Member

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    I've always shared my computers with my brother, but my first laptop was an eMate by Apple. I still have it somewhere at my parents, but at the time not many people had email so I rarely used it except for writing documents.

    I really loved it at the time, but back in 1998 most people didn't even know what a website was. I've been an Apple user since, and have had the odd Windows laptop, but have found I'm so used to Apple, it's hard to move over.
     
  5. dave david

    dave david New Member

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    my first computer was a Data General Nova , it was a minicomputer pretty different than what most had, that was in the early 1970's. I did have it at home for a while until I got familiar with it and knew how to boot it and get it to read paper tape.

    My first home computer was a South west technical products computer. More of a kit and required some assembly.
     
    Last edited: Apr 12, 2015
  6. kjonesm1

    kjonesm1 New Member

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    I remember getting my first computer like it was yesterday. It was a Hewlitt Packard and I got it on Christmas day my junior year of high school. I screamed so loud when I opened the box and immediately jumped up to hug and kiss my mom, aunt and uncle who had all pitched in to give me the single most memorable gift I had ever received. This was back in 1998, so keep in mind laptops were not as normal as they are now.
     
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  7. GearZ

    GearZ New Member

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    This is going to date myself, but the first I personally owned was a Apple II/e. It was totally rad with it's dual, single-density, 5¼" floppies. The first I ever used was some sort of clunky dumb terminal attached to a mainframe. Since then, I've gone through more PCs, Macs, Unix workstations, and mobile devices than I can remember.

    Now, my primary workstation is a high-end, custom built Windows 7 box. On the road, it is a MacBook Air with a dual boot (Boot Camp) between Mac OS X and Windows 7. I can also drop to a Unix terminal in those rare cases I need to under OS X.
     
  8. workonb

    workonb New Member

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    The first computer that I ever owned was a Hewlitt Packard that I bought from a friend at work. At the time, she and her husband had several computers at their home and they sold me one of their used ones. It is a little off white and very bulky but I continued to use it for about 3 years or so until it finally crashed.
     
  9. waffleparty

    waffleparty New Member

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    I think I may be quite a bit younger than most of the other posters here because the first computer I ever "owned" was a Gateway desktop that my family got from one of my aunts. This was around the year 2000. I didn't personally own it - it was more of a family computer - but it was the first computer my family had. (We were pretty late into the computer scene.) Back then I didn't have as much use for a computer as I do now, but one thing I remember most clearly is playing the game Spelling Jungle on it. Is anyone else familiar with that game? You played as a cave man going around the map trying to collect letters to spell certain words.

    I only got my first personal computer about 3 years ago, and it's a Macbook that was a gift for college. Having my own computer is much better than sharing a computer with my whole family. I definitely enjoy being able to use it whenever I want and customizing it to meet my needs.
     
    Last edited: Apr 14, 2015
  10. Grumpy

    Grumpy New Member

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    The first computer I can remember owning/using in the family home was a Dell machine with Windows 97 installed. I would have been maybe 10 years old at the most, so we're talking between 99-2000. Was slow as heck and the internet was old dial up back then, but I could have endless hours of fun somehow just playing on Paint and printing useless squiggles and drawings out. It was one of my favourite pass-times back in my childhood. :)
     
  11. Camille

    Camille New Member

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    The first computer I have ever owned was the laptop I'm using now. It was given to me as a gift from my Dad. Hopefully in the next couple years I can get a new one though...it's been through a couple of bad viruses and doesn't work quite right anymore, even though it's been taken in to be fixed.
     
  12. Garnet King

    Garnet King New Member

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    My first computer well let me see, it was definitely a desktop PC and man I was super excited after buying from the store. This was a whole new experience better than TV, but it was a bitter sweet feeling after a week or so.
    It turns out that this was a custom built PC with the worst specs ever and it was dying so fast my warrantee could barely keep up but was my only hope to save it and learning computer hardware and software was my alternative, so I did just that. And it turns out this is what made me into the computer self-thought genius I am today.
    So yeah I pretty much love and cherish the memory of my old computer.
     
  13. Riks

    Riks New Member

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    The very first computer I ever owned was a massive Compaq desktop PC. My mother bought it for my 16th birthday and I could not wait to start her up and jump on MSN chat lol. We had gotten a free AOL subscription for a month which didn't work for about two days (how devastated I was) but once up and running I was on cloud 9.
     
  14. happyworker

    happyworker New Member

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    My very first computer was a Sony VAIO and I had it for a long time until it broke down. I certainly do remember that day when I brought my computer home from the store. I also remember spending a lot of money on the Sony VAIO but it was worth it. Oh yes me purchasing this Sony VAIO was pretty exciting because it came with a DVD player already attached to it so I could watch movies and it had so much more fun things on there for me to do when I had some free time. So the first computer I ever owned was the Sony VAIO and I'm glad that I had lots of years with it. My Sony VAIO computer was a laptop and I liked it.
     
  15. naenae

    naenae New Member

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    The first one I ever hard was a windows 3.1
     
  16. blueleaf

    blueleaf New Member

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    I'm running a 3 year old quad core laptop with 4 gigs of ram. I bought it from an online store. It was a good deal at that price. Back then Quad cores were the big thing. Sadly, I need to upgrade badly. I'm sorely in need of more resources. The programs and windows 7 eats up a lot of ram.
     
  17. fuzyon

    fuzyon New Member

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    I can't really remember the specific model but it was something made by IBM which still had a floppy disk drive and it was very little.
    I used to play daily on it, especially Age of Empires 2
     
  18. kamigreed

    kamigreed New Member

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    The first ever "proper" gaming laptop I got is a Lenovo Y470 which I purchased it from my school as a requirement for what I am studying. Back then, I did not really know much about computers and laptops so I thought that the specifications of my laptop was quite decent for gaming. I wish I had consulted with an expert before buying it as I have an AMD graphics card and it does not perform that well for the price that I paid. I regretted not buying a laptop with NVIDIA graphics as for a cheaper price, I could have played better games with lesser problems.
     
  19. bLade

    bLade New Member

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    The first computer I ever owned is an Asus laptop which I am still using up until now. It was a gift from my brother during my birthday three years ago. I am very thankful for that day since it'll be a big help for my studies especially on my programming subject. My brother taught me the basic things like reformat, partitioning, drivers installation, and he even forced me to read the manual first before I can use the laptop.
     
  20. DirkZiff

    DirkZiff New Member

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    І dоn't knоw іf thіs wаs іt, but І'm gеttіng flаshbасks оf wrіtіng hіgh sсhооl Еnglіsh рареrs, sо іt's lіkеlу sіmіlаr.

    Тhе kеуs mаdе а сrіsр, сlісkіng nоіsе. І lоvеd thаt. Му hаbіt оf рrеssіng thеm аll thе tіmе іs рrоbаblу whаt kіllеd thе dаmn thіng.

    Wе саllеd оur Gаtеwау оur "ІВМ Сlоnе." Νоnе оf us hаd аnу іdеа whаt thаt mеаnt. Вut wе sаіd іt аll thе tіmе, аlоng thе lіnеs оf 'Оh уеs, оur Gаtеwау, уоu knоw, thе ІВМ Сlоnе." І саn stіll rеmеmbеr mу mоm sауіng іt tо frіеnds. Fоrtunаtеlу, thеу hаd nо іdеа whаt іt wаs еіthеr.

    (Іn fасt, І stіll dоn't rеаllу knоw whаt іt mеаns. Веt Моm dоеsn't еіthеr.)

    Оnе tіmе wе hаd tо gеt іt fіхеd аnd Моm саllеd thе hеlрlіnе. Тhеу аskеd hеr whаt mоdеl іt wаs аnd shе sаіd "А Gаtеwау. Іt's аn ІВМ Сlоnе. Іt's nоt wоrkіng."

    Whісh іs lіkе sауіng tо аn аutо-mаіntеnаnсе реrsоn: "Му саr, thе Ноndа Ассоrd, whісh іs а sеdаn, hаs brоkеn dоwn."

    Тhіs соmрutеr hаd а dеер іmрасt оn mе fоr twо rеаsоns.

    1) Іt іs whеrе І bеgаn mу wrіtіng саrееr. І wrоtе а shоrt stоrу, іn DОЅ аnd оn сlісkу kеуs, аbоut thе аdvеnturеs оf а рrесосіоus, sсrарру аnd mіsundеrstооd "Јеmіmа" аnd hеr аntаgоnіst оldеr sіstеr, "Ѕusаn." Whо wаs bеаutіful, реrfесt, but mіldlу bоrіng.

    Іt wаs рrеttу muсh соmрlеtеlу рlаgіаrіzеd frоm Веvеrlу Сlеаrlу's Rаmоnа Quіmbу sеrіеs. Wіth а fеw thіngs thаt сhаnnеlеd mу rеlаtіоnshір wіth mу оldеr sіstеr. І рrіntеd оut а сору - оn оur Dоt Маtrіх рrіntеr - sо І stіll hаvе іt. Іt іs bаd, bаd, bаd.

    2) Dо уоu rеmеmbеr Gаtеwау's соw mоtіf? Оf соursе уоu dо. Тhеіr stоrеs lооkеd lіkе а hеrd оf Ноlstеіns thаt hаd gоttеn lоst аnd sоmеhоw hоmеd tо а suburbаn strір mаll.

    Whеn wе mоvеd tо Lоndоn, lаst уеаr wе hаd tо gеt sоmе thіngs оut оf stоrаgе.

    Тhеrе, іn stоrаgе, wаs а blасk аnd whіtе соw bох.

    І'm nоt kіddіng. І hаvе usеd іt еvеrу sіnglе уеаr tо hоld thіngs, mоvе thіngs аnd whеn І'm nоt usіng іt, І kерt іt fоldеd undеr mу bеd оr іn stоrаgе.

    І dоn't knоw whаt thаt shіt wаs mаdе frоm, but іt іs dаmn nеаr іndеstruсtіblе. Gаtеwау shоuld hаvе gоnе іn tо thе busіnеss оf bохеs.

    Іt wаs асtuаllу hаrd lеttіng gо оf іt. І hаd tо mаkе mу husbаnd thrоw іt аwау.

    Іt's tіmе hаd соmе.
     

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