Episode 55 – First Computers

Commodore 64 Ad

Commodore 64 Ad

For the new year, David and Jeff have decided to look back on the earlier times of computer retail by relating their experiences in getting their first computers.

Links mentioned in this episode:


Jeff’s first computer:

  • Commodore VIC-20
    • Bought at Computers Unlimited, York, PA in October 1981 for $325.
    • Tandy Color Computer and Atari 400 were considered

David’s first computer:

Jeff’s second computer:

  • Commodore 64
    • Bought at Fort Hood, TX AAFES store in Spring 1985 for $150-$200.
    • Got a Commodore Datasette and put a 1541 disk drive on lay-a-way.

David’s second computer:

Jeff’s third computer:

  • Commodore 128
    • Bought with 1571 disk drive at the Incirlik Air Force base in Incirlik, Turkey for about $500 for the pair.
    • Set it up immediately in the motel room during my stay at the base.
    • Had to sell my Commodore 64 because who needed TWO computers!

David’s third computer:

  • Commodore 64C
    • Purchased at the U.S. Army AAFES electronics store in Darmstadt, Germany in the summer of 1991.
    • Google search for “commodore test pilot” Images for commodore test pilot

Jeff’s fourth computer:

  • Commodore Amiga
    • Used my tax return to buy it
    • Had to wait for EB to ship it to me
  • Was blown away at the graphics and sound.
  • Google search for “Electronics Boutique” Images for Electronics Boutique
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EB_Games
    • Bought from Electronics Boutique in early 1989 for around $600
    • Did not have an Analog RGB monitor. To my surprise, it came with an A520 color composite adapter, so I used an NTSC monitor.

David’s fourth computer:

One Comment on Episode 55 – First Computers

  1. JimOsborne
    January, 10th 2017 at 9:27 am

    Love this podcast. I’m only 3/4 the way through but I’m surprised I haven’t heard you guys mention using your computers to access BBS’s with a 300 baud modem. I believe it was 1984-5 timeframe when I got my first modem for my Apple ][+. That of course opened a whole new world of functionality for me. Maybe if you were stationed overseas that might not have been much of an option. Anyway, great hearing about your first experiences!

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