Only 3695 dollars!

[aimeeandbeatles]

Old computer ad from oldcomputers.net

Hilarious. You could now build a huge ol' gaming rig for half of that.

 

[Cutlass]

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

.....wow. (10char)

 

[Padma]

... Which is why I only had floppy drives for my Atari 800. As I said at the time, "If I had enough money to buy a new car, I'd buy a new car, instead."

 

[Turner]

Likewise. My first IBM machine (DOS) had just two floppies. Thanks to a similar setup and having a HD as a luxury at school for the Apple ][e and a floppy for my Atari 800XL, I didn't really miss it.

I remember trying to buy a computer for my daughter back in '98 or so, and the cheapest I could find was a gateway for about 3k. No one tried to get near that price, either. Wish I could remember the setup....

 

[Zelig]

I remember trying to buy a computer for my daughter back in '98 or so, and the cheapest I could find was a gateway for about 3k. No one tried to get near that price, either. Wish I could remember the setup....

That doesn't sound right, in 1998 you should have been able to get a low-end celeron machine for under $1000...

 

[Turner]

Well, she was born in '96, diagnosed in '97, so it would have been after that. Could have been late '97, but I know it was before mid '99, when I finally got a computer. Don't remember exactly when.

I'm pretty sure it was a Pentium MMX machine....

 

[Beam]

The original invoice also acting as warranty document still must be lying somewhere in my house and iirc my first PC I got for free in 1988 was a Tandon AT originally purchased as an advanced development machine for close to 20.000 NLG which is about 9.000 Euro / 11.000 USD.

I got it for free because in '88 it was written off and obsolete and basically eating up space.

Some of its smashing specs:

• 8 / 10 MHz CPU (switchable, very buggy at 10)
• 1 Mb internal mem
• 40 Mb HD (twice the typical size)
• 16 color EGA adapter and CRT
• Tandon DOS 3.3
• Multiple serial and paralel ports (pricy at the time)
• 2mm Steel case
• 5,25" floppy

If I ever find that invoice I promise to make a scan and post it here.

 

[GenMarshall]

Dang, Computers cost as much as a car back in thoes days. Thank goodness for Nintendo's NES where you can game for less than what's shown in those ads.

(Though I give Atari System, Pong, and Commodore 64 credit)

 

[Perfection]

Old technology is often not as good as newer technology.

 

[lndm]

Old technology is often not as good as newer technology.

You are for the most part correct but I'm going to disagree with you on principle. My main issue is that engineering is driven by viability. Sometimes good attitudes and practices are dumped because they're inefficient. The consumers and the beancounters hardly notice.

 

[alcal]

Thanks to chinese slave workers, today's computers cost much less.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Either that or the fact that production technologies have improved greatly. Therefore yields have increased and prices have dropped.

 

[lutzj]

Yeah, but the REAL value is at the bottom of the poster: 26 megs for under 5 g's!

 

[toda]

I counter the OP's ad with this.

 

[lutzj]

I like how that one advertises the "sealed enclosure."

 

[Genocidicbunny]

I like how that one advertises the "sealed enclosure."

Dust wasnt as much of an issue with old hard drives, although the one in the ad is from right around the time when having it enclosed became a good idea.

 

[lndm]

For those that haven't seen an early 5MB hard drive (1956).

 

[Perfection]

You are for the most part correct but I'm going to disagree with you on principle. My main issue is that engineering is driven by viability. Sometimes good attitudes and practices are dumped because they're inefficient. The consumers and the beancounters hardly notice.

Well, my point is that "wow, old electronics isn't as good and costs more" is a pretty boring topic.

 

[lndm]

Yeah?? Well electronics types get a buzz out of it.