First Computer You've Owned?

[WalksWithChrist]

Mine was a dreadful E-Machine. Thing was horrible. Slow Celeron processor didn't help matters any...
Was one of the ones that finally had the power supply blown up (faulty parts). Fried the whole thing.

I was a green tech when those beasts hit the market. Those power supplies were the size of those little drink boxes for kids.

My boss bought us several of them for use around the shop. Before long the power supplies started popping and we wired *real* ones in but they didn't fit! We had them sitting on top of the case and it looked very ghetto.


We called them freeMachines.

 

[AdamKane]

Mine was a dreadful E-Machine. Thing was horrible. Slow Celeron processor didn't help matters any...
Was one of the ones that finally had the power supply blown up (faulty parts). Fried the whole thing.

Usually a burned up power supply won't kill a computer. A computer really only dies if you fry the processor or the motherboard.

 

[WalksWithChrist]

Usually a burned up power supply won't kill a computer. A computer really only dies if you fry the processor or the motherboard.

No my friend! That's far from the truth. I've seen many power supplies take the rest of the ship down with it. It's not pretty and it smells awful if the PS actually explodes!

You haven't lived until you've had a power supply explode in your face. That's why you should never cheap out on the power supply. You get what you pay for!

 

[Qyöt27]

No my friend! That's far from the truth. I've seen many power supplies take the rest of the ship down with it. It's not pretty and it smells awful if the PS actually explodes!

You haven't lived until you've had a power supply explode in your face. That's why you should never cheap out on the power supply. You get what you pay for!

Not to mention the sound of one dying is equally horrible.

Funny enough, I have one of the older eMachines from 2001 (the T1110), I suppose one of the second generation of them - still a Celeron, but a 1GHz Coppermine-based model. It's on its third power supply (and well, it's also got a bunch of other parts in it that it didn't come with...it's turned into a Frankenstein computer considering its age and maker). The other two PSUs did indeed blow up, but just because they'd finally reached the end of their rather dust-choked lives, not because they were out-and-out faulty. The first one survived from 2001-September 2005, the second one from September 2005-June 2010.

I did mention that at the start of the thread, though.

 

[WalksWithChrist]

Not to mention the sound of one dying is equally horrible.

Funny enough, I have one of the older eMachines from 2001 (the T1110), I suppose one of the second generation of them - still a Celeron, but a 1GHz Coppermine-based model. It's on its third power supply (and well, it's also got a bunch of other parts in it that it didn't come with...it's turned into a Frankenstein computer considering its age and maker). The other two PSUs did indeed blow up, but just because they'd finally reached the end of their rather dust-choked lives, not because they were out-and-out faulty. The first one survived from 2001-September 2005, the second one from September 2005-June 2010.

I did mention that at the start of the thread, though.

I think if I had six of those eMachines I could make a nice bookshelf.


You know what really smells? A power supply that pops on a PC owned by a heavy smoker. Oh that is an odor MOST foul!
*ickyface*
Dust, tar and intense high heat do not a good combo make.

 

[Willtor]

I got an eMachines with a Celeron my Freshman year in college. It lasted through Junior year. At the end, we were using it as a firewall.

 

[WalksWithChrist]

I got an eMachines with a Celeron my Freshman year in college. It lasted through Junior year. At the end, we were using it as a firewall.

A network firewall or a crawlspace firewall?

 

[AdamKane]

No my friend! That's far from the truth. I've seen many power supplies take the rest of the ship down with it. It's not pretty and it smells awful if the PS actually explodes!

You haven't lived until you've had a power supply explode in your face. That's why you should never cheap out on the power supply. You get what you pay for!

Well then, that's a good reason to keep both fans clean and working properly.

 

[Willtor]

A network firewall or a crawlspace firewall?

Pfff... you can't use an eMachines computer for a network firewall!

 

[WalksWithChrist]

Well then, that's a good reason to keep both fans clean and working properly.

But it's so much better to just wait and take care of it after the explosion. It's good for the economy...um, yeah.

Pfff... you can't use an eMachines computer for a network firewall!

But they make great doorstops!

 

[AirForceTeacher]

Pfff... you can't use an eMachines computer for a network firewall!

Why not? Ubuntu server, IPtables, and an extra network card.

 

[Willtor]

Why not? Ubuntu server, IPtables, and an extra network card.

I was kidding. I loaded FreeBSD onto it and used it as a network firewall.

 

[AdamKane]

But they make great doorstops!

I wouldn't figure that they would be heavy enough!

 

[7thKeeper]

Hmm. Mine was an Amiga 500 if it counts. My first PC was a 486DX2 50 Mhz. Can't remember how much memory I had, but it ran DOS until I installed Windows 3.11 in it later on.

 

[higherFaith]

One of my first was a C64 and PCW. I loved that PCW, wish I still had it.

 

[sea oat]

The first family computer we had was some kind of Compaq Presario my parents bought in the autumn or winter of 1995. I still remember when they brought it into the house. I was home and very sick with the flu, so I didn't know they'd bought it. I'm not sure about what specs the computer had, but I know it ran Windows 95.

The first computer I ever owned for my own exclusive use was a Toshiba laptop in 2004. I don't remember the model, but it fried 3 years later. It kept overheating and shutting off until it finally just quit powering on at all. I've had more than one bad experience with Toshiba laptops, which is why I doubt I'd ever buy anymore.

 

[higherFaith]

The first computer I ever owned for my own exclusive use was a Toshiba laptop in 2004. I don't remember the model, but it fried 3 years later. It kept overheating and shutting off until it finally just quit powering on at all. I've had more than one bad experience with Toshiba laptops, which is why I doubt I'd ever buy anymore.

I had the same problem with my last PC, about a year in, CPU fried, literally. Thats Intel Cels and really small metal casings with huge power supplies for you. These days I use a more plastic casing in big cases with smaller PSUs and AMD chipsets.

 

[cyberlizard]

my first computer was an Atari 800XL with an external hard drive (discarded it less than a year ago - it still worked)... (the picture isn't mine but similar set up)

followed up by a Atari 520STe with a 'hi-res' monochrome monitor...

We then got our first PC proper... a self built 386SX with 4MB of Ram and a 40MB Hard Drive running Windows 3.1 and DOS 6.1.


Our current PC is an Acer M5201, quad-core Phenom processor, 4GB Ram, 1.2TB Hard Drive, DVD-writers and Blu-Ray drive, awesome graphics card coupled into a 22" monitor and Samsung CLP-310 colour laser printer. Input by way of optical mouse and a microsoft 4000 split ergonomic keyboard... but the 'm' key sometimes sticks and makes it look like I cannot spell. (this is a stock picture - dvd copier on top/blu-ray underneath) - the photo does not do it justice.

Steve

p.s. Someone earlier mentioned an Amstrad... I remember using a DTP called Timeworks on that it was great at the time...

 

[WalksWithChrist]

my first computer was an Atari 800XL with an external hard drive (discarded it less than a year ago - it still worked)... (the picture isn't mine but similar set up)

followed up by a Atari 520STe with a 'hi-res' monochrome monitor...

We then got our first PC proper... a self built 386SX with 4MB of Ram and a 40MB Hard Drive running Windows 3.1 and DOS 6.1.


Our current PC is an Acer M5201, quad-core Phenom processor, 4GB Ram, 1.2TB Hard Drive, DVD-writers and Blu-Ray drive, awesome graphics card coupled into a 22" monitor and Samsung CLP-310 colour laser printer. Input by way of optical mouse and a microsoft 4000 split ergonomic keyboard... but the 'm' key sometimes sticks and makes it look like I cannot spell. (this is a stock picture - dvd copier on top/blu-ray underneath) - the photo does not do it justice.

Steve

p.s. Someone earlier mentioned an Amstrad... I remember using a DTP called Timeworks on that it was great at the time...

We had a 520ST. Those really were ahead of their time.

 

[cyberlizard]

We had a 520ST. Those really were ahead of their time.

I extensively used a DTP package called Calamus... supposedly you can get it for the PC, but I now use MS Publisher for quick and dirty and Indesign when something more complex is required.


Steve