My Most Memorable Computers

I have worked in the IT industry for many decades, but started messing around with computers whilst studying Electrical Engineering (Light Current) in 1978. Back then I would spend countless days and nights programming in BASIC!
This Blog is about the PC's I landed up holding onto and enjoyed the most.

I bought my first computer in 1980. It was a Sharp MZ-80K.

Those were the days before the IBM PC or Microsoft's DOS.....and a mouse was still a rodent! Only the the most diehard or foolish of folk actually bought these! I was one of them. It had a Zilog Z80 compatible CPU. It had no language in ROM, and BASIC had to be loaded from the built-in tape. For more technical detail, you can find it all here:

Sharp MZ-80K

In the early 1980's I worked in Telecommunications for a few years before leaving to focus exclusivity on Unix Mini Computers. I worked for a Circuit Board Design company using CAD/CAM systems manufactured by a company called Scientific Calculations (later to become a division of Harris Corp).

In 1987 I moved to an IT Manufacturing and Services company and focused on PC's and PC Networking (Novell). I would spend a marvelous 6 years working for this company. Everything they focused on was quality built. It was during this period that staff were given an opportunity to buy PC's at a discount. I did not hesitate and in 1989 bought an Olivetti M290.

It used an Intel 80286 CPU (16 Bit) and MS-DOS 3.3a: You can find more detail here:
http://mastodonpc.tripod.com/personal/m290.html

In 1993 I moved to a Multinational Manufacturing company where I was to spend the next few decades working as an IT Executive. In 2005 I bought an IBM ThinkCentre 8084 PC with an Intel  Pentium 4 CPU. I used it with Windows XP.

In 2010 I bought a Lenovo SL510 Thinkpad with Windows 7. I was to use a number of other Lenovo Notebooks during this period too including the compact X series (mostly an X61s).

This year (2018) I have another Lenovo Notebook. This time an IdeaPad 320 with an Intel i5 CPU.

Since 1987 I have never deviated from using Intel/Microsoft based PC solutions. I have never owned an Apple PC nor for that matter an Apple Smartphone (I use Android based hardware, currently with version 8.1).

My view of Technology is that it should always be Functional and Reliable! I have seen many manufacturers come and go.... in fact very few are still around from when I first started working in this industry. (Anyone remember AST, Compaq, DEC, Sun Microsystems, Olivetti, Control Data Corp, Data General, Silicon Graphics, Zenith  etc. ?). Most of them disappeared or were bought out, not because they made poor products, but rather because of corporate greed and/or poor decision making by their Executives. Some of the best products I worked with fell victim to this!