Bought a new computer!!

[igowerf]

Around 94 or 95, we got an Apple Performa that crashed and locked up a lot. Before that, we had a 386DX or something made by AMD. It was decent and it could run Leisure Suit Larry. I scrapped the SIMM chips to make keychains and to upgrade our Brother HL-1440 printers.

Then in 1998, we got a Dell Dimension XPR400:

Pentium II 400
64MB PC100 SDRAM
10GB HDD
Zip100 drive
Diamond Permedia 2 8MB AGP graphics (couldn't even run Half-Life for me)
56K WinModem (but our phone lines were crappy so I got a shaky 28.8 connection)
17" Trinitron
Altec Lansing 2.1 speakers.

Today, I have the zip drive lying around somewhere. The 17" monitor died already and we got a refurbished replacement which died too. The CPU was later upgraded to a Celeron 466 and then a Celeron 566@850, I believe. We still use the speakers. The rest was given away to a friend when she left for college because she didn't have a computer.

 

[imported_amx]

I got my first pc in 92 alos, P66 - 32 mb ram, 800mb hrd drive, 2x cd rom. Upgraded in 95 with 133, 4gb hard drive(2x2gb) cd rom, sound card and DIAL UP:-D

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: Sysbuilder05
So...what kind of power did we have in Dec 1994?

Pentium 90........... Fastest CPU for a PC. The P100 came out a few weeks later in January
540MB Hardrive.....I up'ed to 740mb as an option. My HD capacity was about what a CD is now.
8mb of memory....Want another 8mb? Back then it would have been an additional $500.00+
ATI Mach 64.........Whopping 2mb of memory
15" Monitor...........I've used a 22" for so many years I can't imagine how small that would seem

Cost? Around $2700.00 with shipping.

Holy hell, you just reminded me: I received my *FIRST* computer for Christmas in '04.

Intel 486 DX2 - 66MHz
200MB Harddrive
4MB RAM
512K Trident Video
14" Monitor
No sound
No CD

I think it costs about $1.5 - $2K. Saleman told my parents it would "last me through 4 years of engineering college, no probs." LOL! At that time, the first 60-75MHz Pentiums were out and my computer was uselessly obsolete in ~ 6 months.

It was when I eventually added a SB16 card, CD-ROM, and an additional 4MB of memory that I started to become a sysBuilder myself. When I finally bought and built my own P200-MMX (overclocked to 233Mhz!) to replace that POS, I was there, baby!

 

[timosyy]

My first computer was an IBM XT 286 ...



Intel 80286, 6 Mhz
640KB RAM
16-bit colors
20MB HD
1x 5.25" disk drive
OS : MS-DOS

 

[nakedfrog]

The first one I bought for myself was in July of 98... PII 350 (just high enough to be the bottom rung of the newer architecture) with 6.4GB HDD, 64MB of RAM, and a generic intel i740 (which actually wasn't too bad back then).
It was a Quantex. I freaked out because I hooked it all up and it didn't do jack--I called customer service and they had me open the case and reseat the CPU (damn cartridge dealy worked itself loose during shipping).
Bits and pieces of that system still live on in other PCs. Not the i740, don't even know where it is anymore, I may have given it to a friend who was without a 3D accelerator of any kind. I upgraded the RAM to 128MB a year later.
When I ordered, I only had enough to upgrade either the monitor to a 19" or the HDD to like an 8 or 10GB. I think I made the right choice, since that's the monitor I still use to this day (I think it may only have another year or two of life left, though).

 

[SoyBoy004]

Intel Pentium 133
16MB RAM
1.6GB HDD
2MB Video
Diamond Sound Blaster Compatible Card
28.8 Modem
Serial Mouse
Serial KB
6x CDrom
17" Princeton Monitor
HP Deskjet 660C Printer

All for $3500+

 

[SWScorch]

IBM Aptiva
Pentium 75MHz
8MB RAM
MWave sound card/modem eeeewwww
Windows 3.1

 

[whistleclient]

my first computer....

Atari 800

Price : US $999.95
CPU: MOS 6502,1.8MHz
RAM: 8K base, 48K max
Display: 24 X 40 text
320 x 192 monochrome
160 x 96 with 128 colors
Expansion: 4 internal expansion slots
2 cartridge slots
Ports: 4 controller ports
RGB video output
TV video output
Storage: external 90K floppy drive
cassette recorder
OS: Atari OS

 

[Staples]

My first computer I bought was a P90 Compaq with a cheap monitor. It was in Jul of 95. It cost $2000.

780MB HD
8 Megs RAM (still was crap for Kings Quest, took 2-5 minutes to load a screen)

 

[BMdoobieW]

In 1994, we were still using our first computer, a Pionex 486sx-25 with 170MB hd.

 

[PanzerIV]

I didn't even have a computer in '94. It was in February of '96 when I bought my first, an IBM 486 DX2-66 for what then would have been a good price since I got a great deal on it. It featured a whopping 500MB HDD, I think 32MB or RAM but could have been 64MB, not sure. I had to install my own Creative Labs multimedia kit with CDROM and speakers. I also went out and bought a US Robotics 14.4 modem to go with it. I was in heaven back then but I sure don't miss it!

 

[Ausm]

I change my system every 6 months no way in hell can I remember that far back

Ausm

 

[nakedfrog]

And let me tell you something, installing a CD-ROM drive (single speed, no less) was quite an ordeal in 1993. Fscking MSCDEX and poorly documented drivers, and THEN getting it to work in Win 3.1, took me hours to get it going properly. Didn't even have a sliding tray mechanism, you pushed on the drive and the whole thing slid out on rails.

 

[ILikeStuff]

Got my own PC Summer of '95. Gateway P-120 w/ 64 MB RAM and a 1 gig HD. Haven't bought a pre-assembled PC since.

 

[mpitts]

P100
32MB RAM
540MB Quantum
420MB Quantum
Sound Blaster 16
2x Mitsumi CD-ROM
28.8 US Robotics Sportster (internal)
15" NEC monitor

It was mostly used to play 7th Guest and post on mine and my friend's BBSes with.

 

[Sysbuilder05]

Originally posted by: BMdoobieW
In 1994, we were still using our first computer, a Pionex 486sx-25 with 170MB hd.

Yeah...I probably should have mentioned that PC replaced my Commadore 128 which I upgraded to after using my Commadore 64 for years and years. I bought my C64 in October 1982.

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Apple Performa 630CD. I still remember it. 33 Mhz, no onboard FPU, 8 MB RAM... etc etc.

 

[Sysbuilder05]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
And let me tell you something, installing a CD-ROM drive (single speed, no less) was quite an ordeal in 1993. Fscking MSCDEX and poorly documented drivers, and THEN getting it to work in Win 3.1, took me hours to get it going properly. Didn't even have a sliding tray mechanism, you pushed on the drive and the whole thing slid out on rails.

Had to remind me didn't you!!--LOL. Yup,about six months after buying the system Windows 3.11 went down and I had to do a full re-install. I like to never got the CD-rom back and running,it was a mess. On mine there were certain lines in the autoex file and the configsys that had to be just in the right order or Windows would never see the drive.

It was the same back then if you wanted to install a new video card--talk about plug and PRAY!! Things like that are much,much easier today than ten years ago.

 

[nageov3t]

I got my first computer in the fall of 1994, right as I started high school.

Pentium 133MHz
8MB RAM
on-board video/sound
4GB hard drive
4x CDROM
14.4 modem

all for the low, low price of $3000 man, I used that thing until fall of 2000, though. upgraded the hard drive (to 20GB), ram (to 64MB), and modem (56K) along the way.

 

[ultimatebob]

I started college with a Dell Dimension P75 with 16 MB of RAM, a 540 MB hard drive, a Sound Blaster Vibra 16, and Windows 95. Laugh all you want, but I could overclock the sucker to 100 Mhz with just a single jumper change!

 

[slpaulson]

I had my IBM 25Mhz 486 with 4megs of ram, and I believe it had a 120Meg harddrive.

 

[Shawn]

In 94 we had a
486-50 upgraded to a 486-100 with an overdrive cpu
200MB hard drive
1x cd rom (which was an add-on)
Sound blaster pro (another add-on)
Win 3.1
14.4 modem

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
And let me tell you something, installing a CD-ROM drive (single speed, no less) was quite an ordeal in 1993. Fscking MSCDEX and poorly documented drivers, and THEN getting it to work in Win 3.1, took me hours to get it going properly. Didn't even have a sliding tray mechanism, you pushed on the drive and the whole thing slid out on rails.

I think I had the same drive. It was a PITA. Was it a Reveal?

 

[Night201]

My Computer 10 years ago:

Purchased in July 1994:

Intel Pentium 90 = ?
16MB RAM = ?
540MB Hard Drive = $500!
Diamond Stealth II card with 4mb VRAM = ?
17" SVGA Monitor = $1,000
NEC 3x SCSI CDROM Drive with Sound Blaster Sound card w/ SCSI Interface = $850!
HP Deskjet 540c I think = $300
28.8 modem I believe

Total cost: $4,200!

Looks like I paid the most so far. Jees. That think took me forever to pay off - being a freshman in high school. I think I finished paying it off my Junior year.


I later upgraded to the following in 1998:

Supermicro motherboard & Pentium II - 400mhz $1,165.00 (THAT'S INSANE!)
Enlight ATX Mid-Tower Case $75.00
128MB PC-100 $220.00
Western Digital 3.1GB EIDE Hard Drive $160.00
Western Digital 6.4GB EIDE Hard Drive $228.00
1.2MB 5¼" Floppy Drive $20.00
1.44MB 3½" Floppy Drive $20.00
Iomega Zip Plus [External] $199.00
17" Processor Controlled Digital Monitor $600.00
Matrox Millenium AGP Graphics Card w/ 4MB WRAM $130.00
Matrox Matrox Rainbow Runner w/ TV Tuner $222.00
Diamond Monster II (voodoo 2) w/ 12MB $273.00
Toshiba 12X CD-ROM [Internal] $50.00
Creative Labs Encore DVD Drive w/Dxr2 Decoder Board $280.00
Hewlett Packard Surestore CD-RW 7200 [Internal] $397.00
Turtle Beach Daytona PCI Wavetable Sound Card $60.00
Diamond SupraExpress 56K-Flex Modem [Internal] $105.00
Hewlett Packard Deskjet 722C Printer $299.00
Umax Astro 600P Flatbed Scanner $100.00
Microsoft Intellipoint Mouse $70.00
Microsoft SideWinder GamePad $30.00
101-Key Keyboard $10.00

Total = $4,713.00

 

[AMDJunkie]

The first PC I had in my household was a hand-me-down IBM from my mom's office. Had to be a 386, but I was too young and not yet enough of a techie to remember the exact stats. That got a virus and had to be tossed (imagine, viruses in the day of floppies).

The first PC my family bought however, was a Canon 486 DX2 66 MHz, with the standard 8 MB of RAM and I believe a 420 MB HD (Western Digital Caviar). It was a steal during its day (1994) for just under $2000 with a 15" monitor. Highlights of the system was a free copy of the 7th Guest! And to play the original Dark Forces, I had to make a boot disk that would load me up with minimal autoexec and config functions to free up enough RAM. After a RAM upgrade, I was able to shoehorn Windows 95 onto that bad boy, and with a hardware U.S. Robotics modem running at 33.6K, I was the fastest in the neighborhood on the internet for about two months until those darn, cheap 56K winmodems flooded the market.

It was replaced only in 1999 by an AMD K6-2 400 MHz. Hence, the name and the registration date.