[olug] "I remember when..."

[Thomas D. Williamson]

My first exposure to computing was through a share from HDR in high  
school, with a phone modem and paper punch tape to "record" the  
programs we were required to write.

I had friends who bought and used the Osborn computers with dual 8"  
floppy drives, so CPM could operate on one and a program could be  
loaded on the other.

My first personal computer was a Sanyo with dual 5 1/2" drives for the  
same purpose as the Osborn.  I believe the processor was an 8086. The  
package came with a dot matrix printer and was about $1400. That was  
the most I've ever spent since then. I was in college and it was used  
for writing papers for the most part. The MS-DOS was modified by Sanyo  
so any upgrades were required through them at an exceptionally high  
price. I stopped using because of that.

My first more standard PC was one I ordered built to my  
specifications. This was at the time the 486SX-16 was being pushed,  
but I went with the 386DX-16 from AMD because it actually processed  
faster than the SX. I later upgraded to a 486DX-16, installed a modem  
and other items before it ran out of it usefulness. I got it with out  
MS-DOS and used DR-DOS instead with Windows 3.1 and 3.11. I worked  
with a MS-DOS Machine with Windows 3.11 at work and found that DR-DOS  
worked better with memory management and cause fewer crashes.

Since then I have continued to stay behind the curve on most equipment  
since I do not have high end demands, and am able to pay less for what  
I need and can use.


Tom Williamson