Sinclair ZX Spectrum with a staggering 48k of RAM, back in 1982 IIRC.

Like Quicksilver007's ZX80, you plugged it into the back of your TV and storage was an audio cassette.

Also had the Sinclair printer which used rolls of metallized paper - an electric spark zapped the coating to leave a black 'pixel'.

Print head was a metal stylus mounted on a toothed drive band.

Didn't do much with computers at the start of Uni, it was a Casio Fx7000 calc that got me back into programming.

Taught myself C on an Acorn Archimedes A5000 with RISC-OS3, 25MHz ARM3 processor + FPA10 maths co-pro, 4Mb RAM (2Mb ROM for the OS) and 40+240 Mb hard disks.

The Arch also had a 386 PC card so you could run DOS/Windows 3.1 inside a window on the RISC-OS desktop.

A gateway I bought in 2005 was my first computer.  I'm on my second one now!  

I purchased and used an Ohio Scientific in 1978 for personal and business purposes.  Here is a partial list:

C8P DF GT
 Microprocessor - 6502C   4Mhz. (GT option)
 Ram               - 48k  150ns. (GT Option)
 Disk                - 2- 8" floppies each 170k
 I/O  Video Board 64 x 32 Colors
 1-RS232 Port (Software addressable to 2 connectors)
 Sound Output
 Home Security Interface BSR Remote control
 Hi Speed DAC  C8P-DF-48k
 2 Joystick Inputs GT Option

Expansion Serial RS232 Board CS-10-2
48 Line Parallel I/O  CA-21
D/A, A/D CA-22
 16 Channel input multiplex to one A/D
 2 D/A
 6 TTL Input
 2 TTL Output

Serial Terminal AC-07C
 Haziltine 1420
                 Total Price $7,815.00

Lots of software.
 OS-65D V3.2, OS-65U V1.2, HC-1, HC-2,Graphics 1, Plot Basic, DAC1,PD 1-2, ED 1-4, BD 1-3, GD 5-10, WP6502U, WP3-2, WP3-1, OS-DMX, OS-Inventory, OS-DMS, OS-65U V1.42 - CD74 CD-36 MOS for Business, Demo Disk, Customer Demo, Dealer Demo.

I used the system for word processing and BASIC development for the company I worked for. I programed a customer equipment reception, tracking, and billing system.  This required hacking the OS to remove the 'LF' at the end of each write to the serial terminals so the text could be kept at the same location and be updated.  Great fun.

I sold this system to my nephew in 1984 after purchasing an IBM PC with an after-market 5 meg HD by Devong.  I had to keep a floppy in the floppy bay for the computer to boot to the HD.  I couldn't believe all the room I had to store stuff in.  It was so nice not to have to swap floppies all the time anymore.  Four years later it was an IBM XT with a 10 meg HD, two years later I upgraded the HD to 20 meg.  Then I moved on to after-market PC's.  One from some place in Texas, then another from Micron that I had for years.  Then I started to build my own computer for myself and firends.  I am on my fourth rebuild now and am starting to get itchy to upgrade again. 

William

I'm always itchy... just finished my 5th upgrade/rebuild since 2005.  It's sweet... and fast, moreso in Win 8

My first computer was a cool commodore 64 portable with a tiny little built in color monitor.

I played Zork games, SSI games Pools and Curse, last ninja, Impossible mission, Jump man, and my personal favorite text game Leather Goddess of Phobos. It had scratch and sniff cards that you were instructed to smell at certain points during the game like finding a old slice of pizza on the floor of the bathroom.

Radio Shack Color Computer (or CoCo as it were)  Had chicklet keys and you had to hook it up to a little TV for a monitor.

Used a tape drive that constantly failed.

It was good for learning basic and assembly.  I have fond memories of the hours wasted retyping stuff that wouldn't load.  Yeah, good times.

I think this is an exercise in age verification.  It wasn't "my computer", but I started on a mainframe that had to be housed in a separate refrigerated building, while learning COBOL at college.  Programming was done on punch cards (keep those suckers in the right order).  My very first computer to own was an Altair microcomputer, that I paid around $500 for in 1975.  It was followed by a Commodore PET.  I sold my first commercial business program to a sign company that I wrote on a Texas Instruments TI-99-4a.  Somewhere in there, I also had a Timex Sinclair 1000 with a whopping 2K of RAM. Okay, so has anybody seen my walker?  I am having a senior moment. 

Hooray ! ... someone besides me has had the guts to admit that they once owned a Commodore PET computer.   I feel so much better now ... Thank Goodness ! ... This reminds me, BTW, what a horrible case of "Apple-Envy" I had, when I first met someone who owned an Apple IIe ... Interesting days, indeed !   

Mine was a TI-99-4A, but I only had it for a couple of weeks.  Returned it to get a ZX Spectrum.

Yep.  1982.  Still have it...

IBM 7044 .... Melbourne Uni's machine .... when I was still in 4th form [Essendon Grammar] - 1969 ...;)

This is a question of kind of like, "How old are you?" Ok, my first one was Ohio Scientific, casette tape drive for storage, 20 characters on the screen, opened with a hexadecimal user interface in upper right corner. Circa 1977 (?).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Scientific

I had an IBM comp that ran on Windows 3.1(those were the days), but the OS eventually was upgraded to Win 95. My very first internet adventures began on that lil' guy.

I can't remember the spces or even the model number, though.

I bought a 1978 Apple II that came with 16k ram (hoowah).  It was serial number 0000750.  I wish I still had the b a s t a r d as the Smithsonian may want it.  I purchased an additional 32k ram for $300 bringing it up to 48k ram.  No disk drives were available at the time so it used (get this) a cassette for recording/playing programs.  It had color but it came with a green monochrome monitor.  What a pile but I loved the thing dearly.  I followed the chain up later II+, IIe, IIgs etc.  Heck I still remember the first couple of games that were available, one was a Tie fighter shoot em up ala Star Wars and the other was an RPG style game called Beneath Apple Manor.  Good topic! 

exactly the same as me.

Apple IIe - paid about $3,000 for it. (1982 I think)

We used to have a small computer club that took donated computers and got them all cleaned up and running then gave them to mostly shut ins and specially needs folks. It was called "The Black Smoke Computer Club" The president said that computers ran on black smoke and if the smoke escaped they quit running. Poor old IIe died of just that. Some capacitor or something wore out and started smoking. Since it was soldered to the board the grand computer went to its reward. Back then we used modems and dialed the local BBS (run by most of the folks in the club as well)

Next computer was a Falcon Northwest P90. This was back when they were just starting in my home town of Coos Bay, Oregon. When the city wouldn't give them some dispensation or the other they left. I was told for my CAD and such to get a gaming machine and then I would have all I need. I think it worked well. Last time I fired it up is was still running great. It was this computer that I had three IDE cards and 6 slots. It ran great. I don't know how many internet techs to me it wouldn't run that way.

Dis baby.

Yup. I still have mine. It's wrapped in plastic along with it's 12" monitor and about a dozen old games. Maybe I should dig it out and fire it up for old times sake and play some Sierra games... Space Quest, Manhunter, etc.

TI-99/4A

Apple IIe.  A mistake which I unloaded after 6 months & got a Tandy 1000 (also possibly a mistake).

But by that time I already had 4 years of professional programming on "big" computers, first an HP3000 Series 3.   Does that count?  Certainly programming it was more fun than anything I could do with the Apple.

You 'could' offer it to Eve...... [worked for Adam....]...;)

The same as mrs starkers in reply 44 and still have it pack away .

Colour Genie. Purchased by earning money doing a paper round. Not a popular computer but it did place me on a path that led me to what I do today, programming educational software for thousands of kids worldwide.

Apple Macintosh Performa 6110

60 Mhz PPC CPU

8 MB RAM

700 MB HD

4x CD-ROM

3.5" Floppy Drive

Mac OS 7.5

It cost me $2000

I got mad when I went to the store and found out that the only games that would play on my Mac were on one little shelf.

...I had a Palm Pilot in 2004 that was more powerful!