The good old Commodore 64..

[jb666]

Who had one of these beasts??

I ran one of the first BBS's out of Massachusetts for 2 years... Thought I was the coolest thing on the planet.. I had a macked out system.. Come to think of it, I was cool! I could program in Basic!!

Now I can't believe what these things are selling for.........

http://cgi.ebay.com/Commodore-64-monitor-1541-floopy-printer-joy-stick_W0QQitemZ330382377310QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4cec53015e

And before that, my TI 994A... Ugh....

http://cgi.ebay.com/Texas-Instruments-TI-99-4A-Computer-Mint-Box-Software_W0QQitemZ370294355690QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item56374376ea

Life was so much easier before Al Gore invented the internet 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

ha I had a 64 as well....took me 2+ weeks to type in the code for a silly haunted house game.....saved it on like 4 cassette tapes in my cassette drive

[dodgecharger-fan]

I skipped the 64. I went from a VIC-20 right to a PC-XT.

The most add-on gear I had on my Vic was a tape drive. Before that, I used to start every program from scratch each time I fired it up.  

I did a little bit of collecting about 15 years ago:
Mac 512
Mac 1Mb
Atari - something with the MIDI sequencer software - primo setup for midi keyboard playing..... but I don't play.
A Commodore PET with the chicklet keyboard.
About a dozen dual headed CAD workstations with 20" CRTs.
About 15 or so hp workstations with about 10 20" CRTs.
That made a great big pile in the middle of my basement.

I sold the Macs and Atari on the bag and the rest went into the landfill - sorry, that was the only option at the time.

[jb666]

ha I had a 64 as well....took me 2+ weeks to type in the code for a silly haunted house game.....saved it on like 4 cassette tapes in my cassette drive

Too funny!! I can remember getting those games from the back of magazines and spending day after day programming them.

[b5blue]

Don't forget the mighty TRS-80!

[jb666]

Don't forget the mighty TRS-80!

Oh man, I did forget about that!!!

[b5blue]

 

[NYCMille]

Check out this baby... got it when I was 10 yo.  A Timex Sinclar 1000 - still have it too.

[jb666]

Check out this baby... got it when I was 10 yo.  A Timex Sinclar 1000 - still have it too.

That was a cool machine!! Ahead of it's time 

[Todd Wilson]

Don't forget the mighty TRS-80!

Oh man, I did forget about that!!!

I have one of those in my shed! I'd be willing to sell!


todd

[Todd Wilson]

I ran a 2 line BBS on a Commodore 64.   The Color64 BBS package. I have a Lt Kernal  40 meg harddrive for my 64 also. That was an endless amount of harddrive space for a 64.

Moved the BBS on to an Amiga for many many years and then like a fool I went to a DOS BBS package on an IBM and it wast but a few years later the BBS era came to an end.

Ran a BBS for probably 12-14 years before I shut it down. Really enjoyed running an online system. Those were the good ol days.   I have several friends who used to give me shit all the time about my nerd computers and this and that and now they all got Iphones and updating thier facebooks each time they take a leak during the day.



Todd

[Neal_J]

Just for kicks last Chistmas, I hooked up my old VIC-20 and let the kids play Gorf, Space Invaders, Omega Race and other game cartridges that I ridiculously saved all these years.  The games' graphics sure are crude by today's standards but the kids, and I, had a blast playing them.

Remember, the Commodore VIC-20 was the Wonder Computer of the 80's.  Don't believe me? Shatner don't lie:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUEI7mm8M7Q

[jb666]

Wow guys, this brings back some memories... I used to remember thinking how good the graphics were , back then.. When in reality they were nothing more than 4 large blocks moving around. There was nothing to compare it to, so it was the best thing out there!!!!!!!!!!

As for running a BBS, I'd come home each day and check out my call log.. I started getting calls from out of my calling area/state, so I just had to increase my phone service so I could do the same.. Pretty soon I was so into it that I'd be sitting around re-writing my BBS software with "new features"...

If answer = YES then goto line 20

If answer = NO then quit

I'd be preparing for every possible answer 

[mikepmcs]

Wow, talk about bringing up some old memories. I remember playing track and field on a buddy's apple II or something like that.  All I can remember was the clicking sound while I smashed the buttons as hard as I could and then the sound when I fouled that sounded like the word bowel, like real fast...bowel....hahaha

[bull]

My brother got one of those Timex machines and the first thing he did with it was sit down for a couple hours entering clode to make, wait for it, a clock.

[BigBlackDodge]

Vic 20
64
Amiga

Yep, we had those to! I also remember the local BBS here in town back in the early 80's, the Tardis!

You know you can download a 64 emulator and still play those games on your pc!

Up for a few hours of ZORK?

BBD

[ChgrSteve67]

First computer I messed with was a Trash 80 in high school.
Friend had a Commodore 64 that we played "Leather Goddesses of Phobos" on for hours.

Later my dad gave me his IBM 8088 that had 2 Megs of memory, a 10 Meg hard drive, 2 - 5 1/4 inch floppies, cga polo monitor, 300 baud modem and a 9 pin wide carrage dot matrix printer. I think in the end my dad ended up spending 4 to 5 thousand between the initial purchase and upgrades. I used it as a word processor when I went back to school and my roomate said he was going to throw it out the window because of the noise when I printed something.

I later got rid of it and got a 386 DX 33 multimedia computer with Dos 5 and Windows 3.0 that was the shit.
I really started getting into computers at this point and the rest is history.

Then I got into rebuilding my Charger and figured out what a money pit really is.

My current inventory is
6 Desktop computers
3 Notebooks
2 Netbooks
1 Sony VAIO UX90
1 HP Windows Home Server

I've been thining out my inventory.
At one point I had more than 18 systems not including Virtual computers.
I still have a closet of spare parts, zip drives, floppy drives and I think a few Jumbo 250 tape drives collecting dust.

I think its going to be e-waste time this winter.

I use to have a roomate that ran "For Adults Only BBS" in Sacramento. First pay BBS around and it really pissed people off.
Even had the Feds called on him. He ran it on a Compaq Portable and had 12 modems attached. Phone company was not happy running that many lines into a residential house but money talks.

Ah the good ol days.

[Neal_J]

Steve mentioned the Compaq portable.  As anyone who ever used one well knows, they were anything BUT portable.  It was like lugging around a sewing machine everywhere.  And the monochrome 4" monitor and 5.25" floppy drive features were equally awesome.

[A383Wing]

I still have my old Atari XL computer in the closet...have the floppy drive, cassette drive, and the printer, but it's broken.

I should put it up and see what it brings on eBay...

[BigRed66]

Don't forget the mighty TRS-80!

Yup...that's what we learned on in High School...don't remember all that much as my brain dripped with THC back in '82-'83  , but I do remember "Line 10, Line 20, Line 30, etc"...spending a week's worth of class time programming it just to get it to say "Hello" or something on a diagonal scroll...funny stuff compared to what we have today...shit, my 160GB iPod probably has more memory than the entire Portage County school system's computers of that era combined...

TRS (Tandy-Radio Shack)-80...CLASSIC.

P.S. Don't forget the primo 5-1/4" floppy disks...niiiiiice!!

[Todd Wilson]

I would hate to count how many computers I have.  I have 7 setup now. Many more put away. Mostly Vic 20 and many 64's with all the stuff that went with them.  I got a genuine IBM 8088 machine with the 10meg HD brick. I have a Commodore 286 computer.  I also have many other 386-486 variety computers in the shed. The old Trs-80. 2 dead machines in th eback of my pickup truck awaiting disposal  and now that I think of it a machine in the dining room I am setting up as another server.   I would like someday to have a basement or big room where I could setup all my machines. Be able to play all the games on all the machines when ever.   I also have 2 Amiga's  one 3000 and one 500.  Somewhere I have 3   US robotics Courier HST modems. Talk about some $$$$ in their day! I used all 3 on my Amiga when I ran my BBS on it.



Todd

[chargerboy69]

We had one of these badboys.  A Apple IIe.  My parents purchased this thing back around 1981 or so.

http://cgi.ebay.com/APPLE-IIE-ENHANCED-BOXED-NEVER-SEEN-AMDEK-MONITOR_W0QQitemZ160382228893QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item255786999d

[Todd Wilson]

I had an old Xerox CP/M machine.  It was a beast. Had 2 8 inch floppy drives.  I still got all the software for it somewhere. Sadly something happened to it and when I moved to my new house 11 years ago I pitched it. Wish now I would have kept it.


Todd

[LeadfootBob]

Man... VIC-64, first computer I ever owned. Still have it (and another one I found in a garbage bin at work, wtf is wrong with people?!), with the tape deck and the handful of games that came with it.
Anyone remember "The Last Ninja"? The music is still awesome!

[dodgecharger-fan]

We had one of these badboys.  A Apple IIe.  My parents purchased this thing back around 1981 or so.

http://cgi.ebay.com/APPLE-IIE-ENHANCED-BOXED-NEVER-SEEN-AMDEK-MONITOR_W0QQitemZ160382228893QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item255786999d

Oh! I had an Apple II as well - not sure if it was a c or e or whatever. I'm starting to wish that I hadn't gotten rid of any of my Apples.

[73chgrSE]

i remember the last ninja & the Bruce lee game they had.

[Todd Wilson]

F15 Strike Eagle.    I had a paper route. Bought my 64 via lay away at Kmart. Got a tape drive for christmas.  But with the tape you couldnt get any of the good games.  Could not afford a 1541 drive at the time.   Friend had a 1541 and F15 game. He came over and loaded it up on my 64 and I kept that computer on for a week with that game loaded. Sister came in and shut it off one day as she thought I forgot to and that was it for the F15 game.    A few months later I bought an old white colored VIC 1541 drive for 50$. It was ill and I figured I could fix it or send it in and get it fixed and it would be cheaper then buying a new one. Was so excited I finally had a disk drive I went home and plugged it in and it worked. Used for for a long time. When I started running the BBS   I had an entire office table setup to just run the BBS. Had a string of 1541's. A 1571 and 81 drive.   Had an adapter i bought that allowed me to run the old PET drives. Had a dual 4040 disk drive running. I sold it to a grain elevator a few years later after I got my HD for the 64. Wish I still had that old 4040 but the money they paid me was good for it.



Todd

[W4ATL]

My first computer was a VIC-20 and then I upgraded to the C-64 when I went to Georgia Tech.  The VIC-20 and its 24 columns of text was too much when logging into the campus mainframe. I thought I was somebody with 40 character wide text.  With a dot matrix printer and a $10 word processor  was a term paper writing machine.