Why did you own the 8-bit you had/have?

[EnglishRob]

My first 8bit was a ZX81, I think I must have been about 5 or 6 when I got it.

I didn't realise back then that you could type in programs or buy games on tape until I found a ZX Spectrum educational game in a bargain shop. Unfortanately I didn't realise that Speccy games didn't work despite having 'ZX' in the name.

Around the same time my best friend at the time got a Commodore +4 which we thought was great, until it broke.

That computer lasted about a year until it got water spilt on it. After that, about 2 years later I got an Atari 65XE. I have fond memories of playing Cenepede, Missile Command and also a karate game called Chop Suey.

I went through 2 65XE's that both failed within a couple of months, then on to a +3 for a week followed by an Amstrad CPC464. The 464 got me into basic programming when then got me into the technical side of computers. I haven't looked back since.

Rob

[yethboth]

The Speccy was THE BEST gaming computer and I had the proud privilege of owning a 48K and a 128K + 2.

[psj3809]

I really loved the Speccy +3, to have those games on disks (thanks to the great multiface) was a dream, instead of waiting 4 minutes or so it was about 25 seconds which back then was brilliant.

Great machine, used mine for many years

[potatohead]

Got them in roughly that order.

The Atari was for games. Early on, it had the very best. The first time I saw Star Raiders, I was hooked. Still play that title to this day, as do the kids!

Got the C64 for newer games, and because a friend had one. All I ever did was play games and do some basic assembly programming on the thing. Once I got interested in that aspect of things, I went back to the Atari. Just seemed more interesting and on a systems level, far better engineered.

Some time after that, assembly language was getting interesting and I bumped into the CoCo. Man, the 6809 was the censored! IMHO, it is the very best 8 bitter ever made. Loved programming on the CoCo, but the hardware more or less sucked.

Got a CoCo3, loved the fact that it would display nearly 256 colors on an NTSC television. (640x192x4 color mode through composite video)

If more programmers had exploited that aspect of the machine, it's visuals overall would have been up there with the best of them. Didn't come to pass though...

Of those machines, I kept the Atari computer and 7800 game machine. I don't program them much, but I still enjoy gaming on them. On the 2600, in particular, I am amazed at the new display techniques and tricks being uncovered so many years later... fun stuff to watch evolve.