The idea for this thread mostly comes from wanting to answer this one with something that would actually be totally off topic, though it seems reasonable from the thread title:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...-very-first-PC

Actually, mine wasn't. The first computer I ever used was possibly a DEC System 10 (or maybe some 6800 based micros in the psych lab, but I never actually did more with those than be a subject of reaction tests).

The first computer I owned was a Grundy NewBrain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grundy_NewBrain, what I wanted was something that was capable of printing texts, and it turned out that though it was capable of generating an 80 column display on an ordinary b/w tv, the serial port it had wasn't what was needed for printing.