Your first computer?

[helen]

At work today I was unpacking a Dell computer, it was one of those Ultra Small Form Factor computers that they make (it might be a SX-270 but I wasn't paying too much attention to the model number), which is kind of small and lightweight. One of the co-workers asked me what kind of classes I took to learn about computers (and of the Dell that I was holding).

My reaction was back in 1975, the computer was the desk! Twin 8 inch floppies for storage and a self standing printer off to one side.

Actually it was a Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), PDP-8/A. I think it had about 12 or 24 Kilowords of memory (the PDP-8 used 12 bit word size instead of the 8 bit byte). The 8 inch floppy stored around 800 Kilobytes of storage. It's main terminal was DEC VT-50 which displayed 12 lines by 80 columns which ran at 600 baud, while the printer was a DECwriter II terminal running at 300 baud. It was mainly used for editing and running BASIC programs.

For myself the first computer I owned was an Atari 400 which I got around 1982 or so.

[Leimamo]

For myself the first computer I owned was an Atari 400 which I got around 1982 or so.
We also had an Atari, but I'm thinking some time in the late 70's because I was still in High School. It was one that came with a booklet that provided codes to type which did some sort of action on the T.V. screen. I remember thinking, "all that typing just to see a choo-choo train scroll across the screen?" ;)

[mel]

The first time I used a computer, it was some kind of terminal that was hooked to a mainframe in another building at our school. We did some schoolwork on the thing at the computer lab and played a crude game of Star Trek on it during off hours (like late in the night). Later I did some schoolwork on a TRS 80 (http://www.obsoletecomputermuseum.org/trs80-m1/) and an Apple II (http://www.obsoletecomputermuseum.org/apple2/). Frankly I was not impressed with any of them mainly because the user interface was awkward but more so the printed output was just awful... dull dot matrix print. Yuck.

Being in the publishing and advertising field, for many years I used a computerized phototypesetting machine called the Quadritek (http://macpro.freeshell.org/quadritek/q1.html) made by Itek. It was more or less a computer dedicated to one task... typesetting copy for manual pasteup to publications. The machine had 2 tape drives, several Ks of memory (can't remember), 4 fonts online, a built in photo typesetting drive with photographic paper that you output to a black box and processed to a light-safe developing machine. Produced beautiful type galleys from 5 1/2 point type to 36 point type. Later models had floppy disc drives and output text to 72 point type. The whole thing was code driven with its own operating system, which I mastered. We had one of these things connected to an IBM Displaywriter (http://www.obsoletecomputermuseum.org/displayw/) computer which another person would type in the text for long classified ad copy and send it to the Quadritek from which I'd format and output the text.

This machine cost schools and businesses at least $17,000 each and were quite popular from their introduction in 1977 to about 1985.

After that the Macintosh came along and publishing pretty much changed forever. The first computer I actually bought was a Macintosh Plus (http://www.headgap.com/~macstar/images/macplus1a.jpg) that set me back $2200. Ouch. The thing came with only 1MB of RAM no hard drive but a nice GUI (http://www.headgap.com/~macstar/macplus3.html). I later bought a hard drive for it and used it for 5 years before I bought another Mac... and then another... and another.........

[pzarquon]

I only guess that mainframes were pretty much it when I was a kid, but I had no exposure to them. Funny thing is, I work with them now. And my coworkers remember punch-card programming!

The first computers I got to personally play with were the Atari 2600 (the game system), Apple ][ (in school, mostly to "program" with LOGO), and a Commodore 64 (with tape drive). The first PC I owned was a Commodore 128, the one where the PC and keyboard were integrated, and even today I still have the Commodore monitor.

In high school, I got to manage a room full of Mac SE/30s, and learned to use Aldus PageMaker 3.0 to help design the student newspaper. So, that's when I fell in love with computers, with Macs, and with journalism.

After that, our home PCs were a Mac LC, a Mac LC III, and a Mac IIsi (which I used the longest, and I got a second one when I started a dial-up Mac-based BBS). I then turned to portables with a PowerBook 130, a PowerBook 165c, and a PowerBook 1400c (http://www.lightfantastic.org/imr/things/powerbook.html). That last one put me into debt, and after that, I started buying PCs... although I still had Macs in my heart.

Today I run a veritable PC lab at home - six Dell machines, one on outdated Linux, one Win98, one Win2K and three XP - and have a Sony Vaio and a HP Tablet PC on the side. Obviously, my next computer has to be a Mac... or I'm going to lose any Mac cred I have left.

[Linkmeister]

Back in 1972 I was in the Navy, and the telecomm system was based on paper tape coming in from an IBM 360/20 mainframe. It had a 500-card program deck which we had to run every day in order to change the system date.

In 1980 I became DP Mgr for Honolulu Club, using an IBM S/34 (64K RAM, 13MB disk) for all things Accounting/Membership. In 1983 or so we bought three IBM PCs (roughly $5K apiece for 10MB hard drive machines).

Home was a used MacPlus in about 1988 or so. We spent $400 on an external 40MB hard drive. When it died eight years later we bought a Packard Bell from Sears, and just replaced it last year.

[Albert]

I started with the Sinclair "black wedge", cost about $50, and it was a major miracle when they provided the 16k RAM add-on. Otherwise, storage was via a cassette recorder. And the "monitor" of course, was a tv set.

I did more things with that, using BASIC, that I've ever done with a computer since then. Not much software available, so you had to make your own. :)

[Karen]

What a fun subject! I remember in the seventies, in South Central Texas going to work with my dad to the plant he managed, and seeing him show off their new computer system that handled all of their business, it was a huge thing, and was so archaic compared to when I finally bought my first computer, just in 1997. Hubby works with computers and said we wouldn't buy one before then, for he said the technology was going to keep us buying, once we started, and of course he was right.

By 1997, our two home-schooled daughters were turning 10 and 13, and we felt we had to move them into the modern age, so we bought a then brand new 75speed (sorry if I didn't label that 75 right, just forget what to call it, but Pentium 1 barely, I guess it was) Wasn't long before the software had us buying a a 250, then 333, sure enough another yr. & software needs compelled us to buy an 833 or 850, next yr. a 1.2 whatever you call it, (sorry, lol) and though the technology flies by us, we are doing fine with the last two, and having them hooked up to Oceanic's Road runner service, I can honestly say I don't wish for faster, except the 833, I guess it is, can test me a tad since I can tell the difference between it and the 1.2.

I know we'll upgrade again someday, but that will be the last so far as internet, printers and copiers are concerned, I think and I hope! I can't believe that as these things get faster and faster, that we will even be able to tell the difference, except for software, I guess.

[mel]

.... technology was going to keep us buying, once we started, and of course he was right.

And that is the major downside of computers... the almost constant need to upgrade, whether it is hardware or software. What I can't stand is when the hardware or software upgrade is forced upon you by external forces... i.e. your printer will not take that Pagemaker 6.5 file that worked fine with them just last month! Ouch! :mad:

[adrian]

And that is the major downside of computers... the almost constant need to upgrade, whether it is hardware or software. What I can't stand is when the hardware or software upgrade is forced upon you by external forces... i.e. your printer will not take that Pagemaker 6.5 file that worked fine with them just last month! Ouch! :mad:
Well actually, my 1 year old system (Intel Pentium 4 2.8ghz, Asus P4S8X-X motherboard, ATI AIW 9700 128mb video card, 512mb DDRSDRAM, 120/60gb Hard drives, etc...) hasn't been upgrade (hardware and software wise) since I built it last year.

I've been using all software that are 1+ years old. And if your wondering, only last month my college upgrade their computer systems to the processor speed of mine.)

Like the saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". And if it does break after being fixed, then your tech support does a bad job.

[helen]

By 1997, our two home-schooled daughters were turning 10 and 13, and we felt we had to move them into the modern age, so we bought a then brand new 75speed (sorry if I didn't label that 75 right, just forget what to call it, but Pentium 1 barely, I guess it was) Wasn't long before the software had us buying a a 250, then 333, sure enough another yr. & software needs compelled us to buy an 833 or 850, next yr. a 1.2 whatever you call it, (sorry, lol) and though the technology flies by us, we are doing fine with the last two, and having them hooked up to Oceanic's Road runner service, I can honestly say I don't wish for faster, except the 833, I guess it is, can test me a tad since I can tell the difference between it and the 1.2.

Hertz (most times it's written as Hz) is the unit of measurement for the speed of the processor. The higher the number the faster it can process the instructions it needs to do. And then you have the standard metric multipliers like Kilo (K) (which is roughly 1000), Mega (M) (another 1000 to be multiplied) and Giga (G) (yet another 1000 to be multiplied).

The original IBM PC that was introduced in 1985 was a 4.33 MHz processor, between 1987 to about 1993 or so they started making processors that can go faster like 10 MHz to about 66 MHz. When the Pentium processors came out they were in the 75 MHz to 100 MHz range, so more than likey yours was the 75 MHz model.

The 1 GHz processors have been around at least 3 years or so and Dell right now is offering at least 2.8 GHz systems.

[Karen]

Hi!

yep, you got it, my first one was the 75MHz. believe it or not, I started to type those letters, but did a brain fart and thought I was writing something to do with radios if I typed "MHz" and wouldn't let myself put any label, lol.

I don't doubt I will be able to discern a difference between my 1.2 and a 2.4 or 2.8, but between those and a four. something? I just don't think it's going to matter. Seems once you get a computer that is just so fast, so far as internet and Road Runner are concerned, you are just there as fast as you can click most of the time, and don't wish for a faster computer. Now, should I finally become more computer literate in all ways, I probably then will be able to appreciate our next several upgrades, but as it is now, these things mostly to me are for internet, which as many services I appreciate, and they are for photographs/digital cameras, and the copy machine/printers.

I am, with this technology, a happy camper, and this is with my relative ignorance of the technology. Ignorance is bliss? with me and these things, I confess, it is, for now, anyway.

[Albert]

Well, now you can get one sanctioned by none other than Mickey Mouse:

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040805/D8496NF00.html

[808_m3]

I remember my first PC was an old IBM PC XT. Those were the fun days where once you powered on the box, you would have to wait a minute or so for the PC to start booting. Of course, everything was command line based, no pretty GUI to look at. Closest thing to use was XTree gold to manage all your files.

After that, worked on a 286, which was the same deal as the XT but just a little bit faster. Oh, and remember the 486 DX2-50....that's when Intel started using CPU clock multipliers for their processors.

I dabbled in Macs for awhile. My GF (now spouse) had a Mac IIsi which I loved using. I ended up getting a PowerBook 145B for myself, which I didn't like the B&W screen, so went up to a Quadra 660av. I remember PlainTalk voice recognition was which more hype than practical. I then got a Power Macintosh 7500/100 followed by a PowerBook G3.

Left the Mac platform 6 years ago. These days, just into building my own systems from parts at newegg. I, too, love Macs by heart but with the PCs becoming more of a commodity these days, you can build something pretty decent that is much cheaper than Macs. I really like Mac OS X though..maybe one of these days I'll jump back...

Got my own home grown computer lab...3 custom built PCs, one Dell work laptop, a compaq armada laptop, and a Sun Ultra 10 workstation running Solaris 9.

Macs are all gone now..all went to eBay.. :(

[Albert]

"I remember my first PC was an old IBM PC XT."

That was my third one. And I got a very very early version of MS Windows so I could play their Flight Simulator, boxed with the game.

[craigwatanabe]

My first bonafide computer was a Radio Shack with an 8086 processor. It's speed was something like 2.5Mhz. All it had was a single 5-1/4" floppy drive. No hard drive at all. To word process you insert the "Program Disk" then to save your data you put in the "Data Disk". Back then that was State of the Art electronics! Man my Palm M130 runs circles around that thing nowdays.

Then I upgraded in 1987 to power with a 486SX running at an astounding 25MHz. It had a much improved 3-1/2" DD floppy Ho man the amount of data you could store on that thing a whopping 1.44Mb!

I wanted more power so I plunked down $300 for an additional 3Mb of ram and another $300 for that "must have" single-speed CD-ROM drive.

Today I'm running a Compaq Presario laptop running at 2.4GHz Pentium 4 finally up to some decent level of obsolescence. :rolleyes:

Anyone remember the Cosmac ELF? This was way back in the mid 70's about the time the Altair 8800 and the Ohio Scientific Challenger C4P became popular

[Eric]

The first computer I worked with was at school, where I learned to program in assembly language on punch cards. The next year they put in terminals, so that was that for the cards.

I got my own first computer in 1986. It was a Leading Edge Model D (an XT clone) running at 4 MHz with a 20MB hard drive. Oh, the power. My first upgrade was installing a 1200 baud modem to replace the 300 baud modem that came with the PC. Whoo-ee, that thing was zippy. :p

[kimo55]

mac, then a mac, then another mac, then, well, a mac. then, hmmm lemmee think. Oh yea. a mac. Then a PC then a mac then anodda mac.
Got to learn:
MAC stands for Mother of All Computers.
and PC?
yep, You guessed it.
Piece o' Cr...

'scuse me.

actual lineage:
2e
plus
LC
powerbook 100
quadra
performa
powermac 6100
a few more... forgot what..
G3
G4

[kamlost]

My first computer was a 286. I had those huge floppies, boot diskettes, etc. No matter, I had the best games.

[craigwatanabe]

mac, then a mac, then another mac, then, well, a mac. then, hmmm lemmee think. Oh yea. a mac. Then a PC then a mac then anodda mac.
Got to learn:
MAC stands for Mother of All Computers.
and PC?
yep, You guessed it.
Piece o' Cr...

'scuse me.

actual lineage:
2e
plus
LC
powerbook 100
quadra
performa
powermac 6100
a few more... forgot what..
G3
G4

Yep I tell my Mac friends that when they're thru playing around they can step up to a real computer. Then they fly their G4 at me!

I know, the Apples and Macs are great computers but heck the real world lives on PC. Just like Beta vs VHS. Beta was far superior over VHS, but look what prevailed? Macs are just too expensive and the software support very lacking. And try get good service here when your Mac hiccups.

Anyway talking about machine language...CENPAC. 25-bit word. Machine Language. That would be binary to binary coded decimal (BCD) to hexadecimal (0-9, A-F). From that you get ASCII

[kimo55]

Yep I tell my Mac friends that when they're thru playing around they can step up to a real computer. Then they fly their G4 at me!

the real world lives on PC.


"The real world".
this phrase means nothing.
As opposed to the fake world?!

All multimedia, graphics, most publications and books, etc, even theatrical release movies are made on macs.
This is a major part of your 'real world" and with the multimillions made in the entertainment industry, is most emphatically far from "playing around". (you must be a pc gamer)

There was an animated "Intel inside" ad that appeared on television a while ago, and soon it leaked out to the media; the commercial was created using a mac!
hohaaa!


the software support very lacking.

I have never found this to be anywhere near slightly true. In my decades with mac.
besides, each and every software program I have ever run, has a help file built in. More extensive than the book.
PC software programs crash alla time and when you need to resintall?
fuggeddaboudit!
(what d heyall is "uninstall"?
We just trash the program and reinstall. or sometimes at the most, trash the prefs file.)

And try get good service here when your Mac hiccups.


macs don't hiccup.
But if and when I need service, it is taken care of quickly.

The incidence of crashes now are vurtually nonexistent, since the new infrastructure is based on UNIX.


http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9804/20/gates.comdex/gates.30.240.mov

http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9804/20/gates.comdex/


Macs are just too expensive

Yes, everything being relative, that is true.

You get what you pay for.
You want cheap? fine. In your 'real world" most people drive cheap cars. You want the ultimate driving machine or similar, get a BMW.
You want the best computer, not a copy of a computer, buy a Mac.

But why would anyone be mypopic enough to compare the cost of a mac to a PC !? Do you compare a BMW to a ford pinto!?



The mac is truly "plug n play"
no more than 10 minutes after i opened the box, I had my new G4 surfin da net.
You plug in a new printer, mac finds and download the drivers immediately.
Plug in any other peripheral, it starts working. Quickly.



Windows is a copy of the mac GUI.

Why read a cheap imitation of Plato, when you can easily read the real thing?

Windows is an overlay onto DOS.
ugh. I tried Dos.

All the radio and print media columns and programs related to computer troubleshooting contain nothing but problems on PCs. I find myself listening to radio computer shows and wonder why I waste my time; they are all about PCs and their multitudinous problems.

I live on Imovie and Final Cut.
FCP is the software many documentaries, commercials and even major motion pictures are created with.

I have tried PC multimedia software and it is too buggy. Doesn't feel right.
As if you were trying on a lefthand glove on the right hand.
PCs are not the creative person's platform. Most of the business world has PCs because every accounting dept. sez; go out and find us the cheapest computers to stay within budget. I worked as a computer consultant and salesman years back and am not without experience on DOS and windows. It just is a very uncomfortable 'computer system".
the curser is jaggy/pixelated, jumpy, the graphics are lousy, the visual layout is ugly, too busy. I hate the underline beneath each first letter.

The new Mac BIG flat screens kick derriere. That, in itself, right there, is the only reason I need for myself, to never consider anything else.

[kimo55]

Your next computer should be...

http://kmfms.com/

http://kmfms.com/alternatives.html

[DaFerret]

If memory serves, my first computer was the 486DX (or whatever they released in '88 or '89). Well, it wasn't MY computer. It was my dad's and he'd do all kinds of stuff to it. I'd just play video games and type up my assignments.

My first OWN computer was in '96. I believe it was 300MHz. Nothing too big. But I could still play games on it, so that was good. :P

Ever since then, I've upgraded my computer part by part. I don't even have any equipment from my old computer (other than the monitor) anymore.

Because of Doom 3, I had to speed up my upgrades recently and ended up with a system with these new (except where noted) specs:


2.8GHz P4
512MB DDR PC2700
Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB (This I had for a while)
Sound Blaster Audigy 5.1 ZS Gamer (I think this is the model)


Bought a bare bones system for the proc, memory and mobo and scored a DVD burner, (multiple media) memory card reader unit, extra CD-ROM drive, 160GB HD and a new case for about a $100 more than the price I would've paid at CompUSA for just the proc, memory and mobo.

Only negatives are the case (minitower, ick!), which will be replaced soon, and the power supply (250W), but I chucked it out for a 300W I already had.

And it all started with DOS and ASCII Donkey Kong!

[craigwatanabe]

before DOS or Donkey Kong there was vector graphics and Tank Commander.
And before that was block graphics and Pong.
Prior to all that graphics occured on TTY machines plugging away at 150 Baud and printing on typewriter style printers, typing on Canary yellow or Golden rod rolls of continuous paper.

[Linkmeister]

before DOS or Donkey Kong there was vector graphics and Tank Commander.
And before that was block graphics and Pong.
Prior to all that graphics occured on TTY machines plugging away at 150 Baud and printing on typewriter style printers, typing on Canary yellow or Golden rod rolls of continuous paper.

Teletype like the stuff I talk about here? (http://www.linkmeister.com/blog/archives/000519.html) ;)

[helen]

Prior to all that graphics occured on TTY machines plugging away at 150 Baud and printing on typewriter style printers, typing on Canary yellow or Golden rod rolls of continuous paper.

We had our Teletype running at 110 baud back in 1975!

[mel]

macs don't hiccup.
But if and when I need service, it is taken care of quickly.
The incidence of crashes now are vurtually nonexistent, since the new infrastructure is based on UNIX.

For this and many other reasons, the only computers I ever bought brand new have been Macs. And I own several of them. In my collection:

Mac Plus
Mac II (trying to give this away)
Mac IIsi
Powerbook 3400
Power Mac 9500
Powercenter 150 Mac clone
Power Mac G4 Quicksilver (my main computer)

I am still happy with my G4 and can't find a justifiable reason to upgrade to something more powerful (like a G5).... perhaps later. I know for sure the next time I outlay some big bucks for another computer, it will be another Mac.

[kimo55]

For this and many other reasons, the only computers I ever bought brand new have been Macs. And I own several of them. In my collection:

Mac Plus
Mac II (trying to give this away)

Try unloading it to a private school...
they need em.

[kimo55]

I am still happy with my G4 and can't find a justifiable reason to upgrade to something more powerful (like a G5).... perhaps later. I know for sure the next time I outlay some big bucks for another computer, it will be another Mac.

Wait for the g5 to come down in price. they do and will, of course. then you can get a one o those bee you tee full terminator/humvee looking G5's at about what a maxed out g4 is now. The new BIIIg flat screen is what people are going for and that needs a new maxed out G5 with a POW erful video card, so I forsee, for that need and market, a separate newer G5 gonna hit any week now, and the G5 you see there at ala moan-uh will be available for a song...

[mel]

If I follow my regular hardware upgrade schedule, my next major Mac purchase will come around next year... so hopefully the G5 will me much cheaper. I know there will be a G5 iMac coming soon, but then again I have never been a fan of Apple's all-in-one desktop computers. And yes, I agree the new flat panel Apple monitors look great. I never again will buy a CRT monitor. Flat panel is the only way to go.

[kimo55]

I agree the new flat panel Apple monitors look great. I never again will buy a CRT monitor. Flat panel is the only way to go.


I have a flat panel monitor to my left and to my right, a biiig deeep Viewmate... one of those that emulated the opacity of the G3 when it was new. (semiclear blue ish plastic.) Apple fooled them; each G, now, looks different than the next...

And this CRT looks pale and wan next to the brilliance, clarity, resolution, erryt'ing, of the flat.

Gotta get anodda flatscreen.
looks like i got another boat anchor here... or doorstop.
oh yea; donate to school!
actually a bruddah I know (mac user club member) refurbishes older macs and donates them to Phillipine schools and underpriviledged... I give him all my stuff. Try to, at least.

[craigwatanabe]

We had our Teletype running at 110 baud back in 1975!

I must have had the newer improved version. I still remember that sound those nasty things made, "chak chak chak chak chak chak...ting...chak chak chak..."

By the way sorry for that critical response to your thread on the bus. :)

[craigwatanabe]

Teletype like the stuff I talk about here? (http://www.linkmeister.com/blog/archives/000519.html) ;)


yeah! Boy those old navy gray consoles bring back some...um memories for me.

[DaFerret]

before DOS or Donkey Kong there was vector graphics and Tank Commander.
And before that was block graphics and Pong.
Prior to all that graphics occured on TTY machines plugging away at 150 Baud and printing on typewriter style printers, typing on Canary yellow or Golden rod rolls of continuous paper.

Yeah, but all those were before my introduction to computers, so DOS and DK were my first computer/game experience.

I remember reading up about teletypes. Man, you all must've had fun with those. Same book also mentioned the punch cards, TMRC and Spacewar. Interesting reads.

[kimo55]

Same book also mentioned the punch cards, TMRC and Spacewar. Interesting reads.


gawd i remember punchcards. you see them computing some problem for the boys in the old hawaii 5-0 eps sometimes...

[j3rr3y]

My first computer was a 2GHz custom built. meaning I put it together... I fried the motherboard on that one by pulling a PCI card while it was on.. my most recent computer was a SFF (small form factor) Shuttle.
It had a AMD Athlon 64 3400+ , 1GB DDR3200 CAS2.0, ATI Radeon 9800XT. I built it myself.. here is a picture of it:

http://www.hawaiiwholesalecars.com/shuttlepics/IMG_0074_med.jpg

i have a video of it if anyone is interested :)

[helen]

Nah, might take a while to display the video on the sand color 110 baud teletype :rolleyes:

[craigwatanabe]

Hmmm putting it together isn't the same as my first computer assembly. An Altair 8800. You needed great soldering and breadboarding skills to get that monster to work. Now it's simply plug in and configure. Back then configuring meant probing your clock with a frequency counter and tweaking in the clock frequency. Setting up a printer was the single hardest thing to do setting up dip-switch settings instead of scrolling thru lists of drivers. Setting up communications with your modem was just as tedious, having to know terms like: CTS, DSR, DTR, etc. Where the send and receive pins were on the 25-pin serial connector, protocal, xon/xoff, parity bit. Yeah it's easier now to build, the problem nowdays is when those drivers don't work. You simply cannot get into the firmware like you used to and make necessary corrections. Times they have changed.

[helen]

I remember using an Altair 8800 in college. Entering a machine program by hand using those switches. Hell the PDP-11 in the mid-1970's you had to enter the bootstrap program by hand to have the computer start from a disk drive.

[j3rr3y]

Hmmm putting it together isn't the same as my first computer assembly. An Altair 8800. You needed great soldering and breadboarding skills to get that monster to work. Now it's simply plug in and configure. Back then configuring meant probing your clock with a frequency counter and tweaking in the clock frequency. Setting up a printer was the single hardest thing to do setting up dip-switch settings instead of scrolling thru lists of drivers. Setting up communications with your modem was just as tedious, having to know terms like: CTS, DSR, DTR, etc. Where the send and receive pins were on the 25-pin serial connector, protocal, xon/xoff, parity bit. Yeah it's easier now to build, the problem nowdays is when those drivers don't work. You simply cannot get into the firmware like you used to and make necessary corrections. Times they have changed.

Now days its the modding thats hard, the cutting metal, sanding, painting, etc and making it all look good in the finished product. I agree.. its so easy to put the parts together and turn it on. It takes no skill... modding is different however, and I think thats the real challenge if you choose to do it, with todays comps...

[craigwatanabe]

I take it Modding is modifying your traditional looking computer into something different?

Now that sounds like fun being creative and all. I remember hiding an entire crystal radio in the cap of a Bic pen back in the stone ages.

I wouldn't mind seeing someone put a Pentium 4 computer inside an old Apple II case complete with an onboard keyboard and using the 5-1/4" drive slot for loading CD's. Gut out the green monochrome CRT and replace with a current display.

Put that on your desk at work and nobody's gonna want to use your computer less steal it. Oh yeah make a program to display a blinking green cursor in a DOS screen as your screen saver and the text, "Insert Program diskette in drive A" in a green dot matrix display.

Better yet put a computer in an old IBM Selectric typewriter and haul that thing in to work. Tell the IS guy to replace the BIOS battery because this model is kinda old. :eek:

[adrian]

Modding a computer is easy for someone who has the right tools and knows how to cut metal. I tried that, but I couldn't even use my dremel to cut a blowhole for a fan.

Now building a computer, that's hard. You have make sure every component will match each other to perforrm good, then make sure they all work together when you power it on.

BTW, Craig, someone is doing a project like that, but its kinda hard to find a motherboard that will fit that case, along with the opticals, LCD, and cutting the ports for the expansion cards.

But to get a perspective, someone is modding a Nintendo Gamecube video game system to use it as a computer case (gut the inside, and do the same thing as the mac).

[Hellbent]

i toyed with my brothers old 386 and played wizardry 1 on a monochome monitor.
my first 'computer' was a commodore 64 =p (i dont think anyone here mentioned that one yet)
the first real pc i bought was a hp pavillion pentium 1 with a roaring 133 mhz processor with monitor for a wopping $3k. I think i have part of that debt floating around somewhere =p
that was over 5 years ago and now i own an internet cafe with 19 modded pc's on a T1 :)

[Hellbent]

btw, there are a ton of modded things going around. ive seen 2 pc's modded to look like a chevy big block, an xbox built into a phat lazyboy, pc's with water cooling tubes attached to the cpu, ram, and video card, even a pc built into a large model car. even a hand held atari 2600 with lcd monitor (google for vcs project)

[craigwatanabe]

I used to "Mod" electronics when I was younger and had greater patience but it wasn't computers. When I needed to fold a circuit board in half there was a lot of cutting and resoldering the copper traces. I once turned an old Delco AM car radio into a CD changer by using the preset buttons as cd controls. The display was set behind the slide rule tuning.

I guess modding can be fun, I just wish I stayed on top of computer repair when I was active in it up to the early 80's. I think if I took the time to understand today's terminology I could build some outrageous stuff. I have a nibbler tool to make square cuts in thin gauge sheet metal. I once built a telephone remote broadcast interface box out of an old Hayes 1200 baud external modem case made from an aluminum casing with heat sinking fins.

By the way for those electronic project enthusiasts out there, those old external modem cases with the red bezels make for excellent project cases especially the Hayes modem cases. And you can find tons of em at Goodwill and the Salvation Army for less than a buck!

A good source for electronic parts is Parts Express at www.parts-express.com
Use the hyphen if you have to as some businesses who let their employees use the internet have blocks on sexually sensitive wording as it partSEXpress.com which also works if you don't have any censoring. They sell cooling fans really cheap.

[adrian]

btw, there are a ton of modded things going around. ive seen 2 pc's modded to look like a chevy big block, an xbox built into a phat lazyboy, pc's with water cooling tubes attached to the cpu, ram, and video card, even a pc built into a large model car. even a hand held atari 2600 with lcd monitor (google for vcs project)
You seen those too? Do you remember the site?

What about a VCR computer? (a computer fitted in a VCR box) And what about when someone attached an actual AC system to his computer system.