Name That Stuff: Benj’s Computer Room in 1996
September 14th, 2007 by Benj Edwards
Yep. Some things never change.
Rising like a phoenix from the ashes of my heretofore mostly forgotten digital archives comes this rare look into my collecting past. I shot this with a video camera and a Snappy Video Snapshot, which was an early still-frame video capture device that attached to a PC’s parallel port. Behold the floor of my computer room circa November 1996, as it lay covered with a diverse mixture of vintage computer and video game equipment.
Pop quiz! Study the picture. How many items and accessories can you name by manufaturer or model? Bonus points to anyone who manages to name the early XT clone on the left.
September 14th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
The only things that I recognize were the NES stuff and that hand-held scanner. Man were those hand-held scanners a bitch to use.
September 14th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
I believe I see a Commodore monitor in there. Can’t recall the model # tho. Anybody?
September 14th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
That’s a Commodore Video Monitor Model 1702. Not that I have one sitting right here or anything. I see these all the time in the background of random tv shows.
September 14th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
The two things I can definitely identify, aside from the items that have already been identified are the Oric 1 and the Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer model 1. Nice computers, those two…
September 14th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Don’t forget the best keyboard ever made…..that IBM clickety-clack one.
Game Genie manual (printed right one it)
NES Advantage joystick
Original joystick for the CC1.
The mouse looks like the ones Packard Bell shipped with their computers, but I can’t tell.
I can’t make out the NES game. Green writing. Single word.
Layne
September 14th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
For the NES cartridge I’m going to guess Metal Gear, Blaster Master, or The Adventures of Bayou Billy.
September 15th, 2007 at 2:50 am
Oh man, this brings back some great memories. My buddy and I pushing his 486 computer to the limits playing Wing Commander 2, X-Wing, Tie Fighter, and Doom 1 & 2.
I recognize almost all of the systems/peripherals but everyone has mentioned them already. I believe thats an IBM Model M keyboard though. Those were the days man, and they still are for us luckily. I’ve been playing the heck out of Space Quest and Full Tilt! Pinball (Maxis) lately. nothing like reliving the classics on my old Win95 box. Love the page, keep up the good work.
September 15th, 2007 at 9:58 am
You guys are off to a great start! Here’s a few hints: The tiny computer in the middle is not an ORIC-1 (and for trivia’s sake, it’s sitting on the CoCo BASIC manual, which was missing its cover).
The keyboard to the left isn’t a Model M (but I’m typing on one now). There’s no real way to guess that keyboard, actually. It was just a mushy rubber-dome jobbie that came with the 386 clone tower in near the center of the picture.
The mouse not a Packard Bell mouse, although that was a great guess; I remember those things. It’s a so-generic-as to be unguessable unit.
Ulrich was right about the scanner. It’s a Logitech Scanman — nifty at the time it came out, but mostly useless.
I’m impressed that Layne spotted the original CoCo joystick.
Major hint: the NES game starts with “G.” It’s plugged into a Game Genie in the NES.
And Xcalibr8, I’m glad you like the site. Seeing this picture took me back to playing early-mid-90s PC games too.
September 16th, 2007 at 1:24 am
Galaga
September 16th, 2007 at 9:43 am
I see an Epson XT clone, a Tandy MC-10 a Genius hand scanner, a Commodore 1702 monitor
September 16th, 2007 at 11:34 am
Raul’s right; it is Galaga. And Michael finishes it off — it is indeed an Epson brand clone, and an MC-10. However, the scanner is a Logitech Scanman. Anyway, great work guys. I guess there’s nothing left of note to ID.
September 17th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
Not so fast. The carpet is Milliken ValuMaster, beige, and if I’m not mistaken it’s a low Frieze Cut Pile, approx. 5 or 6 years old at the time.
September 18th, 2007 at 8:28 am
Man, you guys are great, the CoCo1 was the first computer I ever owned, and I will be 69 in november.
I wish I could get something like the Orchestra90 cartridge that went with the CoCo1 for my HP Pavilion.
September 18th, 2007 at 9:53 am
Hehe. That was classic, Zoy. But it was actually Milliken ValuMaster Pro Beige, and it was 13 years old at the time. But the room saw low use for about eight years, so your estimate would otherwise be correct. 🙂
September 18th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
I see that monitor…Commodore Video. Mine still works! I used to
have it as my apple ][+ monitor….