Favorite non-PC, non-Mac computer? (mostly for old farts)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

Which, if any, you most liked to fiddle with? Mine was the TRS Color Computer. A joy to hack -- it has a listing of the entire ROM BASIC/OS. Had great fun creating customized versions. (and be paid for it no less!) When I smell ozone in the rain I get fond memories of EPROM erasing.

OK, your memories don't have to be as hackery as mine. :crazy:

[trotsky]

1. My old Commodore 64

What a great machine. Taught myself BASIC programming (and some assembly), played TONS o' games, really enjoyed that old thing.

[jimbo fett]

3. Yep, it's gotta be the Commodore 64.

I had a choice of on what to spend the money I had saved - a class ring or a computer.

I bought a C-64. The best thing I ever did. I was the only person in my high school with a computer. I never had to type an english paper on an old typewriter. My friends would spend hours writing theirs in long hand, editing, rewriting and then finally typing their papers (often having to re-do many pages). I just did all that on the computer. Not only that but I could discreetly adjust font size, line-spacing, etc. to "stretch" a paper to the teacher's minimum length.

[toddzilla]

2. amiga 3000

best computer ever!

great example of poor marketing killing a fantastic product.

[DemNoir]

10. Amiga for me too

It was so far ahead of its time it would have been difficult for anyone to market. At the time the general public was just getting used to the idea of a Personal Computer.

[mikehiggins]

12. Amiga

I'm an old Commodore guy, went from 64 to 128. Had to choose between a Mac, an Amiga or a Gateway pc-clone. I surrendered to the business model (and the availability of easily copied software) and went pc.

I never regretted it but it was sad what happened with the Amiga.

I helped install a whole audio-visual complex for Sony in Manhattan and it was built around Amigas. They have their own fine computers but they knew that when it came to graphics and AV, Amiga was the gold standard.

Gone now, of course.

[dwckabal]

4. TI 99/4A N/T

[Atman]

5. I learned on an old Kaypro

The original iMac...the keyboard clipped on to the front of the metal case, acting like a monitor cover, so you could carry it around by the handle on back. It was rugged as hell. We used to use them to tabulate scores and track heats in surf contests...the damn thing would sit in the sun, sand and salt for two or three days at a pop, and still kept running!

[regularguy]

6. AT&T 3B-1

Had an almost graphical interface with UNIX, mid 80s.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

7. System V and Motif, I suppose? (nt)

[OldSoldier]

25. If you could keep it running, that is

I had a 3B15...if it wasn't crashed it was broken.

Fortunately, Unix application source recompiles to different machines pretty easily.

[HERVEPA]

8. IBM 1130 (late 60's)

When you submitted your job, you had to tell the operator which sense switches to set. They were tested by the program to determine path to take.

[cryofan]

9. VAX PDP-11....wrote my first program on it

in 1987.....

[ET Awful]

11. Too many fun ones to list :)

Commodore PET :)
Apple II/IIe
Commodore 64
Atari ST (the competition they came out with for the Amiga)
Amiga
TRS-80

They were all fun :).

Commodore 64 was the best for games back in the day. Amiga was best for technology and WOW factor.

The rest were just . . . neat :).

[Runesong]

13. Commodore 64

I wrote a few video games, and a BBS program on it.

I also had a PDP 11/23 that was the size of a fridge, and would brown-out the neighborhood everytime I started it up. that was fun to play with :)

[eyesroll]

14. I learned BASIC on an Apple II +

I created a computer-dating program for the girls in my class. I programmed all of the boys in, and had the girls take a test, and the results (somewhat) corresponded to what boy would have been the best. (I was 10, so it was far from sophistiocated.)

[Whitacre D_WI]

15. ENIAC

n/t

[bamademo]

16. VAX 11-780 and 785

I loved VAXEN !

I don't care what you say.
16 bits are here to stay.

[RebelOne]

17. Apple IIe before Macs were invented.

[Robb]

18. The Clinique Computer

...This is kind of funny.

Mrs. Robb used to work for the cosmetics company Clinique. There was (may still be) this little plastic box with slider bars the employees would use to determine which shades of makeup were right for your skin type, etc. It was called the "Clinique Computer", which I found hilarious.

At an employee party where I played arm-furniture, someone mentioned the "Clinique Computer", and I (naturally) had by that point put away a few cups of good cheer, and blurted out, "Yeah, you know the old Clinique Computer took up an entire room, and generated massive amounts of heat!" :)

I don't think I have to tell you that aside from Mrs. Robb, none of the women who worked at the counter got it. :eyes:

[Enraged_Ape]

21. I think that's pretty funny.

If I'd been there, I'd have been LMAO, and my wife would have looked at me like I was from another planet.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. I took a computer literacy course in 1982 that used

Osbornes!

They were----portable!!! (Just barely. They were about the size of an accordion.)

[jimbo fett]

20. Remember that TINY little computer by Sharp?

It was about the size of a calculator. No monitor - you just hooked it up to a TV. Black plastic. You could by it pre-assembled or build it yourself for a little less money. It had "chiclet" keys that were too small for most fingers so you had to type with the eraser-end of a pencil.

[Enraged_Ape]

22. That almost sounds like a Timex Sinclair

Same profile: about the size of a calculator, hooked up to a TV, black plastic, and cheaper if you bought the "do-it-yourself". I saw these advertised in OMNI all the time, always wanted one, and never got one.

[jimbo fett]

24. I stand corrected - it was the Timex Sinclair.

It's been so long my brain was operating like a Timex Sinclair.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

23. PC-1211 oh baby!

My friend at college had one of those. I would just borrow it and fudge around to no end.

http://www.vintagecalculators.com/html/sharp_pc1211_tandy_trs80_pc1.html

[OldSoldier]

26. Silicon Graphics 4D/240S

Just great if you were doing big graphical datasets. Also good if you needed a space heater.