Computer Hardware Timeline
Here's a quick rundown of a majority of the computer equipment I have
used on a regular basis over the past 20 some odd years of my semi-
conducting life. I'm sure I missed a bunch of stuff here and there, oh
well let's get started...
1982 - Dad buys an Atari VCS (before it was called the 2600)
First games were COMBAT and PAC-MAN
The addiction starts here!
1982 - Playing with C64s & other old machines of which I can't remember the model numbers.
Things like Atari paddle joysticks, monochrome green displays, and ROM cartridges
fill my brain.
1982 - Dad buys an IBM PCjr
Original Specifications:
Intel 8088 CPU @ 4.77 MHz
128KB RAM
24KB ROM (IBM BASIC was in there!)
5.25" 360K floppy drive
2 ROM cartridge slots
63-key wireless keyboard (IR)
Optical mouse w/mouse pad
CGA graphics (4 colors!)
3 voice, mono sound
40 columns of text display
RF Modulator (to display on TV screen)
PC-DOS 2.10
Upgrades, in no particular order:
Parallel printer adapter (also had a switch on it to enable 80 columns of text)
300 baud modem
Speech attachment (primitive sound card type device)
Racore Drive II (gave an extra 5.25" 360K floppy drive)
Upgrade to 640KB RAM
IBM Color Display (the PCjr's monitor)
16 color modes
2 Kraft joysticks
Several ROM cartridges & tons of software on floppies
Epson 9-pin dot matrix printer
With 128KB RAM this thing was already twice as good as those Commodore 64's
everyone else had. I believe the going rate for one of these was about $1300
without a monitor. I don't even want to know what all the upgrades totaled up to.
This system served me well until about 1989 or so when the "power unit" died. To
the best of my knowledge, I still have ALL parts to this computer stored in a box.
More on this work of art
1987 - Dad brings home a Compaq Portable (aka luggable) from his office.
This giant all-in-one unit had dual 5.25" (full height!) drives mounted vertically,
a green monochrome screen (about 6" or 8" diagonal), and a keyboard that covers
them up for transport. I was about 10 years old, and this thing was nearly as big
as me and I could barely lift it. We set it up on a card table, and played with it
for a few months or so until he took it back to work. I really don't know what was
inside this thing as far as CPU, RAM, etc.
More on this work of art
1988 - Dad gets a new computer for his office at work, it's awesome!
Specs as far as I know:
IBM PS/2 Model 30-286
Intel 286 CPU @ 10 MHz
2MB RAM (Standard 1MB, this one was upgraded to double memory)
VGA graphics (256K I think)
Retail price for this machine was over $3000
The memory upgrade was about $1350
He also had an HP plotter at his office, it had 6 pens, used letter sized paper,
and had some buttons on the panel for manual control which I used to move it around
to make horrible freeform drawings of my own.
1989 - Dad gets a laptop computer at work that he can use to work at home too.
I don't remember at all what was in this, but it was a unique machine! It was
actually quite small (for 1989) and weighed only about 10-20 lbs., but it had no
battery only AC. The screen was a clam-shell type, but the hinge was only 1/2 way
back because the screen was SO SMALL! Not only was it small (320x120 pixels I
think), but it was LCD. No, not LCD like today's stuff, but the on/off LCD like
that on a wrist watch arranged in a matrix of squares. I didn't really do much with
this computer except play Test Drive and at some point lock the thing up!
It might have been a ZWL-184-97, not sure.
1990 - Dad gets a new laptop, this one much better. It has a monochrome blue/white back
lit LCD panel. All I can remember about this is that it was a 286, had a hard
drive, suspend mode, and a battery.
1990 - Dad buys a Compaq Deskpro 386/20e
Original Specifications:
Intel 386DX-25 CPU @ 20MHz (why??)
4MB RAM
3.5" 1.44MB floppy drive
40MB IDE hard drive (Compaq branded Connor, used ARLL technology!)
101-key keyboard
VGA graphics w/256KB video memory
Compaq 14" monitor (640x480 max resolution)
Compaq branded DOS 3.0
Upgrades, in order as best I can remember:
5.25" 1.2MB floppy drive
2400 baud modem
Kraft joystick
Windows 3.0
Compaq branded DOS 3.30
MS-DOS 5.0
Windows 3.1
Conner 170MB hard drive (only got 150MB due to Compaq drive types -- 40MB moved to D:)
HP Deskjet 550C (the dot matrix was getting old, and this one did color)
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Pro
MS-DOS 6.0
External SCSI NEC CD-ROM (before they had "speeds", came with 8-bit SCSI card)
MS-DOS 6.2
MS-DOS 6.22
Windows for Workgroups 3.11
28.8Kbps Zoom v.FC fax/modem (1994)
Microsoft Natural Keyboard (1994)
WD Caviar 212MB hard drive (Replaced the 40MB) (1995)
Intel 387DX math co-processor (1995)
A 386 w/4MB RAM in 1990...this was some hot stuff! I think it had a retail price
of like $3900 w/o monitor. My dad knew someone that worked for Compaq, he got it
for about $1800 with the monitor. Other scary prices: 170MB HD about $300, Printer
$500, SBPro $200 (employee discount), CD-ROM package almost $600, 28.8 modem was
$99 direct from Zoom as a special BBS SysOp deal, MS Keyboard was $89.99, 212MB HD
$100, 387DX $50
I really put this system through hell as it was one of the machines I used the most
and tried the most crazy stuff with. This system continued to function completely
until I decommissioned it in 1997. Some of the parts sold on eBay! I still have
the case with power supply, motherboard, cpu, co-processor, integrated ram & video,
both floppy drives, the monitor, and more. I'll sell these items at garage- sale
prices if you are interested!
1992 - Dad brings home yet another laptop from work, this one is either a Compaq LTE Lite
or LTE 386s/20. I can't remember which one, they both seem familiar. It was a 386,
monochrome screen, much smaller than any previous machine yet still over 10 lbs. I
think. It had a modem, hard drive, and even ran Windows 3.1.
1994 - Dad brings home something worthy of the "notebook" classification. It's a super-
fast Zenith Z-Note 425Lnc! Check out these specs:
Intel 486DX-25 CPU
12MB RAM
200MB IDE hard drive
8.4" Active Matrix Color LCD, 640x480
3.5" 1.44MB floppy drive
14.4 fax modem built in!
10Base-T Network Support built in!
Because this thing was faster than my 386, I began to use it more while the 386 ran
my BBS. This thing had so much RAM that one day I made a 7MB RAMdisk and installed
windows to it to see how fast it would run...it loaded in 3.3 seconds!!!
1995 - Well it was time for me to go off to college, and any self-respecting (or not)
Computer Science major had to have a top-of-the-line machine! So I begged my
parents to buy me such a beast and here is what I got for about $3000.00:
Intel Pentium 120MHz CPU
16MB RAM
1.2GB EIDE hard drive
ATI Mach64 PCI w/2MB VRAM
4x ATAPI CD-ROM
3.5" 1.44MB Floppy
101-key keyboard
Serial mouse
11 bay super-fat super-heavy super-sturdy mid-tower case
17" Monitor
DOS 6.22
WFW 3.11
Upgrades, in order as best I can remember:
28.8Kbps modem (Zoom from 386, put the 2400 back in there)
Sound Blaster Pro (Also from 386)
Microsoft Natural KB (Again, from 386)
I was using the old Epson 9-pin dot matrix for a little while, upgraded to HP DeskJet 660C
OS/2 Warp 3.0 (Unsuccessful upgrade, it didn't support my CD-ROM drive)
32MB RAM by adding a pair of 8MB SIMMS
48MB RAM by selling two 8MB and getting two 16MB SIMMS
New monitor, next year's model w/fresh warranty free of charge due to factory recall.
SyQuest EZ135 removable storage drive (internal IDE model) and lots of cartridges
MediaWave/32 sound card, it was an OPTI chipset and had a couple features the SBPro didn't
64MB 60ns EDO RAM by selling two 8MB and two 16MB and getting four EDO 16MB SIMMS
10Base-2 ISA ethernet card (Used coax with BNC!)
Windows NT 3.51 Server
Slackware Linux on an EZ135 cartridge
555MB IDE hard drive as D: (it was an old 560MB drive with 5MB of bad sectors)
ISA FM Radio Tuner
Windows NT 4.0 Workstation
3com Etherlink III ISA 10Base-T ethernet adapter
3com Cable Modem (first model they made, just called "Cable Modem"), beta tested service in 1997
This was a really a nice machine, it could run all software available at the time
with ease! It came with a coupon for a free Windows 95 Upgrade CD. I got it but I
never installed it because I knew how bad it was. Eventually most of this computer
became my parents' when I got my next machine...
1998 - My parents were complaining about how slow the 386 was, and it couldn't run a lot
of the new software that was coming out. So I found a great deal on a new top-of-
the-line (again) computer for myself, and I told my parents if they got it for me I
would give them my P120 in return, what a deal! So here's what I got for about
$2800.00:
Intel Pentium II 300MHz CPU
128MB SDRAM DIMM (2 x 64MB)
Maxtor 8.4GB IDE hard drive
Matrox Millennium II 4MB AGP
24x ATAPI CD-ROM
Realtek 10Base-T PCI NIC
Ensoniq AudioPCI
56K X2 modem
3.5" Floppy
PS/2 Mouse
ATX Mid-tower case w/230W PSU
Windows NT 4.0 Workstation
This was the last "complete system" I ever purchased, after that it was nothing but upgrade upgrade
upgrade upgrade upgrade.
Upgrades, in order as best I can remember:
1998 - 10Base-T Ethernet Hub
HP Deskjet 720C
Maxtor 2GB U33 IDE hard drive (put win98 on it for dual-booting for games)
Hi-Val 2x2x6 IDE CD-RW Drive (It was actually a Philips 3610 in disguise for about 1/3 the cost)
Visioneer 3000 flatbed scanner
1999 - New case & power supply
Voodoo 1 add-on 3D accelerator
Maxtor 10GB U33 ID hard drive (Sold the 2GB, replaced it with this)
*ZAP* fried motherboard & power supply (Electric company's fault, NOT lightning)
250W power supply
FIC Slot 1 P-II motherboard, also supported 100MHz FSB
720VA UPS to protect everything and make up for lousy electric service
256 MB PC100 SDRAM (2 x 128MB, replaced the 2 x 64MB)
Viper V770 Ultra
Sound Blaster PCI512
Some front speakers (moved old ones to rear, 4 channel sound!)
Visioneer 6100B flatbed scanner
ISA Parallel port card (So I could print & scan at the same time)
2000 - Celeron 366 & a nice HSF on a slot 1 converter, would do 572, ran at 550 for stability.
Imation 4x4x20 IDE CD-RW Drive
Shuttle 50X CD-ROM Drive
Maxtor 20GB U66 IDE hard drive (Sold the 8.4GB, replaced it with this)
3Com 3c905B-TX PCI NIC
ABIT BP6 Dual S370 motherboard
2 x Celeron 366+HSF, overclock to 583, usually run them at 550MHz
120V AC, 6" fan from Wal-Mart (extra air flow for the very overclocked dual celery rig)
Custom made 2-circuit, 8-outlet power distribution box (needed more outlets!!!)
D-Link 8 port 10/100 ethernet switch
Linksys router/firewall/NAT/4 port switch
Viewsonic E790 19" Monitor
BP6 EC-10 Capacitor Modification (to fix Vtt voltage fluctuation which cause a LOT of lockups)
Windows 2000 Professional
New rear speakers (shielded even!)
1GB PC133 SDRAM (Actually I could only use 768MB in my BP6, but I got an extra for later)
WD 20 GB 7200rpm U100 IDE hard drive (Sold the 10GB, replaced it with this)
HP Deskjet 990Cse (To replace the 720C)
Canon PowerShot S100 Digital Camera
SanDisk USB CompactFlash drive
ATI Radeon 64MB DDR VIVO
2001 - MS Natural Keyboard Pro (The MNK from 1994 finally died from a cat-knocked-over-the-drink event)
*ZAP* fried power supply (This one just blew up next to me while the computer was OFF! Scary!)
New 250W power supply (go warranty!)
Antec SX-1030 Case w/300W PSU & extra fans (I LOVE THIS CASE!)
10X DVD-ROM
ABIT VP6 Dual S370 motherboard
2 x 1GHz Pentium 3 CPUs
2 x GlobalWin CAK38 HSFs for the CPUs (These ROCK, keep the CPUs at only 10F above ambient!)
2 x WD 30GB 7200rpm U100 IDE hard drives, RAID 0
Windows XP Professional
Lite-On 24x10x40 CD-RW Drive
2002 - Soud Blaster Audigy
Yamaha TSS-1B home theater sound system (DD 5.1, DTS, all that good stuff)
2003 - Rounded IDE & Floppy cables (Better airflow and they even glow in the dark...woo)
2 x WD 80GB 7200rpm 8MB Cache U100 IDE hard drives, RAID 1
(moved RAID 0 contents to RAID 1, removed 20GB drive, RAID 0 now used for fast temp space)
Linksys Wireless-B router/firewall/NAT/4 port switch/802.11b
MediaStor 52x24x52 CD-RW Drive ($9.99 after rebate!)
More Rounded IDE cables (Now I have 4 different colors to tell all my IDE channels apart)
3ware 7006-2 IDE RAID Controller (Much nicer than onboard RAID, moved the RAID 1 over to this)
2004 - Linksys 802.11b wireless bridge
4x4x12 DVD+RW Drive
MSI PT880 Motherboard (Replaces VP6)
P4.3.2GHz w/HT & 800MHz FSB (Replaces dual P3's)
2 x 512MB DDR400 SDRAM (Replaces 1GB PC133)
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (Replaces Radeon 64MB DDR VIVO)
500W power supply (Replaces 300W)
3.5" bay USB memory card reader + floppy drive combo
550W power supply w/built in 4 outlet surge (500W died, warranty replacement)
550W power supply w/120mm fan (550W died, warranty replacement)
550W power supply w/120mm fan (550W died, warranty replacement, notice a pattern?)
Ratpadz GS precise mousing surface
2005 - Viewsonic VP201b 20.1" LCD (The E790 was going bad, and finally died after 4.5 years)
550W power supply w/120mm fan (550W died, warranty replacement, these are really crappy)
550W power supply w/120mm fan (550W died, warranty replacement, this brand sucks)
Thermaltake Purepower 420W power supply (I've had it with those 550W's that keep going bad!)
