Found a piece of history yesterday!

I ran into one of my friends yesterday morning as I was hitting the sales. What are the odds? LOL! Anyway, since we were both going to college soon, we decided to hang out and hit the same route. At a barn sale, I came across something I certainly don't see everyday. I gave my friend first dibs, he passed, I moved in for the kill! For only a $1, I had scored a semi-rare early home computer. WITH THE BOX! It was a 1982 Texas Instruments TI-99/4A. I was weary of a computer this old but figured the box was worth my $1 if it didn't work. I plugged it into a working 1980's TV in my mom's attic and it worked great! Sadly, I can only type on it as I don't have any cartridges.

What makes this a piece of history besides being an early computer, is that it made two notable advancements in the industry. First, it was the first domestic home computer to have a 16-bit processor-way back in 1979. And, in June of 1981, was the first to have sprite graphics.

My camera batteries are dead now, but here is an old commercial with Bill Cosby so you can get the picture:
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CyfHZui0g8[/url]

That was my second computer after the Timex Sinclair. It died three days after the warranty expired...

My daughter is 28 now and still a GEEK!!!

[IMG]http://nautiloid.net/rlol/geekgrl72dpi.jpg[/IMG]

man and now look how far we have come. we hold min computers in our hands via smart phones, tablets, laptops, and netbooks.

[QUOTE=dmcbttf1984;465184]man and now look how far we have come. we hold min computers in our hands via smart phones, tablets, laptops, and netbooks.[/QUOTE]

Oh yea! Our little smarts phones have several times as much memory as this does. I'm not very knowledgeable on harcore computer tech stuff, but I do know the difference in 80s v. today's computers.

I almost want to buy some game cartridges and play first for awhile.

I have a shed full of them. How many more do you want?

I bought one new also. I remember sitting in front of it for hours typing in a basic blackjack program. You would play it for a bit and then turn it off and it was gone. I got a few games and a sound module. It was then pretty cool.

It's funny...I just turned 18 in July, yet my first video game was my dad's Atari 5200. Until we left it plugged in one night and lightning hit. No wonder these vintage games always stike a nerve with me. My next game console, was officially mine. A used Playstation. I now have a slim model PS2. I don't always go for the latest stuff if you haven't already noticed. Anyway, a bad storm and maybe a twister hit the other day so I wasn't on yesterday.

1Perry, you mean to tell me you have a shed full of TI-99 computers? Or cartridges?

[QUOTE=classicfan1;465702]It's funny...I just turned 18 in July, yet my first video game was my dad's Atari 5200. Until we left it plugged in one night and lightning hit. No wonder these vintage games always stike a nerve with me. My next game console, was officially mine. A used Playstation. I now have a slim model PS2. I don't always go for the latest stuff if you haven't already noticed. Anyway, a bad storm and maybe a twister hit the other day so I wasn't on yesterday.

1Perry, you mean to tell me you have a shed full of TI-99 computers? Or cartridges?[/QUOTE]

Well a shed full is a slight exaggerration. LOL. I likely have around 20 TI-99's. I sold off most of the cartidges but I believe I still have some. I used to have one of the unit's that held memory. It was bigger than the computer itself. Big and heavy. Pretty rare but I sold it.

Geek would be me Ted.. as my computer is water cooled..

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v400/crazycrave/2003_01010189-1.jpg[/IMG]

I remember the first Comodore 64 I had back in the 80's. Big floppy disks and a tractor drive printer. Like Perry said... you'd type Basic's program lines in for hours and run for a while, but as soon as you interupted it it was all gone. At least you could save some of that stuff on floppies.

The TI and perhaps others had a cassette player you could hook up to save your work on.

[QUOTE=rntknives;466025]I remember the first Comodore 64 I had back in the 80's. Big floppy disks and a tractor drive printer. Like Perry said... you'd type Basic's program lines in for hours and run for a while, but as soon as you interupted it it was all gone. At least you could save some of that stuff on floppies.[/QUOTE]

there is a guy/company out there that bought the commodore name and is building modern computers that look exactly like the 64!

[QUOTE=classicfan1;465336]Oh yea! Our little smarts phones have several times as much memory as this does. I'm not very knowledgeable on harcore computer tech stuff, but I do know the difference in 80s v. today's computers.

I almost want to buy some game cartridges and play first for awhile.[/QUOTE]

yeah my first PC game i played was Oregon Trail so i have seen the evolution of PC and Console games. i used to have an old intelavison i got at a yard sale and was amazed "wow this what they had before an NES?" It's now getting harder to play the old systems with newer tvs i have one that does not have the red,yellow,white AV cable inputs. i guess picking up an old tv at good will or yard sells will be a norm for old school gamers.