How much did your first computer cost, and the one your using now

[PollyannaMom]

My father has always been a computer nerd. He started buying computers before I was born. I think he had almost every Tandy TRS-80 since the late 70s. I remember we thought pong was a fun game. I have no idea what he paid for computers back then...

My first computer was a TRS-80, too! (My dad ran a Radio Shack.) I remember programming that thing in BASIC - especially a kaleidoscope program I used to run like TV in my room. I think a simple version of it might have been part of the tutorial in the book, and then I played with it to make it do more.

I'm on a Dell right now, but I don't remember what we paid for it.

 

[Shsmith341]

My first computer was a TRS-80, too! (My dad ran a Radio Shack.) I remember programming that thing in BASIC - especially a kaleidoscope program I used to run like TV in my room. I think a simple version of it might have been part of the tutorial in the book, and then I played with it to make it do more.

I'm on a Dell right now, but I don't remember what we paid for it.

So funny. Radio shack was our second home lol!

 

[Praying Colonel]

My first computer was an off-brand 286 I bought in 1990 for about $1,200. My current computer is a 2012 MacBook Pro I bought for about $1,000.

 

[tvguy]

Well, I did buy a VIC20 from Toys R Us in 1982. But that never did anything other than teach some very basic code writing. I paid $150 for it

My first real computer was a Packard Bell 486SX that cost $1,200 at Montgomery Ward in 1994.

My current computer is a Dell dual core, but I don't remember what the processor is, but I bought it in 2007 for $1,500 and it still has more capability than I need. My wife things I should get a new one, but I don't see a reason too.
As for my next one, both my kids built their own PCs I may consider that. Or maybe an off the shelf unit from Walmart or Dell

 

[wenrob]

My DH built our first desktop. In retrospect it probably wasn’t that much but at the time I remember getting upset with the money he was spending. My kids still use it many moons later.

*My* first computer was a little laptop from Laptop Exchange for me to try out. $300? I was convinced I would never use it.

My current computer is a Dell desktop. I want to say $800? The monitor was pretty pricey, designed specifically for photography with a matte finish about $500. It gets turned on maybe once a week. The kids use Chromebooks distributed by the school for homework and I use my iPad 99% of the time.

 

[Moliphino]

My first computer (not counting family computers before this) was for a Dell laptop for college and was over $2000. It needed to be able to run Solidworks and stuff like that.

My current computer is an HP that cost around $700.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

You both came over from the Dark Side!

PC is the path to the dark side. PC leads to crashes. Crashes lead to throwing PC out the window. Throwing PC out the window leads to suffering.

 

[Searc]

Our first one was a Gateway (remember those?!) in 1997 and it was almost $2000. We had to make monthly payments on it. Our current laptop is an HP and was about $400, paid in full.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Our first one was a Gateway (remember those?!) in 1997

Were those the cow boxes??

 

[Searc]

Were those the cow boxes??

Yep!

 

[Imzadi]

My first was also an IBM Aptiva in '95, first generation Pentium desktop. It was barely 750MBs. 250 MBs were eaten up by the operating system.

I bought it towards the end of '97, so it was already obsolete as the Win 98 computers were coming out in a few months. That was my first lesson in overpaying for obsolescence before even leaving the store.

Since then, I've been getting laptops. Interestingly, I'm still paying about the same price: $600-ish. When I got 2 cheaper HP laptops, they each broke in a few places within months.

I need a 17-inch screen & a good graphics card, so the next laptop will probably also be in that price range. But NO more HP computers ever.

 

[fla4fun]

I bought my first desktop around 1994-95, and if I remember correctly it was around $2,000. Now I primarily use my iPad Pro, but I have a hand me down Mac laptop for times when a laptop is more convenient. The iPad was a gift, and the hand me down Mac was free.

 

[Kitty 34]

yes, winner gets a chicken dinner

Not the chicken over at the Exorcism place that was posted earlier in a thread (I think RedAngie's)!!

 

[bcla]

Apple //c in late 1984. Don't recall exactly how much, but I think the main computer was $899 on sale, the monochrome green monitor was maybe $200 and the stand about $30. The external disk drive was maybe $150. The next month my parents bought me an Apple II mouse for $100. It was purchased at Macy's Union Square in San Francisco back when they sold computers. Only selected locations had them.

 

[ImDMous]

I am also a Tandy TRS-80 user. I was a kid, so I didn't buy it but I also learned BASIC using it.
Cassette tape drive programs, fun stuff.

My current home computer is an HP desktop of some sort, employee discount so I don't remember what I paid for it, probably around $1200. It's about 5 years old and still great so I can't complain.

DH and I are both software developers so there's lots of various parts/old laptops/tablets laying around.

 

[bcla]

Oh - my current computer is a Mac laptop that I bought for about $1000 on sale. It's kind of pricey, but after one mod (an SSD I installed myself) it's been rock solid since I bought it in 2015. In the meantime my wife has had a series of Windows 10 PCs that gradually became unstable and unusable, although some were bought cheap. I don't believe it was a hardware problem though.

 

[Shsmith341]

I am also a Tandy TRS-80 user. I was a kid, so I didn't buy it but I also learned BASIC using it.
Cassette tape drive programs, fun stuff.

My current home computer is an HP desktop of some sort, employee discount so I don't remember what I paid for it, probably around $1200. It's about 5 years old and still great so I can't complain.

DH and I are both software developers so there's lots of various parts/old laptops/tablets laying around.

OMG... I completely forgot about the cassette tape drive!

 

[Imzadi]

Not the chicken over at the Exorcism place that was posted earlier in a thread (I think RedAngie's)!!

Where do you think Low-key got the chicken from?

 

[Tallis]

First PC - $700
Current laptop - Free from trash

 

[Dan Murphy]

First would have been either 1982 or '83. An IBM PC. Double 5/14 inch floppies (160k capacity), no hard drive. Video card was extra cost (duh!), no sound card, DOS 3.1 (OS was extra (duh!), 64k memory, expanded to 256k from IMB and then an AST Six Pack Plus to make it 640k. 4.77 MHz. But for all practical purposes, only 256k was usable. Green monochrome monitor. All in, I recall about $2,850, in 1982/83 dollars.

Next computer was a PC Ltd, the precursor to Dell, before Mike Dell changed the name to his name. That was 1984. It was taking a chance that it would be compatible to the IBM standard, but he had a no questions asked 60 day return policy, shipping included. It worked flawlessly for a number of years. Color monitor, 286, 20 mg hard drive. 20 just came out. the week before I ordered, largest was 10 mg. $2,450. Comparable IBM AT was $5,200.

Many computers over the years since. Current two are a Dell Laptop purchased maybe 6 or so years ago, about $1,000. And a ZT Systems desktop from Costco, 7 years ago. 16 g memory, 2 TB hard drive. Probably best computer I have had. And it's Windows 7!!