What, IN YOUR OPINION is the BEST looking "classic computer"?

[- Ω -]

"Back in the day", (late 70's to late 80's), when consumer grade computers all had a little more effort put into styling to differentiate themselves from the next brand or model, what do you consider THE BEST LOOKING COMPUTER OF THE ERA?

[RadioPoultry]

Hard to beat the Commodore PET, in my opinion.

 

[RickR]

The Atari 400 makes me happy every time I see it. 

 

[- Ω -]

I've never owned one, but the Atari 1200XL has always looked sexy (at least to me).

[RickR]

YES!  I love the 1200XL too.  Over time, I think my favorite of the XL line  has become the 600XL, which takes the 1200XL sexiness and  puts into a tiny package.

[nosweargamer]

I'll split the difference and say the 800 XL, lol. Too me, the 600 is too small and the 1200 is too big. 
And no, my name isn't Goldilocks! 😅

Edited April 4, 2021 by nosweargamer

[HDN]

I don’t know. I might have to go with the VIC-20.

[HDN]

I’m serious, @- Ω -! I love the design of the VIC!

[RadioPoultry]

My brother used to have a Commodore Plus/4. I thought I it was pretty cool looking back then:

[- Ω -]

1 hour ago, RadioPoultry said:

My brother used to have a Commodore Plus/4. I thought I it was pretty cool looking back then:

I'm curious, those rubber looking function keys and arrows, how do they hold up?  Are there real switches underneath or is it a membrane?

[RadioPoultry]

1 hour ago, - Ω - said:

I'm curious, those rubber looking function keys and arrows, how do they hold up?  Are there real switches underneath or is it a membrane?

I'm thinking it was membrane, but it was way too long ago for me to be sure. It was definitely on the cheaper side of things as a whole. I do like the color scheme.

[RickR]

12 hours ago, HDN said:

I don’t know. I might have to go with the VIC-20.

I absolutely LOVED my VIC-20 and the way it looked.  When my friends got their Commodore 64, I was pretty appalled that they chose that brown color for the case.  Not a fan.  

[MaximumRD]

Guess I will weigh in for what it's worth. Admittedly, I am very biased with my choice. Now, I would later come to own pretty much most of the "keyboard style all in one" machines, your ST's, Commodore 64 etc. As well later an AMIGA 500 and eventually Amiga 1200 (no of which I currently own sadly) but the one machine that I never owned because when it debuted it was quite expensive and of course would later be succeeded by a lower consumer cost friendly keyboard style follow up the Amiga 500 but I always regretted never owning at any time, the original amazing machine that introduced the world to the Commodore AMIGA, I am speaking of course of the original Commodore AMIGA 1000. This is my personal pick for classic machine beauty. 😃 

That said, I always thought the C16 was a much better looking machine then the classic "breadbin" C64 though sadly it failed to make any impact, at least here in Canada from what I recall, I don't think I had even seen one in person back in the day but I preferred the colors chosen over the c64. 

 

[AtariSphinx]

On 4/3/2021 at 2:50 PM, - Ω - said:

I've never owned one, but the Atari 1200XL has always looked sexy (at least to me).

Agreed.  Had one as a kid and loved how it looked then and still do now.  Recently acquired an 800xl and like the smaller footprint yet similar design style. 

[- Ω -]

On 4/3/2021 at 2:30 PM, RadioPoultry said:

Hard to beat the Commodore PET, in my opinion.

 

 

Yeah, this one is really nice looking...

 

 

 

[wyerd]

“Black Beauty”. The Memotech MTX500/512

 

 

[wyerd]

[RickR]

Just now, wyerd said:

“Black Beauty”. The Memotech MTX500/512

 

 

I'm not familiar with this one, but it is indeed pretty sharp looking.

 

[wyerd]

1 minute ago, RickR said:

I'm not familiar with this one, but it is indeed pretty sharp looking.

 

It featured in the movie “Weird Science”. Case was made of black anodised aluminium.

[socrates63]

So, I'm a fanboy -- the color and design of the Atari 800 and 800XL are very attractive and representative of the best in 70s and 80s aesthetics, respectively. They're my favorites. The VIC-20 and PET were also great, and they were the very first computers I interacted with in addition to my friend's dad's $99 Timex Sinclair 1000.

Having said that, I've long appreciated the design aesthetics of Apple computers and Apple's attempts to differentiate itself. The original Macintosh was a unique look. Their attempt to make a box more attractive was always appreciated. I nearly pulled the trigger on the Macintosh IIsi back in the early 90s, but as fate would have it, I ended up getting my very first PC instead (Northgate 386/33).

 

[- Ω -]

Looking at these old computers, I have to wonder, how did we ever get by with such small monitors?  Maybe because we were younger and had better eyesight?  Or maybe because we had no experience with anything else?

[Justin]

On 4/3/2021 at 5:50 PM, - Ω - said:

I've never owned one, but the Atari 1200XL has always looked sexy (at least to me).

I second this. The 1200XL was going to be my choice. Regan Cheng is a true talent who crafted a masterpiece. I loved Atari's wedge look during the Roy Nishi / Regan Cheng era. The 1200XL, the Atari 2700 RC VCS, the 5200, 7800 and so on. Inspired by the designs of Bang & Olufsen. Just beautiful. 

[Justin]

this was a classic look too 

[Atari 5200 Guy]

Best looking classic computer?  That's easy.

In 8th grade I had Keyboarding.  The model IBM electric typewriter I was assigned to had a similar design to the original 800. The original 800, IMO, just looks more appealing and inviting.  

When a piece of Electronics has curved corners over sharp corners it just seems more user friendly to me.  It tells me the designer took the end user's touch in mind.  Sharp edges hurt, rounded ones don't.  The 800 might be huge and heavy compared to other models but it is built like a tank. It has good quality and was powerful for its time.  It's also the only computer I've come across that has tons upon tons of literature to its inner workings.  I know other computers have books too but not on the scale as the Atari 8-bits got.

Edited February 19, 2022 by Atari 5200 Guy

[datafry]

1 hour ago, Atari 5200 Guy said:

Best looking classic computer?  That's easy.

In 8th grade I had Keyboarding.  The model IBM electric typewriter I was assigned to had a similar design to the original 800. The original 800, IMO, just looks more appealing and inviting.  

When a piece of Electronics has curved corners over sharp corners it just seems more user friendly to me.  It tells me the designer took the end user's touch in mind.  Sharp edges hurt, rounded ones don't.  The 800 might be huge and heavy compared to other models but it is built like a tank. It has good quality and was powerful for its time.  It's also the only computer I've come across that has tons upon tons of literature to its inner workings.  I know other computers have books too but not on the scale as the Atari 8-bits got.

The 800 was used in my keyboarding class.  I forget the software that we used at the time. But I remember trying to figure out how to put it in my backpack with out it being noticeable.   lol.