Photo memories of 18 first computers

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Franklin Ace 2000 series

We asked TechRepublic members (via our Forums and our Facebook page) if they remembered their first computers. Many do, and quite fondly. Here is a photo walk down memory lane, featuring comments from members about their first computers. (All photos are from Oldcomputers.net.)

TechRepublic member Tink! shares this memory about the Franklin Ace 2000: "I was 5 years old and it was the family computer. My dad taught me how to do simple math calculations on it and I learned how to type using a 5" floppy disk game called MasterType. (When I say "type" I mean real "touch typing". I was typing 60-90 wpm by the time I was in grade school.)"

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TRS 80 model 1

TechRepublic member OP Gene remembers: "My first computer was a TRS-80, Model 1. It used a cassette tape drive for storage. I wrote a program in micro-basic to balance my check book." (Steven Stengel explains at oldcomputers.net that T = Tandy, RS = Radio Shack, 80 = Z-80 microprocessor.)

Related Geekend post: Dust off that dinosaur computer.
Sinclair ZX Spectrum

TechRepublic member jonathanwood27 tells us that his family shared a Sinclair ZX Spectrum.

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Apple Macintosh

TechRepublic's The Flaming Maiden's first computer was an Apple Macintosh. She remembers that it came with a bag for traveling.

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TI 99/4

TechRepublic member TonyTheTiger remembers his first computer as being a Texas Instruments 99/4 with all the extras. That was one long computer.

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Timex Sinclair 1000

TechRepublic member papaoz's first computer was a Timex Sinclair with a 16k expansion pack.

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TRS 80 Model II with Table

TechRepublic member SquidProQuo remembers a color computer from Radio Shack. The TRS 80 Model II had many additional items available, including a computer desk designed just for it. SquidProQuo says: "Radio Shack Color Computer. Cool little package, 16K RAM with a 8908 processor at first, I think. Then, third party accessory vendors started popping up all over and offering lots of cool stuff that Radio Shack didn't offer. Even had a devoted magazine for several years. For a while, I used it with a phone modem to connect to Georgia State University's Univac for a class in PASCAL programming. Good memories (no pun intended)."

Related Geekend post: Dust off that dinosaur computer.
TI 99/4 A

Featuring an improved keyboard and graphics chip, the TI 99/4 A was the first computer TechRepublic member edean65 remembers having.

"The TI/99 4A was my first computer. I added the PANASONIC KXP-1180 cassette tape recorder they recommended due to its variable tone control, and then added the Texas Instruments peripheral expansion box and disk drive and speech synthesizer soon thereafter. Everything still works except for the speech synthesizer, but overheats easily. That's no biggie, since I still love it and have it set up next to my widescreen TV downstairs. It's a real conversation piece when people come in. It used a TMS9900 processor, if I remember correctly, and a dedicated graphics processor. Its sprite handling in extended basic was beautiful and very easy to handle-- you could take any 8x8 character in the ASCII set and redefine its look using a TI extended basic statement that took as its argument a sixteen hex-digit string. Each digit's binary equivalent equated exactly to the bit pattern of 4 of the eight pixels in each row of the resulting redefined character. So 2 hex digits redefined the look of each row. You could also set these characters in motion as sprites. The floppy disk drive was accessible only when you plugged in the ROM pack that ran the disk drive, but this was pretty transparent and not a problem. I was a high school student at the time, and a big gamer on this machine. I played most of the Scott Adams adventures on this machine, and several TI proprietary games and some third party games. The sound was pretty good on this machine as well, but it couldn't compete with the three channel sound of the Commodore 64 by any stretch."

Related Geekend post: Dust off that dinosaur computer.
Heathkit H-29

TheChas enjoyed the Heathkit: "Heathkit Microprocessor Trainer. This device has a boot ROM and programs in Motorola 6800 machine code. It has a Hex keypad and an LED display. There is a breadboard area where you can wire up input and output circuits."

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Mattel Aquarius

TheChas explains how the Aquarius worked: "Next was the Mattel Aquarius computer that grew out of the Intelevision game system. Z80 based, this has a 3/4 scale keyboard and connects to a TV. You either used plug-in program cartridges or a cassette drive. There was an option for a CP/M based floppy disk drive expansion."

Related Geekend post: Dust off that dinosaur computer.
Commodore VIC-20

One of the first, inexpensive color computers, many members at the TechRepublic Facebook page remember their first computers to be the $300 Commodore VIC-20. VIC stands for Video Interface Chip.

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Commodore 64

Thought it looks a lot like the Commodore VIC-20, the Commodore 64 was actually less expensive at $200 and is one of the top selling computers of all time. No wonder so many TechRepublic readers had one!

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Atari 400

Like TechRepublic member Reggie on our Facebook page, many geeks have fond memories of the Atari 400. The cartridges went under the metal shield so as to protect users from radio emissions.

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IBM PCjr

TechRepublic member Jim L. Jr. remembers his computer as an IBM PCjr, which was IBM's first major attempt to capture the home market.

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Compaq

Thanks to TechRepublic member JD L. who reminded us of the Compaq in the Facebook discussion.

Related Geekend post: Dust off that dinosaur computer.
Apple II

TechRepublic member Greg B's school had Apple IIs, which improved on the Apple I mostly in that the Apple II displayed color.

Related Geekend post: Dust off that dinosaur computer.
Kaypro II

TechRepublic member Jason S. tells us: "Our first home computer was a Kaypro 8088 with 5.25" Floppy and a small hard drive with an EGA Monitor. The whole setup was top-of-the-line at the time and cost a minor fortune. Two years later, we went to go back to the store to buy a newer one and found nothing but a parking lot! We were amazed. I owned that Kaypro up until 4 years ago when ... See More we had to move and I didn't have the storage to take it with :( I still have two others that we bought, too - a Pentium 2 333MHz and a Pentium 3 733MHz (that are still used today)." The Kaypro II in the photo has an all metal exterior.

Related Geekend post: Dust off that dinosaur computer.
Digi-Comp I

TechRepublic member Michael Jay tells us about the Digi-Comp I: "Well it was just a toy more than anything else but at a very young age I was introduced to binary and octal, kind cool as new math was just coming out in school and they added hex to the mix which I also learned with the Digi-Comp 2, the next computer I had, again mid sixty's."

Related Geekend post: Dust off that dinosaur computer.

Thank you to all of the TechRepublic members who shared their stories about their first computer. If we didn't feature your comment in this gallery, we may include your comment in another "my first computer" gallery in the future.

Franklin Ace 2000 series

We asked TechRepublic members (via our Forums and our Facebook page) if they remembered their first computers. Many do, and quite fondly. Here is a photo walk down memory lane, featuring comments from members about their first computers. (All photos are from Oldcomputers.net.)

TechRepublic member Tink! shares this memory about the Franklin Ace 2000: "I was 5 years old and it was the family computer. My dad taught me how to do simple math calculations on it and I learned how to type using a 5" floppy disk game called MasterType. (When I say "type" I mean real "touch typing". I was typing 60-90 wpm by the time I was in grade school.)"

Related Geekend post: Dust off that dinosaur computer.

By Nicole Nash

Nicole Bremer Nash is Director of Content and Social Media for HuTerra, where she uses SEO and social media to promote charitable organizations in their community-building and fundraising efforts. She enjoys volunteering, arts and crafts, and conduct...

Franklin Ace 2000 series

TRS 80 model 1

Sinclair ZX Spectrum

Apple Macintosh

TI 99/4

Timex Sinclair 1000

TRS 80 Model II with Table

TI 99/4 A

Heathkit H-29

Mattel Aquarius

Commodore VIC-20

Commodore 64

Atari 400

IBM PCjr

Compaq

Apple II

Kaypro II

Digi-Comp I

Franklin Ace 2000 series

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By Nicole Nash

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