Skip to content

TechRepublic

  • Top Products Lists
  • AI
  • Developer
  • Payroll
  • Security
  • Project Management
  • TechRepublic Academy
  • Innovation
  • Cheat Sheets
  • Cloud
  • 5G
  • Big Data
  • TechRepublic Premium
  • Top Products Lists
  • AI
  • Developer
  • Payroll
  • Security
  • Project Management
  • TechRepublic Academy
  • Innovation
  • Cheat Sheets
  • Cloud
  • 5G
  • Big Data
  • See All Topics
  • Sponsored
  • Newsletters
  • Forums
  • Resource Library
TechRepublic Premium
Join / Sign In
Hardware

Photo memories of 18 first computers

By nicolebremernash June 7, 2010, 4:59 AM PDT

Image
1
of 10

FranklinAce2100.jpg
FranklinAce2100.jpg
Photo memories of 18 first computers

Franklin Ace 2000 series

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.

Photo memories of 18 first computers

TRS 80 model 1

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.

Photo memories of 18 first computers

TI 99/4

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.

Related Geekend post: Dust off that dinosaur computer.

Photo memories of 18 first computers

Timex Sinclair 1000

Timex Sinclair 1000

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

Related Geekend post: Dust off that dinosaur computer.

Photo memories of 18 first computers

TRS 80 Model II with Table

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.

Photo memories of 18 first computers

TI 99/4 A

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 8×8 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.

Photo memories of 18 first computers

Heathkit H-29

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.”

Related Geekend post: Dust off that dinosaur computer.

Photo memories of 18 first computers

Mattel Aquarius

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.

Photo memories of 18 first computers

Compaq

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.

Photo memories of 18 first computers

Digi-Comp I

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.

  • Hardware
  • Account Information

    Share with Your Friends

    Photo memories of 18 first computers

    Your email has been sent

Share: Photo memories of 18 first computers
Image of nicolebremernash
By nicolebremernash
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
  • Account Information

    Contact nicolebremernash

    Your message has been sent

  • |
  • See all of nicolebremernash's content

TechRepublic Premium

  • TechRepublic Premium

    Office relocation checklist

    PURPOSE New office launches and site relocations run the range from straightforward to overly complex. For intricate, sophisticated new office deployments and larger site moves, TechRepublic Premium’s Office relocation checklist can help plan, monitor and execute such projects. From the checklist: LIST REQUIRED OF EQUIPMENT AND SERVICES Begin by creating a simple list of required ...

    Downloads
    Published:  May 25, 2023, 4:00 PM EDT Modified:  May 26, 2023, 11:17 AM EDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium
  • TechRepublic Premium

    Onboarding and offboarding IT staff checklist

    PURPOSE Onboarding and offboarding employees requires careful attention. Otherwise, team members may receive insufficient permissions to perform their jobs or continue to have access long after their employment’s termination. Given the stakes, the problem is even worse when managing IT staff permissions, so it’s imperative that your company adopts a system to ensure consistency. Employees, ...

    Downloads
    Published:  May 24, 2023, 4:00 PM EDT Modified:  May 25, 2023, 9:19 AM EDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium
  • TechRepublic Premium

    10 must-know Firefox tips

    PURPOSE TechRepublic Premium presents 10 tips for the Firefox open-source browser. Even if you only follow some of these, you’ll find your browser experience to be much improved. From the article: 1. USE CAUTION WITH ADD-ONS AND THEMES This is one of the first tips I always offer. I’ve seen web browsers with so many ...

    Downloads
    Published:  May 23, 2023, 4:00 PM EDT Modified:  May 24, 2023, 6:46 PM EDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium
  • TechRepublic Premium

    Bring your own device policy

    PURPOSE The purpose of this Bring your own device policy from TechRepublic Premium is to provide requirements for BYOD usage and establish the steps that both users and the IT department should follow to initialize, support and remove devices from company access. These requirements must be followed as documented in order to protect company systems ...

    Downloads
    Published:  May 22, 2023, 4:00 PM EDT Modified:  May 23, 2023, 7:26 PM EDT Read More See more TechRepublic Premium

Services

  • About Us
  • Newsletters
  • RSS Feeds
  • Site Map
  • Site Help & Feedback
  • FAQ
  • Advertise
  • Do Not Sell My Information

Explore

  • Downloads
  • TechRepublic Forums
  • Meet the Team
  • TechRepublic Academy
  • TechRepublic Premium
  • Resource Library
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • TechRepublic
  • TechRepublic on Twitter
  • TechRepublic on Facebook
  • TechRepublic on LinkedIn
  • TechRepublic on Flipboard
© 2023 TechnologyAdvice. All rights reserved.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Property of TechnologyAdvice