Top 10 Vintage Computers

Oh yeah! Beware, geeks, because these mildly NSFW pictures may overload your brain. Vintage things are always cool, but retro computers are super cool! One look at these “dinosaurs” is more than enough to remember good old days. Flashback to the early stage of computer era should remind us that any technological invention can become a legend. Maybe these machines have similar design, but it is really interesting to observe how fast computer device can evolve (just compare Sol-20 and Apple Macintosh Portable). We sincerely hope that this collection will be a good source of inspiration for you and we’ll be glad to hear about your favorite old computers.

* * *

Rockwell AIM 65



Released: 1977
RAM: 1K or 4K
Display: 20-digit alpha-numeric LED
Storage: External audio cassette
OS: “Monitor” built-in

* * *

Apple III



Released: 1981
RAM: 128K, 512K max.
Display: Color composite video
16 colors at 280 X 192.
Storage: Internal 143k 5-1/4 inch floppy
External floppy drive
OS: Apple SOS (Sophisticated OS)

* * *

Canon Cat



Model: V777
Released: 1987
RAM: 256kB
Storage: internal 3.5-inch floppy drive
Display: 9-inch white CRT
640 x 400 resolution
80 x 24 text
OS: proprietary, written in FORTH

* * *

Commodore 128D



Introduced: 1982
RAM: 128K, 256K max.
Display: monochorome, 80 X 25 text
Strorage: external floppy drive
OS: BASIC 4.0+ in ROM

* * *

IBM Personal Computer



Model: 5150
Released: 1981
RAM: 16K, 640K max
Display: 80 X 24 text
Storage: dual 160KB 5.25-inch disk drives
OS: PC-DOS v1.0

* * *

Radio Shack TRS-80 Model II



Released: 1977
RAM:4K, 16K max
Display: 12-inch monochrome monitor
64 X 16 text
Storage: Cassette storage
OS: BASIC in ROM

* * *

Sol-20



Released: 1976
RAM: 1K, 64K max
Display: 64 X 16 text
Storage: external cassette
optional floppy drive
OS: BASIC, CP/M

* * *

Zenith easy PC



Model: EZ-2
Released: 1987
RAM: 512K, 640K max.
Display: 80 X 25 text
640 X 200 pixels graphics
14-inch monochrome monitor
Storage: 3.5-inch 720K floppy drive(s)
optional 20M hard drive
OS: MS-DOS 3.21

* * *

Atari Portfolio



Released: 1989
Size: 7.5″ x 4″ x 1.25″
20cm x 10.5cm x 2.5cm
Weight: 17.5 oz / 505g
RAM: 128K, 128K+640K max
Display: 40 X 8 text
260 X 64 pixels
Storage: Internal RAM disk
RAM cards, 640K max
Power: Three “AA” batteries
OS: Built-in DIP DOS

* * *

Apple Macintosh Portable



Model: M5120
Announced: 1989
Weight: 16 lbs
RAM: 1 Meg, 9 Meg maximum
Battery: 6.5-Volt, 5 amp lead acid (gel type)
Display: 10-inch b&w active matrix LCD
640 X 400 pixels
I/O: Built-in trackball.
Storage: Internal 1.4Meg 3.5-inch floppy drive
Internal 40 MB SCSI hard drive
OS: Mac OS 6.04

* * *

12 Mar 2010

Weekly Roundup #1 – Best Design Float Posts

We thought that it would be great to start a tradition by…

21 Jul 2011

Tour de France: Posters, Installations, and Street Art

It's the final week of the legendary Tour de France – extremely…

Written by

Allison Reed

Allison is a professional SEO specialist and an inspired author. Marketing manager by day and a writer by night, she is creating many articles on business, marketing, design, and web development. Follow her on LinkedIn and Facebook.

5 Comments

  • Bronson
    July 21, 2010

    Wow, I remember the Apple III – we had one in our library in primary school.

  • Hermitbiker
    July 21, 2010

    …. lmao…. ahhh, the good ol’ days…. lmfao !!

  • jared thompson
    July 27, 2010

    amazing to see how far we have gone in such a short space in time!

  • Me
    December 11, 2012

    those are the rare and expensive ones with little to no games 🙁

  • Old Days
    January 4, 2013

    Seeing the Zenith EZ-2 again brought back memories of my student days. My own “madeleine”…

Post Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Managed by Quantum VXenon