What was the worst computer you ever bought and why?

[Frozone212]

This isn't for Commodore 64 or the Tandy CoCo. This is for one off piles of crap that life forced upon you.

 

keep all comments clean and profanity free

[oracle_jedi]

Probably the Advance 86B.  

 

It was a low-cost British PC clone from 1983 or 1984.   I bought it used around 1990.  God it was crap.  The entire case was made of cheap plastic that was too thin to support any kind of monitor, despite the size of the unit making it hard to put a monitor anywhere else.   The keyboard was supposed to slide into a keyboard garage behind a smoked plexiglass cover, but the keyboard broke, and the plexiglass crazed.  The Advance 86 could also be purchased as the 86A, which did not have the expansion unit on top to house the drives.  The 86B included the expansion unit, and it was connected with a fat ribbon cable that could come lose.

 

When it worked, it was an 8088 with 256K RAM and I think CGA graphics.  It was sort of PC compatible.  

 

 

[bluejay]

Laser PC4. I bought it only cause the 8 Bit Guy was selling it and it was $45. It’s a complete piece of garbage. 

[youxia]

I'm too poor to buy crap computers (or anything really) so can't say I've ever had any. And I love all my retro ones equally, there are no bad un's.

[jhd]

For Christmas 1988 I was gifted a Tandy 1000 SL by well-meaning Parents who did not know better. They badly overpaid for a sub-par system.

 

Highlights included 384K of RAM (part of which was dedicated to the video system), CGA graphics, and no hard drive. 

 

I used it for schoolwork (WordPerfect 4.2, mostly), calling some local BBSes, and (of course) games, but I quickly outgrew its limitations.

 

 

In about 1993, I upgraded to a 486/33 running Windows 3.1 -- to which I later added extra RAM and an AdLib sound card. 

 

In the mid-1990s, I was given an original IBM portable PC, but that was never used for actual work. I only booted it up a few times.  

[doctorclu]

This is a fascinating topic.   Got several computers over time that have found their way to me, and I would almost put some of these as "ones you wanted to like but just couldn't."

 

Or how about "computers my wife bought that I really wish she didn't."

 

I have a problem with the cheap cheap laptops.  Those things aside from a small screen to watch movies maybe are just little pieces of garbage that I just hope they are getting ecycled after people toss those after six months, or after some poor kid has to endure them for a while and finally gets a better computer.

 

 

I think I had an Acer Aspire 11 or something like that.  I believe in the picture above is the 14.  I remember there was a sticker on it saying
"comes with 1 terabyte of storage" which was like 32 gb internal flash ram, and rest was cloud based storage.

 

I hate cloud based storage.

 

So in essence you have this criminally small amount of local storage which can barely hold an operating system, this had windows 8 I believe, and little else for other programs.  As a computer hobbyist this just doesn't fly, nor do I think this computer should have ever been sold.  Seriously.   I believe it was false advertising at its best.

 

So this computer relies on the fact that you ALWAYS have a good internet connection, loading programs off the internet.  Now days internet speeds are faster with fiber connections, but this was about ten years ago and internet was barely that at home, and if you were traveling, good luck.

 

So over time friends have bought computers like this, and they get them, happy with them for like two days, and then realize what I limited P.O.S. these computers were.  I've had to deal with them when my wife asked for help with it, and I tried to find a good high speed read and write SD card to boost the storage by 128 gb.   Kinda worked.

 

My Dad got one from my sister trying to help his grandson.   He opened it up, found where flash memory was supposed to or could have been added, and was looking into how to add more flash memory.  Last I heard about that because I think they just bought another laptop.

 

These things eventually plague the computer hobbyist because again, they are insufficient for a modern computer and our non-computer hobbyist friends come to us for help.  Most just throw Linux on them, which is the best thing to do for any computer with limited hardware because the Linux overhead is generally smaller.

 

I was going to write about how computers at work have gone to a more virtual and cloud based format, but that is a more workable solution with computers have have a bit more beef to them.  This is a rant post, so, let the rants continue!!

 

I have plenty more computers that I wanted to like but couldn't.  What did I like about these computers?  They were tiny and thin.  That was nice.

 

Also I realize that me hating cloud based storage this now applies to me

 

 

(just laughs)

 

[firebottle]

To add to the above... pretty much any consumer-grade laptop/notebook/netbook with a crippled BIOS... i.e. InsydeH2O

[doctorclu]

54 minutes ago, jhd said:

For Christmas 1988 I was gifted a Tandy 1000 SL by well-meaning Parents who did not know better. They badly overpaid for a sub-par system.

 

Highlights included 384K of RAM (part of which was dedicated to the video system), CGA graphics, and no hard drive.

I am sooo sorry.   I've heard this story many times.   My girlfriend in high school got a IBM PC Jr.   I think that one had 256K.. I was impressed as I had a 48K Atari at the time till 1989 and I believe this would have been around 1988.

 

I enjoyed playing Tetris on this computer in later years.   It worked ok for her.  I could see despite the impressive ram size that the computer was rather... blah... otherwise.   Difficult to explain, but I think that was where I started to realize that PC's were bare bones get the job done, as opposed to the style and form of a hobby home computers like the Atari and other ones like it.

 

What has amazed me though is how those "hobby computers" in my mind also bridged over into "get the job done" as if it was a "oh by the way we can also do work".   A friend that had an Atari 400 to take on business trips for example because they were small and easy to set up to TVs in hotels.

 

But yeh, your story reminded me of my girlfriend's computer, and if any IBM computer had the modular cartridge like system like an Atari computer it was the scaled down PC Jr.   The Tandy 1000 SL I remember seeing Sierra Online games for.   Kinda cool, but once Tandy went with the PC format, as marketable as that was, it just became another PC computer to me and uninteresting.  At that point such computers just fell off my radar to track.

 

Which is ok, be cause most computer companies, like Tandy, generally fell off as computer sellers once they switched to the PC from their own unique format.  See also Atari. 

 

http://www.computercloset.org/IBMPCjr.htm

[CatPix]

3 hours ago, doctorclu said:

Which is ok, be cause most computer companies, like Tandy, generally fell off as computer sellers once they switched to the PC from their own unique format.  See also Atari. 

I mean, no one made it through, except Apple.

Even IBM couldn't boot Microsoft out and get OS/2 being relevant. Even NEC, after 10 years of total domination of the Japanese market with the PC-98, folded in 5 years when Microsoft introduced the Japanese version of Windows 95/98.

[Flojomojo]

I try to do my research beforehand, and there seems to be a "floor" to computers nowadays (there are few true lemons like eMachines anymore), so there aren't that many, but I can think of two. Even those had some redeeming qualities. 

 

1. Timex-Sinclair 1000, bought at the crash price of $39.99 with 16K module. The membrane keyboard was terrible, even with a rubber add-on I had for it, with multiple functions assigned to each and every key. The 16K memory expansion was really fickle, you couldn't bump it or everything would reset. The display was a flickery monochrome uppercase low-res RF cord to an old TV. Nevertheless, I learned some rudimentary skills typing in programs, modifying them a little bit, and saving them to cheap C-60 drugstore cassette tapes. 

 

2. A $29 Windows 8 tablet from Micro Center. It was actually neat but only shipped with just enough storage and RAM to barely work, I think it was 2GB RAM and 32GB storage. It was neat because unlike most devices of this size and price, it had a full-size USB port. The screen wasn't so bad, and the CPU with integrated graphics ran fast enough to run GOG games from the early 2000s. The memory was not enough, but the real dealbreaker was the storage capacity, which wasn't enough space to allow Windows to update itself. 

 

 

Unlike @doctorclu above, I enjoy low-end hardware and don't mind cloud storage. I have a few other doorstop-level netbooks that are great at serving as Amiga or Odyssey 2 emulator machines, especially with Linux in lieu of Windows to make the most of the limited onboard storage. I agree about the screens though, the cheap ones with poor viewing angles need to die off so we can have IPS or similar on everything. I think we're getting there. In 10 years I hope we'll have thin and light laptops that run cool and can play 3D games that currently require dedicated graphics hardware and loud fans. 

[zzip]

4 hours ago, doctorclu said:

I am sooo sorry.   I've heard this story many times.   My girlfriend in high school got a IBM PC Jr.   I think that one had 256K.. I was impressed as I had a 48K Atari at the time till 1989 and I believe this would have been around 1988.

 

I enjoyed playing Tetris on this computer in later years.   It worked ok for her.  I could see despite the impressive ram size that the computer was rather... blah... otherwise.   Difficult to explain, but I think that was where I started to realize that PC's were bare bones get the job done, as opposed to the style and form of a hobby home computers like the Atari and other ones like it.

My friend got one of those Tandy 1000's, forget the exact model, but it was compact with a 5.25" floppy on the side.  It was around 89/90 so it was already showing its age.  I just remember it was kind of a pain, and not fully compatible.   He'd buy some games that appeared to be in spec and they'd just refuse to run.  And then to make it worse Electronics Boutique would refuse to return it because it was open-box.  

It really made me appreciate my ST

[zzip]

Maybe the worst was this netbook I bought around 2009.   Fell apart within a year.   ASUS I think.

Edited December 14, 2021 by zzip

[doctorclu]

1 hour ago, zzip said:

Maybe the worst was this netbook I bought around 2009.   Fell apart within a year.   ASUS I think.

 

I had a netbook around that time.   My wife used it for Skyping to me while in Kuwait but was otherwise junk.  Was a little bit better than the Cloud Book I mentioned above.

[Keatah]

I may get flak for it. I don't care. I had an Amiga early on. 2 of them in fact, so it can't be said I didn't give the platform an honest go.

 

Doesn't matter what's said about its hardware being so unique and innovative. Or any of that "for the time" bullshit. It was unusable for productivity. It couldn't even replace an Apple II for word processing. Getting files to and from it for IBM-PC compatibility was a long tedious process. Let alone interfacing with an Apple II. Maybe there was a simple method that I was unaware of - but that it didn't present itself was part of the problem.. So..

 

Everything was too proprietary and niche. No real upgrade paths. Not like an IBM PC, where software could span generations of hardware. In fact I've got one bit of software that I got on a 486 that still runs on an i9 Win10 rig today. Certainly not the case with all software. Just say'n how cool that is.

 

Don't care whether Amiga was a low-cost and low-res graphics powerhouse. It was completely un-upgradeable. In hindsight, what else would one expect when cost-cutting and me-too are driving themes behind a product?

[Keatah]

Ha ha indeed. Having said that - I did learn the ins and outs of paint programs and image digitization. So all was not lost. And those were honest-to-goodness good times.

 

I do miss Digi-View. But the next best thing on the PC is Snappy. Similar circuit. Essentially Composite-to-ParallelPort. Similar software with similar controls. Same company!

[zzip]

16 minutes ago, Keatah said:

Doesn't matter what's said about its hardware being so unique and innovative. Or any of that "for the time" bullshit. It was unusable for productivity. It couldn't even replace an Apple II for word processing. Getting files to and from it for IBM-PC compatibility was a long tedious process. Let alone interfacing with an Apple II. Maybe there was a simple method that I was unaware of - but that it didn't present itself was part of the problem.. So..

Nearly every computer of the era had this problem, they used incompatible disk formats so transfering files from one to the another usually meant serial cable + null modem adapter.  

I believe the Commodore 128 disk drive was capable of reading multiple disk formats,  and the Atari ST could read/write IBM PC disks, but outside of those two file transfer was universally painful.

 

[Crazy Climber]

29 minutes ago, Keatah said:

I may get flak for it. I don't care. I had an Amiga early on. 2 of them in fact, so it can't be said I didn't give the platform an honest go.

Yeah, I talked my Mom into getting an Amiga for our "family computer" back in teh late 80's. Aside from a few sweet arcade ports it was pretty worthless as, you know, an actual computer haha

[Crazy Climber]

My smartphone. Absolutely hate every one I've ever had.

[Frozone212]

8 hours ago, doctorclu said:

This is a fascinating topic.   Got several computers over time that have found their way to me, and I would almost put some of these as "ones you wanted to like but just couldn't."

 

Or how about "computers my wife bought that I really wish she didn't."

 

I have a problem with the cheap cheap laptops.  Those things aside from a small screen to watch movies maybe are just little pieces of garbage that I just hope they are getting ecycled after people toss those after six months, or after some poor kid has to endure them for a while and finally gets a better computer.

 

 

I think I had an Acer Aspire 11 or something like that.  I believe in the picture above is the 14.  I remember there was a sticker on it saying
"comes with 1 terabyte of storage" which was like 32 gb internal flash ram, and rest was cloud based storage.

 

I hate cloud based storage.

 

So in essence you have this criminally small amount of local storage which can barely hold an operating system, this had windows 8 I believe, and little else for other programs.  As a computer hobbyist this just doesn't fly, nor do I think this computer should have ever been sold.  Seriously.   I believe it was false advertising at its best.

 

So this computer relies on the fact that you ALWAYS have a good internet connection, loading programs off the internet.  Now days internet speeds are faster with fiber connections, but this was about ten years ago and internet was barely that at home, and if you were traveling, good luck.

 

So over time friends have bought computers like this, and they get them, happy with them for like two days, and then realize what I limited P.O.S. these computers were.  I've had to deal with them when my wife asked for help with it, and I tried to find a good high speed read and write SD card to boost the storage by 128 gb.   Kinda worked.

 

My Dad got one from my sister trying to help his grandson.   He opened it up, found where flash memory was supposed to or could have been added, and was looking into how to add more flash memory.  Last I heard about that because I think they just bought another laptop.

 

These things eventually plague the computer hobbyist because again, they are insufficient for a modern computer and our non-computer hobbyist friends come to us for help.  Most just throw Linux on them, which is the best thing to do for any computer with limited hardware because the Linux overhead is generally smaller.

 

I was going to write about how computers at work have gone to a more virtual and cloud based format, but that is a more workable solution with computers have have a bit more beef to them.  This is a rant post, so, let the rants continue!!

 

I have plenty more computers that I wanted to like but couldn't.  What did I like about these computers?  They were tiny and thin.  That was nice.

 

Also I realize that me hating cloud based storage this now applies to me

 

 

(just laughs)

 

yeah i hate them too. Why do the bottoms have to be so long? Why do we have to use that godawful touchpad? It makes no sense.

[Frozone212]

I never had a speccy or zx81 but programming the latter is a PITA. There's an emulator for it but you have to save twice. once to memory and once to tape.

 

so I switched to Beebem

[Razzie.P]

my worst Computer?   Packard Bell 

 

Why?  It was a Packard Bell.

 

Bought it in 1995.  From Radio Shack.  Paid too much for it.  (I didn't really know anything about computers but was ready to learn)  And the Radio Shack owner kept some/most the bundled software to sell separately, as I later found out that he did quite frequently.

[+OLD CS1]

5 hours ago, Keatah said:

It couldn't even replace an Apple II for word processing. Getting files to and from it for IBM-PC compatibility was a long tedious process.

Bruh.  WordPerfect 4, which I used up until I got my AA in 2000, was superior to anything I ever used on an Apple.  And I used to swap Turbo Pascal and COBOL programs between my Amiga and the school computers effortlessly.  What the heck were you doing??

[+Gemintronic]

Probably a low end Intel Compute Stick.  The BIOs at the time couldn't boot to anything but the puny internal storage.  Wouldn't boot to USB CDROM/FDD either.  Returned it same day.

 

More classic than that was my Timex with its membrane keyboard.  I just couldn't will myself to learn the BASIC dialect because inputting anything was tedious.

[doctorclu]

1 hour ago, Razzie.P said:

my worst Computer?   Packard Bell 

 

Why?  It was a Packard Bell.

 

Bought it in 1995.  From Radio Shack.  Paid too much for it.  (I didn't really know anything about computers but was ready to learn)  And the Radio Shack owner kept some/most the bundled software to sell separately, as I later found out that he did quite frequently.

I found a meme for this a while back, which I recreated for you...

 

 

So when I met my wife, around 1998, she still had one of these beauties which looked almost entirely like this...

 

 

We limped that along for a few years after that.  Wow, getting flashbacks of 1998-2001?   I mean so many people had these as people were just getting a computer and just getting on the internet.  I was used to text internet, but this computer and the Atari TT030, and my Mac Performa 550 were my gateways to the the bigger consumer internet.

 

And I want to say I enjoyed a karaoke AOL voice chat on this computer, which I couldn't get to work with Mac AOL chat.

 

Wanna see something "cool" in relation to this thread?   Acer AND Packard Bell having a baby...

 

[doctorclu]

5 hours ago, Keatah said:

I may get flak for it. I don't care. I had an Amiga early on. 2 of them in fact, so it can't be said I didn't give the platform an honest go.

 

...

Don't care whether Amiga was a low-cost and low-res graphics powerhouse. It was completely un-upgradeable. In hindsight, what else would one expect when cost-cutting and me-too are driving themes behind a product?

 

Wanted to comment and say I got a good laugh out this because, even though I enjoy a local Amiga group and even through I do enjoy many innovations of the Amiga, I've always found it to be a odd mesh of command line and GUI.   And while I used Windows and DOS side by side for years, in the Windows world you could basically do everything from the GUI side.  The Amiga on the other hand you could shuffle things around, but if you wanted to do more, you had to know the text commands.  

 

In short, the GUI as nice as it was just felt tacked on.

 

Recently there was an interesting nugget that I want to say "The Doctor" on the Atari IRC chat recently shared with me.  A hidden message from a developer in the early kickstart roms that you find as an easter egg:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omMOuyTLmyg&t=77s

 

 

Can't help but wonder what the engineer knew of what the Amiga was supposed to be verses what Commodore let out the door.