I swapped my 48k ZX Spectrum for a Commodore 64 back in 1984. I had it for 3 or 4 years until I upgraded to an Amiga 500. Whilst I wouldn't want to lose the power of today's computers and the internet, a part of me really misses those days :(

ZX Spectrum+ 48k was my first, then the C64 (which was great) and then an Amiga 500+

 

I remember the Microprose stuff more than anything else (Silent Service, Project Stealth Fighter, F19, Grand Prix) along with Fighter Bomber, F16 Combat Pilot and Falcon of course.

 

There was also some Airbus simulator which I had but the name escapes me.......

C64....was my very first computer. Got me hooked, wrote / typed many a school paper on that trusty machine in the day! :) Can also remember getting a new Commodore magazine every month, to head straight to the back of it for the machine-language programs. We'd type away for HOURS just to play the latest crazy little game that is programmed. lol Unless the power went out, then we had to start all over! LOL

 

Can also remember loading the tape drive for about 3-hours, to play the dungeon game we had. I don't recall the name, but man that was fun. Then the "Floppy disks" drive came out for it, and Gunship became my go-to game...along with Tom Clancey's sub game for it. Yeah, seriously good times on that thing.

 

Oh, thenn 10th grade, I took a class on basic programming, and the course was done on C64's! LOL Teacher let me borrow a 2400 baud modem a few times, found a local BBS, and I was a geek from that point forward. :) VERY VERY fond memories! :)

Hello

I was a ZX Spectrum guy myself, then one day I looked in a computer shop window and was blown away by this:

My very first computer was the Commodore SX-64 "Executive"* with a massive 5" color screen!

 

I used it to maintain the accounting books for my company, and played games on it in the evenings and on weekends.

 

* http://oldcomputers.net/sx64.html

Yes, the Amiga amazed me, too, the first time I saw it. When the first shipment arrived in Vancouver, I hustled down to the only store that had one on display (can't remember the name of the store--on Broadway near Fir) and looked in wonderment at DeluxePaint running on an Amiga 1000. The colors and resolution were, for that era, mind blowing. Within a few months ... I bought one! Flight Simulator was astounding: runways that LOOKED like runways, much better frame rates, more realistic-looking aircraft ... wow!

 

Its capabilities were far and away ahead of its time. I still look back on the Amiga with a great deal of fondness and nostalgia

Damn, now I feel old!!! I used to console on the Atari 2600 and Colecovision but then I ran into a nifty little computer, the Mattel Aquarius! This is what caught my attention and never looked back. After that was the Commodore 64C and eventually the king of kings for those days, the Amiga 500... I still remember the day I purchased F-19 Stealth Fighter for the Amiga 500. I remember it as if it occurred yesterday. I was heading to my part-time job (17 yoa) at Food Emporium in NYC's 88th Street and Madison Ave. I stopped at the local Electronics Boutique (or was it Radio Shack? I can't remember) and purchased the game. Afterwards, I just couldn't stop looking at the box and manual while at work, and desperate to go home. Needless to say, many times I was late to work because I couldn't stop playing this game.

 

Great times! Also reminds me of the 300 baud modem I had and used it to connect to local BBS sites in the area! Good times!!!

Computing was really magical back in the 80's. Everything from the rapid progression of new technology, improvements to graphics and sound, new titles and the suspension of belief was unsurpassed. I long for the days when I would walk into a software store and there were racks and racks of software, for 4 or 5 different types of computers! The games were original and varied-- not just first person shooters. With my C128 I was happier flying Flight Sim around Chicago (Meigs field) than I am today with my thousands of dollars of hardware, software, peripherals, etc.

The C-64 was my first computer and my start in flight simulation. I remember barnstorming the hangars down in Urbana, IL and flying around the the backside of those paper thin mountains with Fighter Ace. I upgraded to the tape drive and remember waiting 15-20 minutes just for Monopoly to load. I upgraded to the 5 1/4 floppy drive eventually and picked up Scenery Disks 3 and 4. My controller was an old Atari 2600 joystick and hooked up to an old hand me down TV that would make a noise for two minutes while it warmed up. I also spent many hours playing Impossible Mission on my C-64 as well.

The 'feeling old' thread.

 

I had a 2600..actually i still have a 2600, not sure if it works.

 

Happy birthday to the C64, i never owned one (till i purchased a working model off ebay), i got the Amstrad CPC464...with a green screen.

 

I loved the Amiga, i still have (again purchased some, already had some) every model of Amiga that was made. For me at least it was a demo running in a shop called Yorcomm of F/A 18 interceptor and Defender of the Crown...anyone remember the golden days of Cinemaware? Bah...off to play on WinUAE!

 

Defender of the Crown for the Amiga ... gosh! Hadn't thought about that game for decades! It was the only one that I ever finished! :-)

The Amiga was the best computer I ever owned. So far ahead of its time-everything after it has been boring!

Hi puters lovers !

 

Many of you made many "steps" in your upgrades.

 

The first one I had was the VIC-20 by C= Remember ?

8K of mem, and I added the 16K expanded, I think?

 

Then I "jumped" to an IBM "compatible" at 8 Mhz TURBO to 10 MHZ !!

I had a 30 megs hard disk, and Everex expanded memory of 1 meg.

We had to buy the ** math coprocessor ** !!

I was multitasking with Quarterdeck's QEMM,

and did fly with FS1 and FS2. . . Goooooooood times ! !

 

Blue skies.

The C-64 was my first computer and my start in flight simulation. I remember barnstorming the hangars down in Urbana, IL and flying around the the backside of those paper thin mountains with Fighter Ace. I upgraded to the tape drive and remember waiting 15-20 minutes just for Monopoly to load. I upgraded to the 5 1/4 floppy drive eventually and picked up Scenery Disks 3 and 4. My controller was an old Atari 2600 joystick and hooked up to an old hand me down TV that would make a noise for two minutes while it warmed up. I also spent many hours playing Impossible Mission on my C-64 as well.

 

Stay a while..............stay........FOREVERRRRRRR!

 

I remember when I got the Amiga.....first thing I got as a gift was F18 Interceptor. That was one cool game for its time

 

I also remember 'Operation Wolf' on the C64. I thought it was cool that I could use a mouse for it!

 

The Amiga was the best computer I ever owned. So far ahead of its time-everything after it has been boring!

 

So right Geoff. The Amiga was a legend. Remember the name of the chips were all B52 songs? 'Rock Lobster' etc........

 

The Amiga series should have stuck around and had way more success that it did. I remember PC's taking an age to catch up with what the Amiga was capable of.

I had a Commodore SX-64 which I bought in 1984. The SX-64 was meant to be a "portable" C-64 but was as heavy as a suitcase. I played FS-2 on it and really enjoyed it, especially after I found a way to "hack" some of the numbers for the Piper in order to get 200 kts out of it.

 

I moved from the C-64 to the Atari ST. Although it wasn't as graphically rich as the Amiga, it did have one program, GFA-Basic, which I really enjoyed using to write small programs with. The programs compiled to small, fast code. The Atari ST was also pretty solid in desktop publishing and able to give the Mac a run for its money.

 

Regards,

 

John