Favorite 'retroputer' of all time~!

[AB Positive]

OK Folks. Some handwringing is in order now.

The one to top 'em all: pick your poison. If possible explain why in your post and if you want, those that came in close second (or third )



EDIT: 10's too few to get it all in there but I tried to group in compatibility fashion.

Me? I'm an Amiga whore. I'm learning 68K asm so I can homebrew on it. I love lots of different computer platforms but the Amiga captured my heart like no woman ever could.

... don't tell any of my future dates that! :P

[Game Freak]

As a kid I had a windows 95 and a TRS-80 CoCo 2. As much as I loved windows 95, i didnt do much with it and could never easily figure out the DOS commands to play MAME games.

On the TRS-80 however, i greatly enjoyed copy pasta code from the book and also loved and still do love Dungeons of Daggorath. I would manipulate a lot of the book's code as well, and code my own songs and sometimes text based games.

[AB Positive]

On the TRS-80 however, i greatly enjoyed copy pasta code from the book and also loved and still do love Dungeons of Daggorath. I would manipulate a lot of the book's code as well, and code my own songs and sometimes text based games.

TRS-80 apparently had a good foothold in new england - the very school I work at had them for their first computer lab in the early 80's. It prompted a great story from my boss (and former teacher)...


"We had all TRS-80s back in the day... we called 'em Trash-80s because they'd just never work like we wanted them to. Well a custodian or someone left a window open and someone used it to come in and steal the entire lot of computers.

... I came in the next day and saw my entire lab empty. The principal came in took one look and sighed. 'Call the police and give me a PO for what the replacements would cost' he said. I closed the door behind him and jumped for joy... we could get PC Jrs instead! Best theft I ever had on my watch."


... TRS-80 - great for gaming but apparently not much else according to my boss. Still gotta try Daggorath one of these days tho.

[jb143]

I voted C-64. It was my first computer and where I learned to program. Plus, it seemed more like a game system that most other computers. I used Apple ]['s in school off and on but not too many fond memories with it.

I also had a TRS-80 that I used quite a bit for learning to programming as well, but it wasn't the one most people are familiar with, it was one of these ugly guys...

[Dangerboy]

Perhaps a bit biased since, well, it was all I had as a child, but the C64 was my baby de gaming. Maniac Mansion, 10TH MOTHER LOVIN' FRAME Bowling, Spelling Wizard, Print Shop, Newsroom, Defcon 5, Jumpman, the orignal Double Dragon with Apology letter...TRANSFORMERS...that system was my original PSX.

[Gapporin]

I'm a sucker for a DOS machine, the C64 or the MSX. I'd love to get an Apple II someday, but it'll have to be local as the shipping alone would kill me. I had a TRS-80, but it wasn't memorable enough for me to hang on to, and I ended up getting rid of it (Monster Maze was pretty sweet though...a poor man's Berzerk...and I enjoyed every minute of it).

[Soviet Conscript]

this is a super close one for me. i grew up with both the C64 and the Amiga 500. i had the c64 in my room and i played tons of games on it from maniac mansion to save new york. i loved that thing but it was always my dads amiga 500 that really dazzeled me. i can't begin to estimate the time i spend playing Elite or Star Glider on it. its almost a tie between them but i'm going to have to give it to the amiga as my all time favorite. wins by a nose.

[tom]

Well, to provide this information you gotta have used all of the above for a certain amount of time (at least a year), used numerous software on them, also hardware like fdds, printers etc., otherwise how can you compare and know which one is your favorite?

[Berserker]

Well, to provide this information you gotta have used all of the above for a certain amount of time (at least a year), used numerous software on them, also hardware like fdds, printers etc., otherwise how can you compare and know which one is your favorite?

That's like saying you have to taste every prepared dish ever made before you can pick a favorite food.

[Sonicwolf]

Amiga for me. I own three of them. I use a program and adapter from Amigakit which allows me to turn roms into Amiga format floppy disk's. Real games are considerably hard to find around here. I have found one Amiga game in my regular thrift shop rounds after 5 years of searching.

Although all of those computers are before my time, I appreciate the Amiga the most. It was such a nice computer. Awesome graphics and audio capabilities. Unfortunately, Commodore was a bunch of dunderheads and allowed the Amiga brand to sit while the other companies caught up.

[j_factor]

I voted for "DOS/Win 3.1/Win 98", but I strongly dislike the early (pre-VGA) DOS stuff. The mid to late 90s was a fantastic era for PC gaming. I also really like the Amiga's selection of games, but other aspects of it are annoying. Though I guess any classic computer has its annoyances.

[Arkhan]

I didnt vote DOS since that crap still works on a brand spankin new PC.


but, you left out MSX! wtfs!

[Flack]

Of course the Commodork voted Commodore 64/128.

I started out on a TRS-80 Model III, just like the one jb143 posted. I was an Apple kid for a while, but the sound and graphics of the C64 captured my heart. I never had the money for an Amiga, so I spent (at least) the last half of the 80s behind a C64. I was fortunate enough to live in a computer-friendly home, and at one time we owned a PC, an Apple, and a Commodore all at the same time!

For anyone counting, I currently own seven of the nine machines listed in the poll (if you count duplicates, I own about 30, hah). I've never owned an Atari ST and never seen a ZX Spectrum in person.

[sonoranreptile]

The first computer I had as a kid was a C64. Had tons of games for it, learned to program BASIC on it and is definitely my favorite. My favorite games were Echelon, The Bard's Tale 2, and Earl Weaver Baseball......

[AB Positive]

I didnt vote DOS since that crap still works on a brand spankin new PC.


but, you left out MSX! wtfs!

Would've put it in but only 10 options available, and then I'd be leaving out X68000, PC-88 etc...

Never mind I had to leave out Amstrad CPC... thus the 'other' option.

What, no Pyuuta fans?


I would like to mention my second choice would be... Atari 8-bit. I really tried to get into the C64, being a newly converted Amiga nut but... I don't know. Maybe I just love Jay Miner. *shrugs*

[Mayhem]

While I've played games on all the formats listed, I only own four of them. Needless to say I voted C64... you were expecting something else?!

[diskoboy]

I voted C64/128.

But the Apple II comes in a very close second.

They both have their strengths and weaknesses - but the C64's SID chip gives it a slight edge.

[kedawa]

Amiga has been my favorite computer ever since I got my first A500 20 years ago.

[Poofta!]

sorry, DOS all the way. the ONLY thing on that list you can compare it to quality wise is Amiga, but the gaming support is behind DOS (vastly more games, and all amiga was ported over anyway), so really there is no competition.

C64 was great for its time, but it was surpassed by the mid 80s+ DOS completely, in every way. (in my opinion its like comparing the Sega Master System to the Genesis)


edit: if dos were to be disqualified, largely because it is an OS which is still compatible with today's hardware, i vote amiga all the way.

[Steve W]

My first computer was a Texas Instruments 99/4A. I have a whole lotta love for that little silver machine. But I had to give the award to the Amiga 1000. My brother got me one from some shady friend of his (who also installed an extra 512K in it that only a few games would recognize), and also around a hundred or so floppies of not-exactly-legal copies of games to run on it. I picked up many, many other titles for it over the next few years. Such a great computer. The games were incredible compared to what I was used to, the TI-99/4A, the Atari 2600, and the NES.

[Arkhan]

I would like to mention my second choice would be... Atari 8-bit. I really tried to get into the C64, being a newly converted Amiga nut but... I don't know. Maybe I just love Jay Miner. *shrugs*

my biggest bitch about the C64 is the disk hardware being dodgy. 1541s are the touchiest things I've ever stuck a disk into. You bust em open, "fix" them, and stick in one disk that it hates, and it goes BRNFRJKGNRDGJfkg and you are back to square 1.

sure you can get a 1571. But then it doesn't match your bread-bin anymore, so you have to get a matching 64C!

then comes my unanswered to this day question of: "Why are the VIC II colors all dim/washed out compared to the CPC, etc."

they really are. I don't know if its the CHOICE of colors, or what. You display a CPC and a C64 on the same screen (real hardware), and there's this massive difference in vibrance/lushness of color

maybe all the effort went into the SID instead.

[AB Positive]

I think it's the SID that gets me about C64 fans. Sure, we all have vastly different ears for things but, I love the POKEY sounds from the A8. Ever play Yoomp!?

Seriously, get an emulator if you don't have an A8 kicking about, and play Yoomp!

I could listen to that game all day.

[blue lander]

I've used a lot of home computers and I wish I could pick something more exotic, but I think I'd have to go with the PC. I had more fun playing Apogee and Epic Megagames shareware on a 486 than I ever did with the other computers I've owned.

If I was limited to just 8 bit computers, I would have gone with the Spectrum. I never owned one until recently, but it has such a large library of creative unique games. So many brilliant games came out of the UK in that error, it's a shame they spent the Amiga era trying (unsuccessfully) to make Sonic the Hedgehog ripoffs.

[AB Positive]

There's nothing wrong with loving Epic or Apogee or DOS in general. I mean hell - I grew up with a 286 Tandy rocking all the gold box D&D games with friends in middle school.

Speccy IS an awesome piece of computing and I'd love to get one. Seems so tricky being able to get one shipped here though, even though it's so small.

Amiga platformers did try to chase the hedgehog a bit there. There's a few though that are pure ingenuity - one I love to mention is Harlequin. That game is so badass and non-linear.

[blue lander]

What kills you on importing a Spectrum is the power brick. They're pretty heavy! When I bought mine, I told the guy not to bother shipping in and I made my own power adapter. The Amstrad made Spectrum /2 just needs +5 volts to work.

I'll have to check out Harlequin. Every hyped Amiga platformer I've tried has been pretty awful, though.