Processor: Z80 4MHz; RAM: 512Kb; Storage: 2 x 3" disc drives 160Kb/720Kb; OS: CP/M

This was probably my first ever encounter with a computer. My Dad bought it for word processing, I was about 5 years old. It also played games, most memorably the isometric games Batman and Head Over Heels. When writing lists for Father Christmas at school aged 5, the main thing I asked for was a "wobbly disk" for this computer.

Machine Room / old-computers.com

Processor: 6502 2MHz; RAM: 32Kb; Storage: 5¼" floppy disc (Opus DDOS) and tape; OS: MOS 1.2

This machine was my workhorse for many years. I learned to program on it using BBC BASIC. I wrote many programs of various types. It also played some good games.

Machine Room / old-computers.com

Processor: StrongARM 200MHz, 486SXL 33MHz; RAM: 64Mb + 1Mb VRAM; Storage: 4Gb harddisc, 3.5" floppy, CDROM; OS: RISC OS 3.70; IDEa expansion; Network: 10Mbit

For Christmas 1995 I was given this machine. At last I was able to retire the BBC after almost 10 years. This machine originally had an ARM 6 30MHz processor, 4Mb RAM + 1Mb VRAM and a 200Mb harddisc. It has had a fair amount of upgrades over the years. The 486 second processor allows it to run Windows 95 in a window. I continued to write BBC BASIC on this machine, although in BASIC 5 rather than BASIC 2, which is much better. I also learned to write programs for the RISC OS WIMP Desktop. I still occasionally use this computer, especially now that it is on my network.

Processor: 6502 2MHz; RAM: 32Kb; Storage: tape

I bought this little machine in a YMCA charity shop for £6 with a couple of games but no power supply. I has a slightly odd electrical requirement of 19V AC, so I built a supply by wiring the outputs of a 9V transformer in series to make 18V, which is near enough. It is basically a cut down BBC, but its brown formica top is quite funky.

Machine Room / old-computers.com

Processor: 6502 1MHz; RAM: 48Kb upgraded probably 64Kb; Storage: 2 x 5¼" floppy disc drives

I'm not too sure about the early history of this machine, but it's likely it spent a lot of time in Bangladesh. It was given to me by a good friend, and I'm pleased to say that it is still fully functional despite having been made the same year I was.

Machine Room / old-computers.com

Processor: Athlon XP 2400 2000MHz; RAM: 512Mb; Storage: 128Mb CompactFlash card, CD-RW, DVD-ROM; Graphics: NVidia GeForce4 MX440 64Mb; Monitor: Iiyama VMpro 452 19" Diamondtron; Network: 1000Mbit; OS: Debian GNU/Linux

This my current main Linux box. Its hardware configuration is subject to change fairly regularly, but the system running on it has been kakapo since early 2001. It has no local storage except for a Compact Flash card which contains the Grub bootloader and some Linux kernels. All disk access is over the network using NFS. This setup works nicely, the machine is very responsive.

Processor: ARM2 8Mhz; RAM: 2Mb; Storage: SCSI 40Mb harddisc, 3.5" floppy; OS: RISC OS 3

This was a donation from my old secondary school. Acorn's original ARM based system, this would have come with no harddisc, 1Mb RAM and Arthur OS, which was renowned for being extremely bug ridden and garish.

Machine Room / old-computers.com

Processor: ARM3 33Mhz; RAM: 4Mb; Storage: 80Mb harddisc, 3.5" floppy, external CDROM; OS: RISC OS 3

This was part of a batch of computers donated by my old primary school. This was, until the launch of the RiscPC, the flagship of Acorn's range. It has a number of features not found in other Acorns, like a fast ARM3 processor and a second floppy drive connector compatible with BBC drives. It was the first Acorn which could drive a standard VGA monitor.

Machine Room / old-computers.com

Processor: ARM250 12MHz; RAM: 2Mb; OS: RISC OS 3.1

Machine Room / old-computers.com

Processor: ARM2 8MHz; RAM: 2Mb; Storage: 3.5" floppy; OS: RISC OS 3

Machine Room / old-computers.com

Processor: 65C02; RAM: 128Kb; Storage: 5¼" floppy; Network: Econet

Machine Room / old-computers.com

Processor: Pentium Pro 180MHz; RAM: 96Mb; Storage: 1.6Gb harddisc, CDROM, 3.5" floppy; Network: 2 x 100Mbit; OS: IPCop Linux

This was my firewall. It is not currently in use.

Processor: 2 x SuperSPARC 50MHz; RAM: 256Mb; Storage: 2 x 1Gb SCSI harddiscs, CDROM; Network: 3 x 100Mbit; OS: Debian GNU/Linux 3

This is a cast off from University. When this model was released in March 1994, the base system with a single 50MHz processor, a 535Mb harddisc, 32Mb RAM and a 17" monitor cost $12,195 (byte.com). I put this machine on my network occasionally, but only occasionally because it is very noisy and gets extremely hot.

SunSolve

Processor: Pentium III 800MHz; RAM: 256Mb; Storage: 20Gb harddisc, DVD-ROM; OS: Debian GNU/Linux 3.0

My laptop, which I bought on eBay.

Processor: Duron 900MHz; RAM: 256Mb; Storage: 200Gb and 40Gb harddiscs; OS: Debian GNU/Linux 3.0

Most of the guts from kakapo plus a new 200Gb drive form this machine. It is my always on server, and contains the files for kakapo.