10 Worst Desktop Computers of All Time!

LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciersEagle River, Alaska Icrontian
edited April 2007 in Hardware
The Ten Worst desktops of all time! This article is quite funny, in my opinion, as well as informative. A slice of tech history, while revealing disasters along the way in the last 25 years.
Misery, heartbreak, sorrow, and despair. No, I'm not talking about adolescence; I'm referring to what happens when you're stuck with a PC from Hell. Systems that were overpriced and underpowered, parts that failed two days after the warranty expired, marathon phone calls with brain-dead tech support staff--over the years we've suffered more than our share of ills, and so have millions of other innocent PC users.
I kept looking for my first computer, thinking to myself that surely it had to be one of the worst ever. Surely enough, it was #1! Yay, go me.

Read the article. Give a concurrence or disagree. Add your own horror story. What PC new ideas out today might go down in the future as an embarrassment? This could be a fun thread, not unlike a good horror movie.

Comments

  • edited March 2007
    Interesting read, thanks Leo. Unfortunately (actually fortunately) I have not touched any of those computers. The first and last PC I bought was a Commodore PC-1 with a mighty 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 processor and 512 KB memory. I had upgraded even that one with a NEC 8088 model processor which was socket compatible and supposedly faster. I still keep the Intel 8088 as a precious antique. I used that computer several years and after that always built computers myself, starting with a 486-DX2, K5-133, K6-350 .....

    Commodore PC-1 is a very rare thing, here is a picture I found on the net.
  • mas0nmas0n howdy Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    <i>Unlike the dolls, the Barbie PC did not feature a string that caused it to say "Math is hard" when you pulled it.</i>

    I just about wet myself
  • MrBillMrBill Missouri Member
    edited March 2007
    And odds are good that if you bought a new Packard Bell system in 1994 or 1995, at least some of its components had been previously owned.
    That's the time frame in which I bought my first computer - a Packard Bell 286-12. I thought it was actually a great computer with it's 1mb of ram (upgradeable to 4mb) and 40mb hard drive. If I remember correctly, I bought it at WalMart. :)
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    And odds are good that if you bought a new Packard Bell system in 1994 or 1995, at least some of its components had been previously owned.
    My computers now are all composed of about 50% used components, but those parts are all hand-selected from trusted sources. Today's cheapest computers (quality and price) are better quality than some of the garbage sold in the mid-90's. Yes, I purchased my first computer in 1995. It was a Packard Bell. The first hard drive died three months after purchase. The second, the replacement HDD, died a few weeks after installation. Within one year after purchase of the computer, the onboard video, sound card, and finally the motherboard itself all died. At that time, I determined that Packard Bell was a crime against humanity. It seems the PC World article validates what I had thought. That was the last branded computer (well, at least desktop PC) that I bought. Oh yes, I should say, that POS was $2300, 1995 dollars. That would be about $3500 in today's money. Ripoffs today? Well, perhaps, but nothing compared to just a few years back.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2007
    Computer repair technicians the world over are still mourning the demise of Packard-Bell. What a cash cow that was... :(
  • DogSoldierDogSoldier The heart of radical Amish country..
    edited March 2007
    I gasped when I saw the Coleco Adam rated as the third worst. This was my familys first computer and I loved it. More for it's ability to play Zaxxon than anything else. I learned basic and wrote my first program with it, a lil program that printed raffle tickets and incremented the numbers as they printed. I don't remember experiencing any problems with the Adam, but it was a long time ago.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    oh how I loved Zaxxon.... That game was ahead of its time (it had a BOSS? gasp!)
  • ronboronbo Connecticut
    edited March 2007
    How about an early Tandy?

    Or better yet , a Mac from Steve himself.....
  • MissilemanMissileman Orlando, Florida Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    The scary part of that article was I owned everyone of them except the Barbie, and the 2 E-machines.

    Yes some of them were very bad, but some of them were much better than expected considering the time.

    I do still hate apple to this day from past experience with several of their models.

    Time sure does fly when you are teching along.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    Time sure does fly when you are teching along.
    Maybe for you. I'm still haunted by my '95 Packard Hell, in which a compent died every three weeks.
  • JokkeJokke Bergen, Norway Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    I'm sure we can all agree on Dell Dimension 4600. My mother bought one when it came, and it has been nothing but trouble!
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    Never worked with a Dell consumer desktop - Dimension. I've been using Dell Octiplexes for years. They are slugs performance-wise, but as far as quality and reliability goes, they are rock solid. As much as I dislike them for speed and power, I very much would recommend them for reliability and long service life.
  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian
    edited April 2007
    I remember the candy store around the corner had Zaxxon and Dig Dug. I sucked at Zaxxon. The weird 3D view screwed me up. I rocked Dig Dug though.
Sign In or Register to comment.