What is a good vintage computer to get into the hobby with?

[machinevsassembly]

I've been looking around for a good computer to get into retro computing with.
I don't really like retro game consoles, I'm more of a PC person (so things like Commodores, Apple ][s, Macintoshes, IBM PCs and things)
I also don't like retro games either (but some of the cool but simple ones are nice)
I'm looking for an easy to repair computer (if possible with mostly off-the-shelf or easy to replace parts) from a time range of 1970's to early 1990s.
I know a few things about electronics and love retro computing (I've only ever had some old Macs to use).
Also, preferably this computer needs to be not too expensive (anything above $1000 CAD is too much for me...)

Hopefully someone can give me some ideas, and bye

 

[krebizfan]

Well, the lack of interest in retro games does make it hard to recommend any older computer since retro games are what the computer can run.

Easy to repair: Can't get much easier than the IBM PC (5150) or the XT (5160) and with a little searching can be found fairly cheaply.

 

[hunterjwizzard]

You might also look into something like the NuXT, a modern 8088 clone built with modern components that fits in an ATX tower. You likely won't have to repair that ever.

What things interest you, if not games? Do you like running classic software, doing other things? A lot of early/mid 90s software is now abandoneware or available on Archive.org. I've always thought doing retro-style video production sounded like fun.

 

[Plasma]

Well this is a very open-ended topic, but I would recommend a 386 or 486 box with VGA and a 3.5" HD floppy drive. Maybe a CD-ROM drive too.

No special keyboard or monitor required, and easy to transfer files with a modern system. No messing around with extended/expanded memory cards, and fast enough to run Windows 3.1 comfortably.

 

[Eudimorphodon]

I think a lot of this question depends on if you actually have specific nostalgia for any particular platform. Not to say it's critical, you might totally fall in love with a computer you never saw before "back in the day" for all sorts of reasons, but familiarity, even if it's only fleeting, will probably significantly grease the wheels.

I'm looking for an easy to repair computer (if possible with mostly off-the-shelf or easy to replace parts) from a time range of 1970's to early 1990s.

If you're literally looking for a computer that can be repaired (with a bit of soldering) with modern off the shelf (or readily available old stock) electronics components then the end of your window shrinks down to more like 1985 or so; most inexpensive "home computers" from 1980 onward incorporated various video, sound, and peripheral chips that haven't been manufactured new for decades and can only really be obtained by stripping them out of another similar computer. (And by the latter half of the 80's proprietary ASICs were becoming common in *all* types of computers.) Some of these chips are still *reasonably* easy to find, but stocks are diminishing and fake remarked "pulls" are starting to be a serious problem.

Off the top of my head here's a list of computers that are reasonably common, reasonably affordable, and almost entirely composed of “generic” logic:

Apple II Plus (*)
TRS-80 Models I and III (£)
Commodore PET (most models)
IBM 5150 PC, 5150 XT, and older XT clones
Most CP/M machines (+)

Notes:
*: Same computer as the plain II other than the ROMs and the sticker that doubles or triples the price of the “original”
£: Model I’s are getting kind of cranky in their old ages, and both of these are suffering from brittle plastic. Shipping Model IIIs is a bad idea
+: The big old S-100 computers are kind of their own specialty, not really for beginners.

All of these have interesting software bases with lots of things to keep you busy besides games. The PC and the Apple II are probably the most accessible to someone coming in from a modern background. The TRS-80 is a mostly forgotten platform today, but for the time it was a fascinating combination of minimalistic yet forward-looking, and it has a ton of software and documentation out there. PETs are pretty reliable and bullet proof, and CP/M… has a lot of software, but is pretty user-hostile to a newbie.

Honestly, if you don’t know what you want you could do a lot worse than an XT clone. It’ll be cheap to get into and probably have the shallowest learning curve of any computer that truly feels “antique” as opposed to just “old”, like a 386 will.

 

[cj7hawk]

In Canada, you could always look for a Nabu and pick up a piece of canadian history...

A disk based machine is probably best, unless you really like waiting for things to load.

I'd second CP/M machines as a thought - they are different, yet just familiar enough in the DOS era. Some like the Amstrads are still pretty cheap, come with a CRT monitor, and have graphics capabilities. There are some luggable to like the Kaypro and Osborne, which I prefer, as I don't have to set up a lot of pieces, just fold down and turn on. Though IIRC the earlier Osbornes have 57 character screens, so are a little tight on characters. If you go CP/M, 80 columns is ideal and you can try out the old games...

PCs are always a good choice and your budget would go to an original IBM, though there are portables too.

There is always some risk with old computers. No matter how much you spend, you might get one that *isnt* easy to repair, though my experience is most have minor faults.

Early Macs are also an option as well as the early apples.

Or maybe go for something earlier, with a S100 bus.

Don't forget the Euro systems, like the BBC, QL, Spectrum etc.

And of course, the later Atari and Amiga.

It really kind of depends on which model feels like it resonates with you. I love old computers. I love fixing them.

Early 1990s takes you all the way to a 486... Pre-Pentium systems.

Maybe read a few old computer magazines on Archive.Org and see what ads appeal?

 

[cjs]

Well, the lack of interest in retro games does make it hard to recommend any older computer since retro games are what the computer can run.

I'd disagree; I'm not into games, either, yet all my favourite computers are 8-bitters in the 1975-1985 range. (I have TRS-80 Model I, NEC PC-8001 and several others from that series, FM-8, FM-7 and others from that series, Sharp MZ-700, Apple IIc, TRS-80 Model 4P, tons of MSX machines, and various others. I tend to be a bit more focused on the Japan side, since I live in Japan.)

I've been looking around for a good computer to get into retro computing with.

One thing to consider is how much you feel you need a diskette drive. I'm perfectly happy generating CMT (cassette) images, using serial ports and burning ROMs, though I do have plenty of drives as well. But systems without floppy drives will generally be cheaper and more reliable. (Most of them can have a drive subsystem added, but that bumps up the price, sometimes significantly.)

Personally, I'm a fan of the "get started cheap and get some experience" method of getting into things, so I'd look around for whatever cheap home computers are popular and easy to find in your part of the world and get started with one of those. You can always just type in BASIC and machine-language programs, CMT save and load is easy to do with a modern PC running Audacity substituting for the tape deck, and programs to convert between regular binary data and CMT WAV files are not much harder to use. You should be able to get something for under $100 that will give you a taste of the retrocomputing world and then, as you learn more, you'll better understand what's worth spending more money on.

Once you've identified some cheap options, you can post them here and we can give you further information on what they're like.