Vote on your favorite 1985 Computer!

[YMK]

Pick one of these or add your own: Commodore64, IBM Compatible 286 w/VGA, Macintosh SE. Which one do you think had the best sound, music, graphics, games?

I think the Commodore 64 had by far the best music. It had a really cool synthesizer with 3 channels. It had full 20-20Khz range. I think a 286 w/VGA would have the best graphics because the mac's was black and white and commodore graphics were chunky and limited to a few colors. The Mac would have the best sound fx I think, because it can do 22khz PCM. For games I think the C64 had the biggest collection, but I love those old apogee games that run on 286's (commander keen, wolfenstein 3d, biomenace, monster bash, etc .)

[cerberus6]

I'm gonna have to go with the PC. I got a 286XT with a really nice NEC Multisync 15" in late '85 for my 10th birthday. Xtree, Wordstar, Harvard Graphics, Printshop, Zork, Karateka...ah yes, it's all coming back to me now.

[Cruez]

I would have to say the Commodore, I had a C128 but almost always used it as a C64. I had close to 200 floppies full of games. A friend had a IBM, and I refused to get a computer that had crappy graphics like that at the time...Not to mention the sound differences...Now I love the emulators...brings back old times.

[hirschY]

Commadore 64 Portable, all the way!

Loved that little 5" color screen.

[B727BFJ]

Those are all good systems but they don't compare to W.O.P.R. You know that computer from Wargames, that thing would even call you for games!

[YMK]

Why don't you find an AT power supply, then find the pinouts to the C64 power supply. Buy a din connector and wire it up! C64 and PC uses the same +5V and +12V.

[VERT]

C64 was my baby

[dragonB]

Commodore 128! sniff I miss that old thing..
dragonb

[thekingofpain]

How many of you still actually USE those old machines?
I use my MacIIci daily, sits on my kitchen table and only takes up about 1 square foot w/a StylewriterII printer on top---easy to jot notes, balance the budg, keep the pantry stocked, rip off a letter etc---thing cost over 6000$ new and im gettin EVERY pennys worth out of it!

[Ed_S]

Tandy Color Computer

Was a great machine, originally sold in '79. Had 3 major updates before the market dominance of Windows finally killed it in late '87. Actually, we had a GUI called "deskmate" about the same time as Win 3.0 was out.
No harddrive, floppy only. Didn't even need that to "boot" it, since the OS (DOS) was on a ROM chip. Sorta like today's BIOS chips, only better. Booting it used -0- memory!! Used it's RAM very efficiently, the final version had a max of 64K and did everything I asked of it!!

There are still active user groups (http://zeppelin.tzo.cc/coco/coco.jhtml) out there for it!
Personally, I used mine daily until about '93 when I finally gave in & bought a 386. But I've still got it, in storage!!

[Kuasimodem]

I used VIC20's, C64's and Apple IIe's (in school for the apples). I kinda miss them too.

Right now I'm playing with a couple 486sx/25's, going to try making Linux boxes outa them, to learn on.

[jman01pa]

I too had a Timex - Actually I believe it was a Timex Sinclair 1000. I bought it at Kmart. Probably the last computer they ever sold. Loved it. Punching all those games from a magazine in Basic. Frogger took me hours and hours to punch. And did I say hours. The fun.......

J http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[YMK]

I still use my Macintosh SE/30 8MB RAM, 150MB SCSI HD, 68030 CPU @ 16Mhz w/ 512x384 monochrome 9" monitor (its a one piece unit). I love to play those old games. One of my favorites was an old game called VETTE! You get to race a Corvette in the streets of San Fransisco in 3d, it also has modem play! I used to do my school work on it as recently as 3 years ago! Then I bought a Mac Powerbook 5300 (100mhz) then my Athlon 750 system. The old SE/30 can read PC disks, check my email, play wav and midi files and do other stuff too!

[samwichse]

"I loved the C64/128 all I need is a power supply!!..After that I bought an Amiga 500..It didnt work when I recieved it I called them back to replace it and she said they were discontinued so I got my money back, never got to see the Amiga in action."

My first computer (if you can call it that) was an Amiga 2000. We didn't have much money, so much to my suprise did my brother and I wake up Christmas morning to see a new shiney computer sitting on that bench. Then they tried to fire it up and it wouldn't do anything, sent it back to the company and they sent it back again. Still wouldn't work. Sent it back a total of 3 times until the company went bankrupt. 2000$ out the window. Never could afford one again until the computer I bought my sophomore year in high school, a monster 386 16mhz (no heatsink) with 8mb of ram and integrated video card.

Then I got a Cyrix 150 machine I bought for 500$ that was just recently upgraded with a 450 K6-2.

[griobhta]

Those 286's sound like a luxury in 87 I go a 8088 4.77 MHz Tandem PCX20 20 Meg hard disk and 360K. Shipped with 256k but had 640 by the time I got it. Lasted years till the floppy controller gave out in 95. Hercules compatable mono graphics with an amber monitor. Had a great tetris game for it and I have to say that I miss the elegance of norton commander. A sociable computer plenty of time to have a chat or make a cuppa while it was plodding along.

Topped of with an Epson LX800 one noisy brute of a printer.

Back in those simple days with far less crashes.

Griobhta

[seanc]

The C64 or VIC20 for sure. Compared to the IBM PCs of the time you couldn't beat the price. I actually played more games on my C64 AND my VIC20 then I ever did or do on the game consoles of then and now.

Sean

[Natedogg15]

Commodore64 all the way! I remember the countless hours I spent playing clasic games like "Pharaoh's Curse", "4th and Inches", "Frogger", "Jeopardy!", "Wheel of Fortune"... this list could go on forever! The C64 gave me hours of fun when I was younger (from 6-11 years old). Even when everybody was jumping on the "Nintendo" bandwagon, I was enjoying this "powerhouse" gaming machine! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[SickPup404]

I used to play a game on my C64 called Blue Max. Was some kind of fighter plane game that was pretty cool...

Then I got an "upgrade" to a Timex Sinclair with a cassette tape drive!!

My first "real PC" was a Tandy 1000SX (used to work for the Shack) with 128k ram, two 360k floppies and the custom Tandy 16 color display that was somewhere between CGA and EGA, and ran at 4.77Mhz/7.16Mhz... By the time I sold it, it had 640k, a Copy II PC board, 286 Express CPU card (I think it ran at 12Mhz), a 10meg internal MFM drive, a 20meg external MFM drive, a 3.5" floppy, and some old Radio Shack printer that I can't remember...

Phew!

[Natedogg15]

Hey, I used to play Blue Max too! The random bombing of buildings, cars, and bridges was very addicting. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif I had so many games for my C64 that I would never be able to remember them all. I just wish I hadn't sold it 5 or 6 years ago...

[statiatech]

C64 takes my vote. I miss those days. Remember the Amiga 500 http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif Now that was a killer system at the time.

statiatec

[U-96]

Acorn Electron. David Brabham and Ian Bell's ELITE

nuff said.

[scourge]

I had a Laser-128, Apple IIc compatible with a 14" RGB monitor! Simply awesome. Played the hell out of Wizardry, Wasteland, Karateka, and Rescue Raiders!!! I think that was '85. So hard to remember. Now, Back To The Future.

[Cruez]

I loved the C64/128 all I need is a power supply!!..After that I bought an Amiga 500..It didnt work when I recieved it I called them back to replace it and she said they were discontinued so I got my money back, never got to see the Amiga in action.

[RobRich]

Around the mid-80's I was partial to my 8086-1. One of the few systems that Laser ever actually got right, as this shipped at 10 MHz with a second chip math co-processor installed. Cooling for this chip added an extra couple of pounds, as this was one hot processor as compared to its non-FPU 4.xx MHz 8086 siblings. Graphics were decent with an "accelerated bus" CGA graphics card. Most of the onboard components were proprietary, though it did have 4 ISA slots.

Last I knew, it was still being used by a as a terminal emulator for a VAX.

Robert Richmond

[Black]

I don't know what year it came out(but it was about then), the spectrum 128K was the greatest machine of it's class.I never had one but i know what a Z80 could do and it beat the **** out of any commodore(it had better resolution, more colors, it was faster, the cpu had a much larger instruction set + the undocumented one which if you found you could really do amazing things. So just imagine what could you do with 128 Kb memory and the super AY-3-8912 sound chip.

[Dudster]

The only choice for me is the C64 (I didn't even know what a PC was then and when I did, I wasn't at all impressed until I saw a 486 33 MHz running some first person rpg or other http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif). It's always been about the games for me and Wonder Boy, Manic Miner, Spy Hunter, Kickstart etc. etc. etc.

I think 85 was the last year that I used my C64 before getting a US Amiga 1000 (256K). I then used Amigas till just a few years ago (Sensible Soccer and IK+).

[[Neo770]]

I have to vote for the C64, that thing kept me ammused for hours.

[radio1_mike]

C64/128 all the way.

I used log to my college's system with that thing with a terminal program (C64 mode-- 132 columns) on 13" color TV with 300 baud (manual connect- later a 1200 baud auto).

And the games. I used to waste so much time playing Gunship, Yie-Ar Kung Fu, Master of the Lamp and Theatre Europe on it.

Though the Amiga 1000, anything Atari or Apple was pretty good too. IBM was just way too expensive for a struggling college student.

In '85 you just did not see many people who owned an IBM PC or a compatible unless they were professionals or they got it from their parents. And frankly, it did not matter as much (academically speaking) because most computing was done on a network basis. So, as long you could dial in and emulate a VT52 or VT100 terminal you were golden. If you had heavy computing needs, you went to the Sun Lab.

In a way, I kind of miss those days, where you would sit around with your friends and argue who had the best computer--

"I have an Apple II GS!!"
"I have an Amiga 1000"
"I have my Atari 800..."
"Well, I got my C128, so there"

And the merits--

"I have 256x192"
"I have 320x200"
"I have 512x384"

Oh well.

[radio1_mike]

jman01pa:

Wow! Typing in computer games. Heh! I used to get Compute! every month and type for hours and hours for C64.

Did you ever do their machine code program? Where you'd type type in a string of hex and a checksum? Then repeat 500 times! God, that was awful, but the games were faster!

I remember this one issue of Ahoy had DOS program; lamest thing I ever tried typing in.

I was always jealous of my friends who had Atari computer; because Analog always had the best type-in programs. Arcade quality versions of Joust, Pac-Man etc... Though those program listing were pages and pages long.

[radio1_mike]

jman01pa:

Wow! Typing in computer games. Heh! I used to get Compute! every month and type for hours and hours for C64.

Did you ever do their machine code program? Where you'd type type in a string of hex and a checksum? Then repeat 500 times! God, that was awful, but the games were faster!

I remember this one issue of Ahoy had DOS program; lamest thing I ever tried typing in.

I was always jealous of my friends who had an Atari computer; because Analog always had the best type-in programs. Arcade quality versions of Joust, Pac-Man etc... Though those program listing were pages and pages long.

[radio1_mike]

sorry for the double post!

:-}

[Joe03]

The 286 prob. had the best sound, but I think the Apple II-GS had best graphics of the time ('85-'87) with its 256 color display.

[YMK]

I would think that a 286 with its PC squeaker would have the worst sound. A 286 with a soundblaster is a different story... I have a Commodore 286 12Mhz believe it or not! I put a Yamaha OPL3 sound card w/3D in it and it worked! But before that the sound was horrible.

[acid_burn~187]

Hey all... well in 1985 I was 3, but I did play some games on my parent's 8086 PC... hehe. Does anybody remember Galactix or Digdug???? Two of my fav games of all time!!

~Paul

[eagle1]

Definitely I have to go with my C64 and my super monitor. I remember it was just ... GREEN.!!

I played alot of games (had alot of games) and I think stopped using it because the disk drive got damaged and I couldn't find a replacement.!

[charmler]

C64 and a game called Telengard. Hours wasted every night for weeks.
The amount of software was amazing. I think the C64 was the jumping point for all computer games. Remember SSI's Pool Of Radiance? It was made for the C64 first and the PC second. It played better on the PC but looked so much better on a large TV.

[be_true2]

In 1985, I would positively vote for the C64. For it's cost, it would run circles around the PC's of the time. (Remember trying to play games in 4 colors on a PC?) The C64 was capable of things that the PC couldn't even touch! (Remember 'sprites'? ) Dad had bought us kids a C64 when we were kids, and we learned to program in BASIC on it. We would type in a program for hours, then not let anyone touch the TV for fear of lossing the program - we didn't have a disk drive at first! (That same C64 is in my closet now - anyone have a sound chip?) I played "Test Drive" on it for hours at a time!

When I graduated in 1990, I went to go buy my first computer. I was going to buy a C128-D. (It was the latest Commodore 128, in a desktop version with separate keyboard - like the PC's had.) I was told that the Commodores had been discontinued, so I bought the (Commodore) Amiga 500. First game I bought was "Test Drive 2" (I now have Test Drive 4 & 6 for the PC) The Amiga could display high resolution images in 4096 colors when Pc's were lucky to have 16 or 256. It had 'Workbench' built in. (We don't need no stinkin' winDose !) It had STEREO !! sound with 4 voice channels. It had Multi-tasking built into the hardware (Something PC's still can't do without software.) It even had direct type-to-speech. My Amiga computer? -- Yep, still have it. Yep, still use it. Yep, it's ON right now. (Playing 'Prince of Persia' )

And, if you happen to have gotten a higher end Amiga -- Such as an Amiga 2000 or Amiga 3000, then you could add a 'Video Toaster' Card and you would have a graphics editing system that PC's couldn't touch for ANY price! Up untill about 5 years ago, you could watch TV every night and see a movie or tv show that used an Amiga to make it. (Remember in 'Terminator 2' when the man turned to liquid and went thru jail bars and jumped int helicopter? All done on an Amiga w/Toaster !! ) Makes me wonder how many are STILL being used.


OK, I have to admit it, I am using a PC right now. PIII @500MHz.

Better go now, the Amiga is getting jealous!

-Chris



[This message has been edited by be_true2 (edited 08-15-2001).]

[GOSJOD]

My choice is the Sony SMC-70! CPM os, first 3.5" floppy, and the first to overlay computer generated graphics and text onto NTSC video.

[vingfel]

C64 First!

AAAhhh! ACE, ACE2, PitStop, PitStop2, Karateka, Fort Apocalypse, Green Beret, Rambo, Rambo2, ...

Anf programming in basic. The programmers's begin!

Then, a Acer 910, 286 8[MHz] with 1[Mb] ram!!! Creating my text under MS Word, Drawing under AutoCAD 2.5; creating the documents under Aldus PageMaker1 by importing the word doc and the HPGL drawing. Really powerfull!!!

And programming in basic and BasicBasic.

I had to slow my 286 in order to play "Old Style of War", one of my favorit strategy game of all time, created for XT. Otherway, I have all the excellent Wing Commander and Ultima UnderWold serie, on 286 and more.

[kimmage]

in 85 the oric-1 was the machine of choice for me and i still have it working nicely. it had a sleek wedge design with nicely spaced keys. at the time though there weren't alot of programs for it.

[LostBok]

'85 would defintely have had the C64 way ahead of my PC: Blue Max and Fort Apache were awesome as were Brue Lee and all the rest!

My 5/15Mhz x20 (PC clone), even with it's 256k "accelerated" EGA and 640kb upgraded RAM couldn't touch that C64 with its funky little tape drive.

It was only a few years later that the PC took over: my 386DX kinda did it, the most over-beefed 386 ever: RapidCAD co-processor, 16meg extended memory, ATI mach32, 330meg and 410meg HDD's, plus 10meg RAMdrive on 2 x Intel Above Boards (anybody remember them?), a Sound Blaster Pro and Sony 1.5x CDROM, of course it wasn't until about '94 that I could afford to put the CD and all that RAM in there!

Any EMU's out there with the likes of Blue Max?

laters all!
LostBok

[wahrez]

Have to go with the Acorn Electron....pure class.

--> Wahrez

[Orbit]

Commodore C-64, no question about it. It was light years ahead of the IBM PC. I still have my complete working system with tons of software.

[spiffykitty]

PC

I was 2 then... Years later though we still had an IBM PC made in '83. That thing was great! It had a color monitor and these great games. Monopoly, space invaders, pinball, bouncing babies, blocks (or was it bricks?), frogger (had that on atari too), pacman, and more stuff I must be forgetting. It also had wordstar for my mom and one of those screechy dot-matrix printers. I still have some very fond memories of that old computer... too bad it got given away a few years ago.

[Hyper]

I have to say I didnt have much experience with these comps. I did have a Colecovision Adam. I spent many hours playing games and learning BASIC. Fun times.

[vagpap]

First (I believe) vote for AMSTRAD CPC6128!!!!!!
Disk drive, stereo sound, 2nd drive, printer, tape recorder and colour monitor!!!!

See you
Vangelis

Long live 8-bit