Hi Chris
OK, so I can trump you there...first non-PC: Sinclair ZX81, with
1k of RAM. Then bought a
16kb RAMPack, which cost nearly as much as the ZX81. This was about 1983.
(corrected as I over-remembered the actual RAM !!)
And it suffered the infamous "RAMPack wobble" - the RAMPack connected via a long edge connector on the ZX81 pcb, which was accessible via an open slot in the back. Trouble was: The pcb didn't have a proper socket - just the tinned tracks of the circuit board...and while the RAMPack had gold-plated contacts, they weren't exactly "resilient", so you'd be typing some code in and then the screen would go blank and the computer would reboot. And there was no way of "saving" data at any point if you wanted a break..and the only way to "save", was via a mono tape recorder (similar to the BBC one's).
Eventually, the service engineer where I worked took pity on me and hard-wired the RAMPack onto the pcb...via a multiway cable. That fixed it !!
I was then handed down my brothers original Spectrum 48k and I got a Prism VTX5000 modem (running at 7-E-0, and 1200/75 baud half duplex) for it. I then had a Prestel account and wanted to access MicroNet 800 (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micronet_800 ), which was an early online "computer nerds" forum...Prestel was the mid-80's equivalent of CompuServe. Had lots of fun chatting up female Travel Agents on there, as they used it for booking peoples holidays online. Prestel looked very much like BBC Teletext, with the same low res "block graphics".
My brother loved Manic Miner and jet Set Willy...but he got bored with them as the game was never fast enough to keep his attention long enough - plus I don't think he took lightly to having to restart levels, when he lost.
I also got a Spectrum MicroDrive cartridge system to go with it which was great fun....and that "system" saw further light, when a colleague at work bought a ICL "One Per Desk" (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Per_Desk which also used the MicroDrive cartridges...
hehehehehe - looking back now, those machines were dinosaurs, compared to what's available now....though, at the time they were (sort of) cutting edge, especially in terms of price.
regards
Tim