Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

Rick · Site Admin Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22452 Location: UK

Hi all,

Has anyone here sought out old computers, for nostalgia value? I could see me buying a ZX81 or a Spectrum one day I suppose. Quite a few model names from my past are on this site, worth a look if you remember computing how it used to be, when screens were green and floppy discs were cutting edge tech.

http://www.vintage-computer.com/sinclair_zx81.shtml

RJ
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Peter_L · Posted: Sat May 02, 2015 12:05 am Post subject:

Should have.!

I had a Sinclair ZX80, I can't remember one thing I ever did on it. Then I upgraded to the ZX81 c/w the 16k Ram pack that plugged in the back. That computer could do zero million different things, all of which were any use.

Fortunately Alan Sugar came to the rescue with the Amstrad and I had 3 of them over time and my first sojourn into the internet was with the 1640.

Alas all of them went to the dump. I wish I had kept the ZX80, it would make a good shelf ornament and discussion item.

In 1981, we had an electrical wholesale business. We spent £10k on an Adler computer, it was as big as sideboard and had a huge printer. All it could do was stock control, pricing and invoicing, it couldn't be used as word processor. It cost more than the Mk1V Cortina Estate I had.

Penman · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4764 Location: Swindon, Wilts.

Hi
I still have my old Zenith Data Systems desktop which ran windows 3.1 with a minute RAM and hard drive and used the big floppies, must have hundreds of them.
Also have with it a Facit dot matrix printer.

Anybody want to start a collection?
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roverdriver · Posted: Sat May 02, 2015 11:10 am Post subject:

I started with a VZ3000 which was of the same period as the Vic 20 and Commodore 64, about 1982. None of them had any ROM and programmes and data had to be saved on either 5 1/2" floppy discs or audio tapes. I taught myself program writing in Basic, and set up computers with my programmes for a couple of local schools.

After that many years passed before I got back to computer use and by then all of my acquired knowledge was of no use.

I do still have the VZ3000, and also an IBM machine which has twin floppy disc readers. I'd like to pass the IBM to an enthusiast, but don't know of one around.
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alanb · Joined: 10 Sep 2012 Posts: 516 Location: Berkshire.

Peter
In the early 80's I was a systems engineer for an office equipment company looking after Adler accounting systems, TA 10's & TA 20's huge machines with 8k of memory. Then we had the Apple 2 with a massive 64k of memory, and by today's standards how did we manage?? Shocked

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peter scott · Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 7120 Location: Edinburgh

More of a programmable scientific calculator than a computer but when I started work with Hewlett-Packard in 1971 the only portable computing device was an HP 9100A. It was shared between myself and about 60 other engineers in the R&D lab. It sat on a trolley with a little flagpole attached so that you can easily see where is was in the open plan office if you needed more than the regulation slide rule that was the normal means of calculation.

I didn't acquire that particular HP9100A but do have an identical one in my possession that still worked last time I tried it. You can write about 50 register operations into its magnetic core memory and you can also save your programs onto a magnetic card about the size of a credit card. One of the peripherals available for it was an XY plotter. I don't have the plotter but do have some plots I made at the time.

Peter

http://hp9100.info/

http://hpmuseum.net/display_item.php?hw=50

p.s. By 1974 you could program HP's pocket calculator HP65 to perform virtually everything that the 9100A did in a fraction of the size including storing your programs on a tiny magnetic card.

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traction39 · Joined: 19 May 2009 Posts: 399 Location: South Wales

Good to see the HP 65. I still have mine, the cv variant. Used to use the magnetic cards to load and save programmes. Sadly the rechargeable batteries have leaked. Used to love the reverse Polish notation too.
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Citroen Light 15 1953, "12" 1939,
Riley 9 Special 1932

peter scott · Joined: 18 Dec 2007 Posts: 7120 Location: Edinburgh

Hi Alistair,

RPN is great! I couldn't do without it.

You can have it on your pc or smartphone as an emulation...
http://thomasokken.com/free42/

Peter Very Happy

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1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

Rick · Site Admin Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22452 Location: UK

After the ZX81 and the Spectrum, and an Acorn Electron which I'd forgotten about until now, dad (who worked at Ferranti) upgraded me to an Advance 86A (later upgraded to 86B). This was a sizeable IBM PC compatible machine that had space under the main unit in which to store the keyboard when out of use.

This was at about the time I was studying for my O levels, c1985/6, so quite a step up from the Electron, and the BBC Model Bs which we had at school.

http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=507

RJ
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ukdave2002 · Joined: 23 Nov 2007 Posts: 4106 Location: South Cheshire

At £350, that was cheap for an IBM comparable PC!

I started working for a IT firm in the late 80's, we sold mainly IBM and Compaq, I don't think anything was available for much less than £2k Shocked

I worked in maintenance and recall in the mid 90s we moved our stores to a larger base and took the opportunity to have a clear out, we filled 22 large skips with old PC's and peripherals ! Including quite a few of the early "portable"PCs...they had a built in 7" crt screen, were just under a ton in weight!! and looked just like a sewing machine with the cover on, mains only of course!

I never thought that 20 years later these things would be collectable.

Dave

Rick · Site Admin Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Posts: 22452 Location: UK

About 15 years ago, erindoors and I popped into an evening auction being held at a village hall close to where we lived.

There, amongst the tea sets and broken toys, was an original, 8086 IBM PC (not even an XT), unused and still packaged in all its original boxes, with software, monitor, the whole kit. I didn't bother sticking around to see what the PC went for, but I wonder if it'd have been a good buy, as a future collectable?

Saying that, it was a bulky pile of boxes so would have taken up a lot of storage space at OCC HQ.

RJ
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Ellis · Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 9:27 pm Post subject:

I know very little about computer history but my eldest nephew has been, shall I say, an enthusiast since childhood starting with a Sinclair ZX Spectrum in 1983.

In 1986 having done well in his GCSE he was given one these as recognition of his efforts :

[im

g]

I recall that it was then the latest Atari which he still owns now in 2015.
It's in pristine condition in it's original box with instructions and whatever came with it originally.[/img]
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1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
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JohnDale · Posted: Tue May 05, 2015 2:16 pm Post subject:

Hi all, I started off in '82 with a Colour Genie,which had an instruction manual as big as the hardware. It operated by music type tapes played on a portable tape player & if the sound level wasn't correct it just didn't work. Screen connection was to a small portable TV. This TV was also used with one of the games machines, a tennis match, a far cry from today's Play Stations etc.
Cheers,JD.
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1976 Ford Granada Ghia.

Peter_L · Posted: Tue May 05, 2015 5:03 pm Post subject:

I can remember spending hours writing programs in Basic. None of which were of any use, but I enjoyed the process.

Oh, nearly forgot. I did once create a phone customer contact program.

It was a database of customers and would come up name, phone number, if the call went through or required a call back. Would schedule future calls and had room to put a few notes about the customer. There was also an entry listing invoice numbers so we could see what they had bought in the past.

It was a huge improvement on the rotodex cards. The last call list would be printed off at the end of each day because no one trusted the data to still be there in the morning.