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CodeWraith wrote: 1980: July - Radio Shack introduces the TRS-80 Model III, priced from US$700 to US$2500.
Amazing how much the price dropped in the next couple of years...my parents bought us a TI/99-4a at the end of '83 (I think) for around $100. No monitor, just hook up the console to a TV! Also, no HDD or even a floppy...cassettes! I still have it in the box! 
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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The prices dropped constantly as memory got cheaper and the competition got stiffer. The TRS-80 Model 3 was intended to be a professional machine with the best reasonable hardware options. Lots of memory, multiple disk drives, modems, large printers - all stuff that you did not find in a small home computer.
The user can't update the up: we update it for them (Choice in the CP poll)
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I bought the TI99-4a in 1983 for $100 as well. TI had announced they were getting out of the small computer business and they all went on a fire sale across the country world. It was a great way to get into the game for a small price. I have some empathy for the people that bought it 6 months before for several times that, though.
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OriginalGriff wrote: We - nearly all of us - owe our whole job to that tank of a PC
I started out with Commodore machines back in '81, learned all my programming on VIC-20, C64 then Amiga A500. I recently bought a C64 and A1200, still a lot of fun to play around with..
After Commodore went under, I had to switch to PC's and most of the fun ended there.. 
Now is it bad enough that you let somebody else kick your butts without you trying to do it to each other? Now if we're all talking about the same man, and I think we are... it appears he's got a rather growing collection of our bikes.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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My two Atari STs have both problems with their floppies. In one the belt that spins the disk may have snapped and the other one's ejection button does not work anymore. I hope I get something at FleaBay. I did not want to buy anything there anymore.
The user can't update the up: we update it for them (Choice in the CP poll)
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Luckily(?) I've got a HDD in the A1200..
There are a couple of groups for Commodore computers on Facebook - it might be worth checking ST ones (did they use the same drives as Amigas?) to see if anyone know where to get spares (or have some themselves they'd be willing to sell). The CBM guys are pretty helpful, sure the Atari groups would be the same.
Now is it bad enough that you let somebody else kick your butts without you trying to do it to each other? Now if we're all talking about the same man, and I think we are... it appears he's got a rather growing collection of our bikes.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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Brent Jenkins wrote: did they use the same drives as Amigas?
Technically yes, but the ejection button also has to fit into the case. I may even have some in my box, but I have to look.
The user can't update the up: we update it for them (Choice in the CP poll)
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OriginalGriff wrote: EGA monitor
That was CGA. EGA was a serious improvement! 
OriginalGriff wrote: or buy a floating point processor and plug that in
I did that. I was working on a neural network simulator, actually recreated here 30 years later. The FPU dramatically improved performance, but it was still chunky.
OriginalGriff wrote: he keyboard alone weighed in at only 6lb
I sort of miss the days when computer equipment was made from actual metal. 
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You're right! EGA was the high res one that came later!
Well ... 16 colours, up to 640x350!
The first computer I bought for myself at home was EGA - the Amstrad 1640DD, with 640K RAM, twin 360KB floppies, Power supply built into the monitor ... and a MOUSE! I bought it a 32MB hard disk (a "hardcard" where the disk was mounted on the HDD controller card) which cost £400 and had a seek time of ~100ms! 
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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OriginalGriff wrote: a "hardcard" where the disk was mounted on the HDD controller card)
We had one of those at the company I worked at -- I took it to a trade show and realized a few hours later I'd left it on top of the rows of public phone booths at the convention center.
My boss was not happy.
Marc
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Yes, I remember; I had the same model Amstrad running GEM! Who needs Windows, eh?
Although my first home machine was a Commodore PET 40x25 screen. Later I bought the business version of the PET with 80x25 lines and a external twin floppy box (1.04mb each) that cost about 1,225 pounds!
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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GEM! Did you know it survived to this day? It enjoyed a long life on the Atari ST and the Atari OS was completely rewritten when Atari died. It has been enhanced since then and is still used on FPGA based computers or software emulators.
That remiends me: I always wanted one of those FPGA boards.
The user can't update the up: we update it for them (Choice in the CP poll)
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This [^] was my first laptop. Twin 720k floppies, 512k of memory, b&w cga screen. It would run for 5 hours on its battery which was handy because it would take 3 1/2 hours to compile and build a star-trek based computer game I was developing which left me an hour to actually do the coding and testing.
I used to have a 4 1/2 hour train commute from Preston to London each week; down on Monday morning, back on Friday evening - spent the weekend with my wife. This worked perfectly for me for a couple of years.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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Am I remembering wrong or did they have a full-sized expansion slot?
I seem to remember trying to get one as our EPROM programmer at the time ran on a dedicated PC card and a big thick cable.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Yes, oddly enough, it did. I never used it and wondered why they bothered!
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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OriginalGriff wrote: A top of the range model with EGA monitor (16 colours text, 320x200 graphics in any four colours of your choice from the available 16, and a printer) was US$4,500.
Just to put that in perspective, that's $12,589.15 USD in today's dollars.
Jeremy Falcon
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You can now purchase a usable computer for ~ $200.
But
The one you really want is still >$3000
Arguing with a woman is like reading the Software License Agreement. In the end, you ignore everything and click "I agree".
Anonymous
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$3000 wouldn't complete the machine that I really want.
| CPU | $1000 | Intel Core i9-7900 | | Video | $1400 | GeForce Titan Z | | Motherboard | $500 | ASUS Prime X-299 Deluxe | | RAM | $825 | GSkill DDR4 4000 x32GB |
And I haven't even got to the hard drives, power supply, case, or the three 26 inch 4K monitors that I would like. 
I could easily spend over $5000 on a single machine plus video. Now only if I could actually afford it. 
if (Object.DividedByZero == true) { Universe.Implode(); }
Meus ratio ex fortis machina. Simplicitatis de formae ac munus. -Foothill, 2016
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Here you go:
Raspberry Pi Zero - Raspberry Pi[^]
Arguing with a woman is like reading the Software License Agreement. In the end, you ignore everything and click "I agree".
Anonymous
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Way back in 1983 I taught myself GW-Basic on one of these.
If it's not broken, fix it until it is.
Everything makes sense in someone's mind.
Ya can't fix stupid.
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I remember those days well. I was still in gradual school at the time. The original PC had a cassette tape or a floppy drive as options actually. You could also get your choice of CP/M or PC-DOS on it. Once 1-2-3 came out CP/M faded quickly. One amusing thing - the original v1.0 PC-DOS didn't even have directories. That wasn't until v2.0.
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I remember putting together a 3pc network on those days costing $40,000, and the sales commissions were outrageous, something like 40%. I think they work on about 5-7% these days.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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Hi All,
Am stuck at the moment, updating docs for the next revision of a product. They tend to be repetitive (and frankly confusing) so I am completely lost in them, so I
Go & find one of them that came in from a customer, fix it so I can follow the log in steps...then find due to the fact someone could touch mains if they moved the lid shifted the coil of earring cables. Where's their Darwin....
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Just put a crocodile inside so people know not to poking around in there.
signature upgrading ... please wait.
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That's not a bug, it's a feature (if you allow the pun). Did they not tell you that they make insect buzzers?
The user can't update the up: we update it for them (Choice in the CP poll)
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