[gemcrm]

Packard Bell deserves being at the top of the list. We bought our first computer, a Packard Bell from Office Depot in December 2004 as a Christmas gift for the family. I had learned how to use the Packard Bell as an answering machine and started leaving it on all of the time, for the answering machine. I will never forget this date - May 2nd, 1995 - the Packard Bell monitor overheated, caught on fire, and started a house fire. The fire was caught in time before it completely destroyed the rented house we were living in, but NOT before fire, heat, or smoke damage destroyed 90% of our belongings and killed our pet dog. It was 2 years before we bought another computer - NOT a Packard Bell. On a side note, by wife blamed me for the fire and this was the start of the downward slide of our marriage which ended in divorce.

[Fullybakedbear]

How funny. I googled Dimension 4600 today because I need to format and reinstall. This reminded me of the other great thing about the Dimensions...Dell didnt send OS discs unless you called back and complained about it.

[jcassara]

No, you did not put the Commodore ViC-20 on this list. You should be tied to a mack truck by your hair and dragged along I-95 at 75MPH for that, Dan.

P.S. Wrong image for the PS/1 entry. That's a PS/1 Consultant/Expert, not the model you're referring to.

[WithSBCinthe60s]

The TI99/4A, which replaced the 4A (#6), was very good and cheap. TI Messed up by excpecting to make money on it's software instead of on the PC. Unfortunately, they couldn't prevent independent software publishers from selling their own software cartridges, That's how TI messed it up.

[Maddman]

Kind of funny
i was just doing a search on the PS1 and ran into this thread of posts
Though i see its over a year old
i figure if i found others will too
so anyway
I've got 2 old IMB's i just pulled out of the attic today
a 5150 & a PS1
and for that PS1 to rate #5 worst of all time
well Nov 17th 2008
and that old PS1 booted right up!
ow and so doesn't the older unit
I am considering putting these on ebay
90% sure i will
but anyway just my 2cents worth
but for that old PC to fire right up
I think that rating on the list should be dropped! if not at all ;-)

[cmpnj1]

I found this article by accident even though the article is over 2 years old I have a few comments about it
1) The VIC 20 was the first computer I owned back in the 80's as a kid (I wanted an Apple 2e for x-mas and mom and dad bought me it becasue they could not afford an Apple) and for a childs computer it was great I had no problems with it and used it for over 6 years with no problem.I actually miss it for it was simple and easy to use.
2) My first real computer was a Packard Bell that I bought from Sears in 1995 and for the three years I owned it I NEVER ONCE had a problem with it I Paid $1,100 and I sold it for $475 to a computer store in 1998 (not bad for an old computer)

[ByteRider]

I owned so many of these stinker computers... The TI 99/4A, for its day, was my favorite machine... owned it for years. Had more memory and a 16-bit processor (TMS9900) while everyone else had a slower processor that was not just 8 bits but had no multiply or divide (6502).

The Coleco-- oh definitely a peice of @#$. The drives ate the tapes more often than not.

The Apple III chip popping.. haha, gawd that brings back memories! I think the II Gs should be on that list as well. Egads!

The WORST COMPUTER of the small 8-bit machines should be the TIMEX/SINCLAIRE. I still have one in the orginal box: "All the computing power you will most likely ever need" and my other favorite quote from the box, "Life Time Guarantee!"

MUAHAHAHAHA

Of course, the authors left out the Kaypro and Osborne.... what happened there, guys? Or did you appreciate the portable 60lbs laptop computer that took 2 arms to carry [and many stops to your destination to rest]? The most destructive computer of ALL TIME: The Osborne II... killed the company before the first one was even made, haha!

The best machine, for those days, was the Amiga computer. Nothing but nothing but nothing came close to touching it. It was far ahead of its time, it just had a moron like Jack Tremeil trying to sell it. *sigh*

Finally, the could-a, would-a, should-a machine was the Atari ST 1000. Poor machine wanted to act like an Amiga but look like a Mac.

We need a "10 STUPIEST PC CEOS OF ALL TIME" How about it guys?!?!

This post has been edited by ByteRider: 13 September 2010 - 12:24 PM

[mjd420nova]

Yes, the IBM PS1 was a horrible machine.To this day I hate any unit that places all the components inside a single case. Just like the original Apple Macintosh SE, the digital compnents do not take kindly to being confined witin the same case as the high voltage power supply required to run a CRT monitor. Has anyone ever heard of Leading Edge?? In the service world we called it the Bleeding Edge. What about Black Ship?? Maybe Corvus??

[coastie65]

Although I liked the thing fot the most part, the Commodore 64 & later 128 took up a lot of space. The MOBO 7 Keyboard was one unit. The disk drive ( 5 1/4" floppy ) was another , as was the printer and monitor. The PSU was separate as well ( sat on the floor under the desk ). Everything was hooked in series. The printer plugged into the disk drive and the disk drive to the Keyboard / CPU as did the monitor. As I said, it took up a lot of space. You also had to turn everything on in sequence ( except the monitor ) Printer first, Disk drive, than KeyBoard / CPU and turn it off in the reverse order. You could put a disk in and strt the load, then go make a cup of coffee. When you got back it would almost be ready as it took a long time.

[rwe52496]

gundark, on 19 March 2007 - 08:40 AM, said:

P-B computers came it at Number One?! They definitely earned that spot. Oh, the bad old days.Yes, they were pretty terrible, but owning a P-B made me learn WAY more about fixing and building computers than all my other friends learned with their other, more reliable brands. I was learning how to re-configure my BIOS and resolve IRQ issues while they were busy playing games.Tearing apart a P-B also let you know what component mfg's to avoid in the future. "You need a new modem? Don't buy 'X' brand, that's the junk in my P-B."It became more of a learning tool than anything else.Not that I'd want to own one now, or anything...

i agree with you on the Packard Bell. computers. they stank. but why did they put the Apple III on there?! the Apple 3 revolutionized computing by introducing one of the first full GUI onto the market. (or it could be that since this site is "PC" world, they might hate Apple, but i doubt it.)

[coastie65]

My late girlfriend had a Packard Bell that she was using to run her business. She about drove me crazy with that thing. I believe it came with Win 95 and she moved to Win 98. Lighning strike on the phone line wiped out the internal modem, so she went for an external modem and complained about the exteranl modem. I didn't learn about it until after the fact, but I expect the PCI slot may have been damaged as well, but not sure as i never checked it. The one thing she did complain about that I couldn't help her with was the when she losing her files, in particular, the financial stuff. I told her as much and that she need to pay attention to which folder she was sending the stuff to and not to blame the computer for "Losing" it. She didn't care much for that solution as I recall. I didn't like the Packard Bell either. She eventually got a tower running an AMD processor ( someone gave it to her ) and carped about that as she preferred Intel. I told her the software didn't know the difference. Although we remained friends until her death, she didn't come to me with computer issues after awhile.

[TrinaPickett]

Man, I entered college with at Packard Bell 286, and I loved that thing. Well, ok, it was a pathetic excuse of a computer, even for a 286. But it took a lot of years of beatings, parts swaps, and very unintended upgrades. I split the power cables and crammed a 4th drive into a three bay machine, and ran a BBS off it for 5 years. Though I have to agree with it being a great learning tool. I have only fond memories of it (and it's lessons of BIOS and IRQ issues, as mentioned by gundark!)

This post has been edited by coastie65: 04 November 2011 - 10:21 AM

[DrGoodvibes]

Laugh.

I'm still using a Dell Dimension 4600i.

Has the original 3.2GHz P4 CPU, a Radeon HD 3850 AGP GPU with twin 24" IPS monitors, 3GB of memory, 450W power supply, 1TB SATA HDD + Original 80GB IDE HDD and 1Gb Ethernet card.
Currently running three OS; Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8 preview.
Has a 3DMark06 of 5221.

Why wont it just die so I can build a new desktop!!!!! :-)

And I've still got the original working 250W power supply. *sigh*

Trust me to get the only one that won't break and'll last forever.

[DrGoodvibes]

Laugh.

I'm still using a Dell Dimension 4600i.

Has the original 3.2GHz P4 CPU, a Radeon HD 3850 AGP GPU with twin 24" IPS monitors, 3GB of memory, 450W power supply, 1TB SATA HDD + Original 80GB IDE HDD and 1Gb Ethernet card.
Currently running three OS; Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8 preview.
Has a 3DMark06 of 5221.

Why wont it just die so I can build a new desktop!!!!! :-)

And I've still got the original working 250W power supply. *sigh*

Trust me to get the only one that won't break and'll last forever.

[user9rgg]

i've have good expereinces with the dell dimension 4600. my grandma has 1. went real slow, though. had xp. i installed vista (mistake). then i installed ubuntu 12.04. better than before, but still slow

[DesireeDehner]

Actually, our Packard Bell worked pretty decently. It only just broke a few years ago. Well, my mom dropped it and broke something within the monitor. It was working Windows 98. I played Quake on it and everything. Plus, it had a screensaver on it that I really liked.

[DesireeDehner]

Actually, our Packard Bell worked pretty decently. It only just broke a few years ago. Well, my mom dropped it and broke something within the monitor. It was working Windows 98. I played Quake on it and everything. Plus, it had a screensaver on it that I really liked.

[a3poify]

100% disagree with Dell Dimension 4600. Have one with XP, and oddly enough for a business PC, it runs Half Life 2 at full FPS.

[mikesalvio]

I've been a computer technician for over 25 years and have worked on some junk. Packard Bell was right at the top but it was not alone. Gateway and Compaq were right there along with the Bell. E-Machines were true trash. I repaired one that within one month of original purchase the hard drive, video card, modem, and power supply all had to be replaced. There were others but their names slip me it's been so long. Although I cannot forget IBM who gets honorable mention for being the most expensive, under powered computer to ever be produced. Let's not forget micro channel either. My first IBM cost $6000 on a state contract. I can't imagine what the normal poplulace was shelling out for their 20 meg hard drive machine with 1 meg of ram. My how things have changed.