[PCWorld]

Post your comments for The 25 Greatest PCs of All Time here

[KellieCM]

I grew up with an Atari 800 too! My family & friends spent many, many, MANY nights in front of that thing playing text-based games, like Zork. It was that machine that ignited my interest in technology.

[kjpweb]

With all due respect - your list is incomplete and maybe somewhat biased.Not that the Apple II didn't have a significant impact - but theIBM PC - who actually started the whole industry deservesthe throne hands down.Missing are two icons - that initiated making Computersinteresting for kids - the C 64 and the Atari (800?).Without these two the gaming industry wouldn't bewhat it is today.I also would place the Thinkpads way higher - theyreally made laptops desirable.Of course it is at the end of the day always a matter oftaste what you rank high and what not.But I really think ranking Apple II or even the original Machigher than the box who started it all - is a Faux Pax.

[olddave208]

I still use a IBM AT keyboard on my present machine. These things are indestructable. It has had everything from beer to water spilled in it, and it still works. The printing on the keys is still crystal clear after all these years. I just wonder how long it will last.

[VorpalHamster]

I didn't have the Comodore 64. :( I had its cheaper alternative: the Vic 20. (Cassette) tape drive and all!

[expressiveindigo]

If you don't mind, i have a gem no one seems to care to remember. it is a landmark laptop in that it is the first to allow wireless internet, gives new meaning to the word clamshell, and is probavly the peak of industrial design and creativity by sucha margin, it has a spot in new york art museums! irt is TA DA: the Original apple ibook! lovingly named the "Clamshell" due to its curvey sweeping design reminescint of real clams, it features two tone schemes and is the precurser to apple laptop design philosophies which are after all, pc worlds benchmark in design. it was intended for elementary kids to lug around school wirth its built in handle and incredinle durability. i own three and can't be happier. please keep in mind that this is not an apple vs microsoft post. i just love these babies to the end. the y were slow even by 1999-2001 standards but remain a cult hit and was featuerd in the color tangerine in the movie legaly blond. elle woods never looked as good as when she did

[rbaguley]

I'm amazed that the Timex 1000/Sinclair ZX81 didn't make this list. Certainly back in England, this and the Sinclair Spectrum created a generation of computer users, gamers and hackers. When I was a lad, I'd spend hours typing in listings from magazines, hoping that the system wouldn't crash before I had finished and could save the program to tape. My ZX81 had a 16k RAM pack, but it kept overheating, so I had to put a bag of ice on the top of it to cool it down...I'd also advocate for a spot for the BBC Micro. Although this never made it over the pond, it was an amazing system in the UK for the time that encouraged users to learn how to program, as it had a version of bASIC built into the ROM. It encouraged users to learn to program, not just to run programs that other users had written. Over a million BBC micros were sold, which is amazing in a country of around 50 million people...

[rpesq]

The Commodore 64 deserved to be #1, yet it was not even on your list. It may have been the best selling computer of all time(!) Many top programmer learned the skills on the C64. The TI-99/4A deserved an honorable mention, also.

[rb3m]

I second the comment about the Commodore 64. At least you recognized Commodore by putting the Amiga on the list, but the C-64 deserved top spot even more than the Apple II (worthy as it is).In fact, with models like the various PETs and VIC-20, Commodore was a major, major player that certainly deserves far more recognition.The ZX-81/TS1000 was another big omission.

[dbreaux]

Anyone remember the Atari ST??? :unsure

[bluelander]

Actually, the IBM XT is just as 8 bit as the IBM PC was. The XT still used an 8088, not an 8086, even the site linked to in the article says so. I've had three XTs over the years and all of them had 8088s in them (except one that had a NEC V20, probably an after market upgrade). The only real advantage of the XT over the PC was that the XT's power supply could support a hard drive.Also, the GRiD Compass was the first laptop, not the HX-20 which came out in 83, not 81.Other than that it's a good list, except it's very American-centric. Computers like the Sinclair Spectrum and Amstrad CPC had a huge impact on the european market. Japan also had a booming computer market in the early 80's, based around machines like the NEC PC-8801 and Sharp X1 series that were far more powerful than the home computers we were using here at the time.

[mjuarez]

IIRC, the Vic-20 was a huge hit in Europe, especially Germany. I usted to have one, on which I programmed in Basic, and loaded games from cassette tapes. Back then, it seemed incredible to be able to program stuff, and be able to save it and load it again from tape (even if it took around 5 minutes for a 2K program to load). And it had a lot of games and applications available.BTW, there was a special IBM XT model that had a 16-bit 80286. I am sure of it, because we had one at home. It said IBM XT in the front, but according to the manual (the computer included two hefty manuals, one for the machine itself, and one for the operating system, PC DOS 3.30), it had a 6 or 7Mhz 80286. The machine included only 512Kb of RAM, and it had an additional 128KB to get to 640Kb. It also had an EGA video card (which at the time was amazing), that could go all the way to 640x350x16 colors. Marcos

[wingod2001]

I cannot believe that the Vector Graphic Inc. Micro's did not make the list. The IBM PC is a copy of our machine. We had the first hard drives on a micro, one of the first networked micros, the first shared resources system that was much faster than Appletalk.Check the website:http://www.vectorgraphics.org.uk/Dennis Wingo, and Engineer from Vector.

[mikebb]

The C=64 needs to be on this list along with the Amiga and Apple IIe. How does an Alienware PC fit on this list, it's a overpriced highend ATX Standard PC and that anyone can make buying the same parts from Newegg.com - you would have to be a complete idiot to spend money on something like this.

[TheNameless]

Maybe those are the most influential and innovative PCs/Macs, but I wouldn't say they were the "greatest" PCs, by any means.

[0ut1aw]

Two Computers before their time are not here: the WANG 2200 - you had to program it to do what you wanted it to do, but it did everything for my accounting purposes that current software does AND the KAYPRO 2000 notebook - small and easily carried around with battery power - a real workhorse for me for several years.

[mjrwhitehead]

I have to think you missed the boat on a few fronts - - the Data General One - a more seminal laptop than any on your list- the Commodore Pet - as critical at the time as the Apple II - and better selling- the 64 and Vic from Commodore, as others have mentioned- why the 2nd gen iMac? rather then 3rd gen which is a design that time is proving more successful?- the Timex/Sinclair 1000 - which brought computing to so many young kids- the Processor Technology Sol-20 - which did the Apple II form factor much more elegantly 3 years earlier

[Raffaele]

Commodore C64 -IS- the world bestselling computer and you from PC World put it (by mistake?) in a corner (just a mention) as it no-exists and instead highlight Apple II.Also you misplaced it in the article: C64 is in page 13 along with 1992 machines!Well... I know C64 was ahead of its times, but placing it in 1992-2005 age it is sure weird!!!Also where are Atari ST, Vic20 and TI-99/4A? Where Philips CD-i and CBM CDTV first Multimedia PCs?Looking at the voids here, I wonder what is is happening to american Information Techonlogy Press and I had bad thoughts on how it could be considered "professional".You demonstrated you are provincial and self-centric, infacts you ignore the impact in the world of I.T. of computers born overseas and the benefits of these computers for people worldwide.MSX and MSX2 standard in JapanAmstrad CPC in EuropeAcorn BBC Micro and Archmedes in Great BritainSinclair ZX80, ZX81 and Spectrum in whole EuropeSincerely,Raffaele Irlanda (Italy)

[foo2]

The C=64 and Vic 20 were just primative atari 800's, Just like the 400, 800xl and 130xe don't appear, neither should the Vic, C64, or C128. They were all 6502s, with limited memory for the home market, released at the same time. The apple II was definately revolutionary enough to be almost a replacement for them all, except that the atari and Commodore computers had better graphics.

[davidbunnell]

I guess the machine that started it all doesn't count--the Altair 8800 from Mits was the first personal computer. The whole industry and many of its facits sprung from this development from Mits, a tiny company in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Introduced in January, 1975, this machine was based on the Intel 8080 chip and had an open architecture. The IBM Personal Computer, which didn't arrive until 1981, was just a souped up Altair with a 16-bit microprocessor. They even look alike. Both inspired the development of 100's of add-on products and 100's of clones. Both ran Microsoft software. Microsoft BASIC was originally called Altair BASIC. Bill Gates and Paul Allen worked for Mits and Microsoft started in Albuquerque. The first retail computer stores were Altair stores. The first personcal computer convention was the World Altair Computer Conference held in 1976. The first personal ocmputer magazines, BYTE, CREATIVE Computing & Personal Computer were largely about the Altair and then the TRS-80 and Apple II. Mits' founder, Ed Roberts, not Steve Jobs or Don Estridge, is the father of the Personal Computing Industry. He had the original vision and he created the first personal computer. I know because I worked for him....Most of you all probably weren't born in 1975--or you were still in diapers. Oh well....--David Bunnell