When did you get your first x86-based computer?

[Avro Arrow]

I'll never forget my first x86-based desktop computer. The year was 1984 and it was an original Intel 8088-based IBM-PC running at an astonishing 4.77Mhz (LOL). It had a hercules monochrome graphics card and a 12" Amdek yellow on black monochrome monitor (We returned it and got a green on black because the yellow was just too damn opressive. LOL). It had 2 5.25" full height (double height) 360k double-sided, double-density floppy disc drives, a whopping 256k of RAM and it weighed about 6 tons (LOL!). I remember I was excited by it and I quickly learned to use MS-DOS. The games on it tended to suck but I fell in love with games like Larn and Hack102 which were RPGs that had letters for monsters and also that old Star Trek game which had ASCII happy faces with 2 "+" signs as klingons. Four years later at the tender age of 12 I did my first build all by myself. It was a 286-16Mhz. That means that the only brand-name desktop I've ever owned was an IBM-PC (Well I didn't own it, my dad did but you get the idea..lol) because all my computers have been builds ever since. Initially I hated that IBM-PC because it didn't have good games like the Commodore 64 but as I got to learn what it was capable of, I realised that I didn't want to use anything else. MS-DOS was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen, especially compared to all those other home computers that used some kind of BASIC as their interface and to this day, the original IBM PC had the best tactile-feel keyboard I've ever used. The rest, as they say, is history. I was well on my way to becoming a total geek!

By the way, this is ONLY for x86-based PCs. If you had an Apple II series, a Commodore or any other Motorola-based computer, it doesn't count.
The Poll ends on December 31, 2011 at 11:59PM so that lots of people will get a chance to vote.
I listed it in Compaq because that's the oldest surviving PC name other than IBM and for some odd reason, IBM isn't a subsection.

 

[DavidPapandreas]

This is an awesome article and picture! I was looking for the exact same computer I grew up using and found your picture and your site! It brings me back to the days of playing with my dad's computer; this same beast of a machine! I was about 6 years old but still remember firing it up to play Decathlon and a primitive version of Paint Like you said, the rest is history! I've been learning, using and loving computers ever since!!

 

[dadshome2]

Wow .. now thats a memory.

My first computer was purchased (by the bank and I paid them back over a 2 year period) in 1983 if memory serves correctly. A Compaq with two floppy disk drives, an Okadata dot matrix printer and Lotus 123 v1a. I still have the Lotus 123 binder and disks.
The Compaq was upgraded so many times that by the time it was retired the screen had burned out, a new mother board had been installed, it was running a 80286 and there was at least 1 80 meg hard drive attached. What I learned from that computer is still serving me well to this day.

 

[stillerfan15]

I'll never forget my first x86-based desktop computer. The year was 1984 and it was an original Intel 8088-based IBM-PC running at an astonishing 4.77Mhz (LOL). It had a hercules monochrome graphics card and a 12" Amdek yellow on black monochrome monitor (We returned it and got a green on black because the yellow was just too damn opressive. LOL). It had 2 5.25" full height (double height) 360k double-sided, double-density floppy disc drives, a whopping 256k of RAM and it weighed about 6 tons (LOL!). I remember I was excited by it and I quickly learned to use MS-DOS. The games on it tended to suck but I fell in love with games like Larn and Hack102 which were RPGs that had letters for monsters and also that old Star Trek game which had ASCII happy faces with 2 "+" signs as klingons. Four years later at the tender age of 12 I did my first build all by myself. It was a 286-16Mhz. That means that the only brand-name desktop I've ever owned was an IBM-PC (Well I didn't own it, my dad did but you get the idea..lol) because all my computers have been builds ever since. Initially I hated that IBM-PC because it didn't have good games like the Commodore 64 but as I got to learn what it was capable of, I realised that I didn't want to use anything else. MS-DOS was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen, especially compared to all those other home computers that used some kind of BASIC as their interface and to this day, the original IBM PC had the best tactile-feel keyboard I've ever used. The rest, as they say, is history. I was well on my way to becoming a total geek!
http://dl.maximumpc.com/galleries/25oldpcs/IBM_PC_01_full.jpg
By the way, this is ONLY for x86-based PCs. If you had an Apple II series, a Commodore or any other Motorola-based computer, it doesn't count.
The Poll ends on December 31, 2011 at 11:59PM so that lots of people will get a chance to vote.
I listed it in Compaq because that's the oldest surviving PC name other than IBM and for some odd reason, IBM isn't a subsection.

I bought an ARC(?) or something like that name 8086 clone in 1988 or 1989. If I remember correctly it had a turbo switch bumping the processor speed a bit. 5.25 floppy and 10 mg hd with 640 kb system memory and ega video. Oh, I also got myself a used Epson dot matrix printer. Upgraded 2 or 3 years later to a 386 sx. Those were the days.
Dave