Oh, The Computers I've Owned

I thought I'd take a moment to firmly plant my virtual foot in the realm of geekyness. This endeavor shall be accomplished by describing to you the computers I or my family have owned over the approximate 30 years of my existence.

First Computer: Apple IIe
64K RAM
14" screen

This was a beast my dad brought home from work one day. I think it was part of an IT surplus at his work. This is where I learned basic. I would spend hours typing in code from computer books and magazines to create simple games. I also learned about debugging hundreds of lines of code. I also learned about quitting.

8088 IBM Clone
Processor - Intel 8088 6 MHz/12 MHz
640k RAM, No HD
14" 640x480 VGA Trident screen

Yes this was the second machine I used. You'll recall that the 8088 was based on the 8086 architecture, but used a cheaper 8-bit data bus. Those would-be geeks among you might recognize the x86 architecture which is the foundation of most personal computers in use today. I programmed songs in BASIC for my family one year at Christmas, and presented them with disks.

Packard Bell 486 SX
Intel 486 SX 25 Mhz
4 MB RAM, 120 MB HD
15" 1024x768 screen

This is were I departed from BASIC coding and got into DOS scripting. I would build menus in batch files in DOS to act as launchers for all our programs. This was my first hard drive and CD-ROM (2x!). I experienced the internet, received my first email address, and downloaded shareware games (DOOM, Jazz Jackrabbit, Wolf3D). Remember X-, Y- and Z-modem protocols?.

IBM PS I
Intel Pentium MMX 66 MHz
16 MB RAM, 500 MB HD
15" 1024x768 screen

This was the first computer I purchased on my own. $80. I think it had a 100MB hard drive and 12x CD ROM. I took it to college, and experienced bootleg movies and music. Napster was big, and the University tried to put a stop to it. I stayed up late playing Warcraft II, Comanche III and Starcraft on this machine.

Compaq Presario 1800T
Intel Pentium III 600 MHz
384 MB RAM, 8 GB HD
15" 1400x1050 screen
ATI M7 8 MB video card

I bought this machine with my parents help for $3000 when I got back from Brazil. It had a quick-play feature that allowed CDs to be played without booting the machine. One of my roommates commandeered this machine to play an early MMO, Ultima Online. This is where I learned about BIOS level password protection.

Toshiba 5205-s503
Intel Pentium 4 2.2 GHz
1 GB RAM, 80 GB HD
15" 1400x1050 screen
nVIDIA GeForce Go 460 32 MB video card

This was a sweet machine. I received this as an insurance replacement when the Presario met an (un)timely demise. Laptops do not BASE jump well, especially when forced to do so by tired, clumsy, finals-laden college students trying to run across the room with the power cord wrapped around their foot.

I still have the HD, but the machine was sold for spare cash (about $400) a couple of years ago.

vpr Matrix
Intel Pentium 4-M 1.7 GHz
1 GB RAM, 30 GB HD
14.1" 1280x1024 display
ATI Radeon 7500 16 MB video card

This was actually my wife's computer. Good machine. Too bad it died.

HP DV2025nr
AMD Turion 64 x2 1.6 GHz
2 GB RAM, 120 GB HD
14.1"1200x800 widescreen
nVIDIA GeForce 6150m 8/256 MB TurboCache

This box was a warranty replacement for the dead Matrix. It's held up nicely and has become the "his-laptop."

I mentioned before that I don't run Vista. I installed Windows Server 2008 Enterprise edition on this machine that I received for attending a Microsoft Windows Launch Event. I reccomend you go if ever one comes to your area. Free software and food. You might have to sit through some (boring) presentations, but it's worth it for the software. Take a friend or relative with you for twice the software-y goodness.

Sotec 3125
Intel Celeron M 1.2 GHz
256 MB, 40 GB HD
14" 1024x768
SiS 730 8 MB

Machine I fixed from my in-laws. It's a little Celleron M box that is our print/file server.

Dell 5100
Intel Pentium-M 2.0 GHz
1 GB RAM, 40 GB HD
15" 1280x1024
ATI Radeon 7500 16 MB

I fixed this up from my brother in law and gave it to my sister.

HP DV2700T
Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz
2 GB RAM, 160 GB HD
14.1" 1200x800
nVIDIA GeForce 8400m 64/512 MB TurboCache

This was a warranty replacement for the 2025, but strangely HP sent both laptops back. I couldn't get them to take the "replaced" machine back. They tell me both are still under warranty. It's a Core 2 Duo, 2.2 GHz Box, 2 GB/160GB/GeForce 8400M box. This is the "hers-laptop."

Whitebox, Athlon 64 3000
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 1.8 GHz
2.5 GB RAM, 300/250/160/60 GB HDs
19"/19" widescreen 1600x1200, 1440x900
nVIDIA 6800 XT 256 MB

My brother's computer. Currently at 2.5 GB/790 GB/GeForce 6800 XT. Sometimes I take out the 512 MB stick of RAM to allow the machine to run in Dual Channel mode.

At work I use a Dell D610 (Pentium M 2.2 GHz/2GB/100GB) but will be receiving a Lenovo T61x (Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz/3GB/160GB/Quadro 140NVS). I seem to remember a little Compaq of IBM that I Frankensteined together at work that I gave to my sister-in-law, but I've got no info on it.

Soon, I'll post a picture of my home-office-space-command-center.

There, done.

What computers do you or have you owned, and what memories do you have of them? Let me know in the comments.

My Digital Life

Finding a purpose for this blog has been one of the most difficult things to determine. I want something fun and exciting that will stretch my writing skills beyond that of everyday business email composition. In order to do that I considered what a web log is.

It seems Dr. Seuss tried to answer that question in his book, The Shape of Me and Other Stuff, in which he depicts the shape of a Blogg.

Who knew he was so far ahead of us all.

In any case, I don't want my blog to be so blob-y. Or camel-y. Instead I thought that I would use this space to write about two main topics: 1) my digital life, and 2) things I know nothing about.

I think I know a fair amount about all things digital - as much as any sane person should know, anyway. Understanding of the technical mumbo-jumbo should be left to PhD Engineering students at U.C. Berkley. (Yes, that is my freshman year college roommate with the snazzy beard.) I'll share what I know about these topics, hopefully with some authority.

Second, writing about things I know nothing about should be easy - it's the titular thrust of this blog. Of course, you should remember, dear readers, that the amount of authority and expertise one commands of a subject is inversely proportional to the actual amount of knowledge one possesses. Therefore I am an expert on countless subjects.

Really, though, I hope to investigate those things about which I have little experience so I might learn about them enough to write with actual authority. History alone shall be my judge.

Those last words seemed a little too big.

Let Me Share a Geek Moment With You

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