How much did OLD computers cost in 1996?

[ToneKnee]

They were about the same costs as today's computers. Remember those computers were once the high end in the days.

My family bought an Osbourne pc running win 3.11. Can't remember the specs. My own first PC was a 500mhz CPU, 64mb RAM, 8GB HD running Win98. Got that back in 2000. 9 years later I have a PC 1000 times powerful than that. but cost is the same. I got that 98 computer for $1999. This computer (the second one I built) I have now costs me $2000 with a video card to come yet.

when people say computers are getting cheaper, they actually meant that old hard ware are getting cheaper, not new hardware.

I wouldn't say that was true to be honest.

If you are building the computer yourself, then you are not counting the premium price you pay to OEM companies. Computers back then were expensive, and there was less competition, even from people who built computers themselves, and don't forget people who didn't know a computer (so many do these days).

[John S. Veteran]

My first machine was an IBM PS2...seems like it was around $1500 at Sears in 1994

486SX/33

8MB RAM

170MB HD

3.5 / 5.25 Floppys

1400 baud modem

[Gary2MBz]

My first computer (or specifically my sister's) was a Dell T450 which we have until this day. It has a P3 650MHz and 96MB RAM and a 10GB drive. I put XP on it back in 2004 until my bro-in-law bought a laptop. I loved playing games on that old machine, especially the cabin crunch cereal box game (I was only 6 mind you)

[MidnightDevil]

Lol, the Turbo button was something... I never quite understood what was it for!

My first computer was bought in 1997 with the following specs:

Cytrix 166mhz cpu

16mb RAM

1.4gb HD

1mb S3 VGA

SBlaster card

All of this for roughly 1200? (of course, the price then wasn't in euros)

I remember upgrading for 80gb of ram (bought 2x 32mb ram) for 120:rolleyes:yes: and it was a hell of a boost!

Oh, and Windows 95 came bundled with i:p:p

[+John. Subscriber¹]

My first machine was an IBM PS2...seems like it was around $1500 at Sears in 1994

486SX/33

8MB RAM

170MB HD

3.5 / 5.25 Floppys

1400 baud modem

Same here. Seems stupid nowadays.

[chrisj1968]

In 1995 my family bought a 386/9mhz that had a 50mb hd and 4mb ram. Cost a little over $3k. I loved that computer...overclocked it to 25 mhz.

You Beast! lol! :laugh:

[Elliot B.]

Lol, the Turbo button was something... I never quite understood what was it for!

On personal computers, the Turbo button changes the effective speed of the system. It usually accomplishes this by either adjusting the CPU clock speed directly, or by turning off the processor's cache, forcing it to wait on slow main memory every time. The button was generally present on older systems, and was designed to allow the user to play older games that depended on processor speed for their timing. Systems could also use the keyboard combination of ctrl-alt-+/-, '+' switching turbo OFF and '-' switching it ON. Of course, calling it a "turbo" button when its function slows the system down can be a bit misleading, but the button was usually set up so the system would be at full speed when the button was "on". Today, most mainstream personal computer manufacturers fail to include turbo buttons on their models.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo_button

:)

[lalalawawawa]

Got (well, dad got it obviously since I was a little kid) my first PC in 1994 or 1995. I remember it having ~1GB HDD, it was AMD 200+ or something and it had 8MB RAM and we upgraded it to 16MB. It is still lying somewhere in the closed, keeping it so I could make a fortune by selling it to a collector after 50+ years. :p

[Izlude]

oooh wow I remember geting a p1 166 NEC system. we got it at a pawn shop for 600 dollars. was i ripped off? it's the one that had the OPTI 930 sound card ahahha. impossible to install driver, i SO remembr that!!!

[Descartes]

Haha, I still remember the first PC i got at the age of 12 :p

It was an Intel Celeron 400MHz CPU with 128 megabytes of SDRAM, an 17" screen and some integrated graphics that I didn't even know the name of.

I'm not sure whether it was high-end at the time, though; those times you weren't so obsessed with your computer's abilities so much, you wanted to HAVE a computer in the first place :p My parents bought it for 1700 PLN, but I'm not sure what the exchange rates were like back then. That would probably be a bit more than $400, not too much, probably because it was second-handed (1700 PLN was hell of a lot nonetheless!)

Oh, I also remember myself bragging about how the computer powered off itself after you shut down Windows! :laugh:

[MillionVoltss]

My first machine was an IBM PS2...seems like it was around $1500 at Sears in 1994

486SX/33

8MB RAM

170MB HD

3.5 / 5.25 Floppys

1400 baud modem

People might be interested to know Sears tower is now called Willis tower.

Yeah I remember spending ?1000 on a computer and people moan about the cost now days. Im sure 8mb during the 386/486 generation was generous (couldnt afford one back then) , i remember loading HIMEM and using bootdisk's for ages playing monkey island and dark forces. Ahh assigning IRQ's and device drivers through DOS.