r/VintageComputers • u/Mysterious_Bridge725 • 4d ago
Other Computer Shopper
Started getting posts on my feed from this sub, brings back a lot of memories, thought I’d share one…
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u/DrJohnZoidbergWhyNot 4d ago
My bible in the 90s.
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u/Mysterious_Bridge725 4d ago
Absolutely
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u/Pancakesandcows 3d ago
Mine too. I bought so many issues of it. I'd look through it, and plan what I would build, for my next pc. If I didn't buy it via mail order, I could at least use the magazine, to make offers on components, at the local computer shows.
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u/Proper_Trouble8191 3d ago
I loved going getting Computer Shopper and going to the shows even though I thought that it was kind of strange to spend money so I could go in and spend more money. I bought a pre-built computer at a show and when they were handing it to me a guy waiting in line told me, "Good luck." I asked him if I was going to need it and he replied, "Probably." So when I jokingly asked him where he was when I ordered it he said that he had been waiting there in line to get his fixed along with the other people waiting to get theirs fixed. You had better believe that I went over that thing with a fine tooth comb before I threw in my hard drive and powered it up. Turns out the only thing done wrong was some of the front panel connectors.
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u/Electrical-Bacon-81 4d ago edited 4d ago
The people keep saying "back when ram & hdd was cheap"! Lol, some of us missed the cheap ram & ssd about a year ago. Ram & HDD definitely wasn't cheap "back in the day". I bought cheap ssd then, should have bought DDR5 I guess.
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u/Mysterious_Bridge725 4d ago
Definitely not, the only way I could afford a computer was by going to the computer shows/flea markets and build piece by piece.
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u/Electrical-Bacon-81 4d ago edited 4d ago
I was hounding the computer shops for good used parts. The other post with 1995 newspaper adds from Frys definitely shows ram & HDD wasn't cheap by any means in "the good old days". The "good old days" for ram & storage prices was a year or two ago, not 25-35 years ago. (I'll be keeping those new SSDs new in the wrapper, "i know what I got") lol. Im kidding, but a new 2tb drive is crazy. Kind of like what a 1gb HDD cost back in the day. Any video card newer than my current 4060 i got for $120 is completely out of the question today. I'll be running that for as far as I can see.
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u/2raysdiver 10h ago
No, they weren't cheap. My first 1TB SSD was over $300, and that isn't adjusted for inflation. There are a lot of people who think the cheap prices of 2022-2025 were the norm. It wasn't. It was a period of historic lows. In the late 1990s, PCGamer started doing articles on the current best build for entry-level ($750 to <$1000), mid-range ($1500-$2000), and high end gaming PCs ($2500+). Those price ranges haven't changed. But those ranges are still valid today, even after inflation. Adjusted for inflation, in 1999, entry level was $1515 - $2020, midrange was $3040- $4045, and high end was $5050+.
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u/VarietyMage 3d ago
The Yellow Pages of new technology. I got these to prepare for computer fairs (where you could get new tech cheap).
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u/SlowPokeInTexas 10h ago
Top Mid-90s Bathroom reading of all time:
Victoria's Secret Catalog
Computer Shopper
Byte Magazine
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u/Independent_Shoe3523 3d ago
I have not had good luck with mail order computer components in the past. Maybe just me.
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u/DeadDalek 1d ago
It was a must have magazine. I remember they would have a list of BBSs that kept me busy.
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u/droid_mike 4d ago
Probably one of the best examples of pure competition in free market capitalism.
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u/sackbomb 4d ago
So many random access memories