I've had a fair amount of equipment since starting with a 286 back in... possibly around 93/94, I think (we were quite slow to get on the ladder after the C-64). Also, we (myself and my siblings) did a fair amount of user modding after getting to the 486 stage.
Amongst the various early Pentiums we still have is also a Cyrix 5x86. I even found an old socket 3 board shortly before leaving London.

(Incidentally, if anyone needs hardware for dosboxes, let me know, I might have something, being a packrat ;o)

I'll see your PC's and raise you a ZX81 with Psion Flight Simulator.

That's fartoomany years ago...

Followed with a Spectrum (More Psion FS), then C64 (Acrojet, Sublogic Flight Sim, Gunship, F117) and Amiga (Falcon, Hawk, Flight of the Intruder).

Blue=Sky. Green=Land. Other Blue=Water. Random occasional white dots=ground features.

Nostalgia is not what it used to be.

Sorry to hog the limelight, but you've sent me into a nostalgia trip, so I thought I'd share a little of it.

Ace of aces wasn't actually what I was trying to remember, but actually Ace 2:

Ace 2 (Lemon Retro Store)

Turns out the original was apparently a lot better, but I have fond memories dogfighting with my brother on this for hours. Those of you who might have played this probably remember the theme, which was (in hindsight) part of what made it awesome;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7K42QZV2l64

Anyway, I'm going to spare you the rest of my doe-eyed waffling and get some sleep... after the track finishes.

I spent most of the 90s playing drums and most of my spending went to new cymbals, sticks, drumheads, etc. All of my gaming before 1998 was done on consoles. Then I bought a P3 800 GHz Gateway and some flight sim I can't remember the name of. The first thing it did when I tried to run it was lock up the PC. Turned out to be a driver conflict but thus began my journey into internet research to find out how to fix game problems.

Yup.

Add "The first thing you do when pulling a new video or sound card out of the box is check to see where the jumpers go - and then remember they don't have them" to the list.

Oh, and dip switches on MOBO's!

I KNOW some of you remember the Falcon 4 Install Dance.

At the end, you had to put a chicken in a bag and twirl if over your head yelling "Yes!" for three passes.

I'm not a grognard by any stretch.
I had my first computer ~1994 and I remember playing Falcon3 and X-COM: UFO DEFENSE on an old 486computer...wow, that is around 15 years ago and it feels like it was last year!
I think I used that rig for at least 4 years and picked up a Pentium 2 in 1998 or 1999.

Do you all remember when "Turbo" buttons were onthe early 286 computers. You could switch between 6 and 8 MHz (I think I remember that right ?). Some of the early games that were made for the 8066 would run too fast on the 286 in high speed so you had the Turbo button to switch speeds.

I remember spending extra and getting the 15" flat monitor rather than the 14 " curved.

Man, we were hot stuff back then weren't we ?

Sublogic's FS1.COM TRS-80

video resolution 128 x 48 (2 colours)

nuff said

But I also seem to recall a similar feature on my 486DX. Though at a different MHz speed

2 colors? wth?! lol

Look at my previous post, I had a 486DX2 66Mhz and it had a Turbo. It ran slower with it off naturally, sometimes I had to turn it off to play A-10 Tank killer properly so my joystick wouldn't act crazy.

I still have my first joystick, a CH 2-button Flightstick: http://www.ciao.com/CH_FlightStick_joystick__15438313

It still works! I replaced the pots on it only 3 years ago.

I remember playing F-15 on a friend's computer and being all confused - how could anyone remember so many keys (20 or so?) to do stuff.

Anyway... there are old simmers and there are bold simmers... but there are no old bold simmers.

Sigh. Looks like I belong to this category.
My first PC was an Apple ][e clone. Later on I bought the ][GS.
After that there was a dearth of games for the Apple so I went and bought a PC - a 286 iirc.

Some old sims I have played:
Microprose's F-15 Eagle
Silent Service

I definately belong in the old simmer category.

I remember my very first flight sim..Their Finest Hour:The Battle of Britain by Lucasarts

Other old sims I have played

Microprose's 1942 Pacific Air War
Chuck Yeagers Air Combat by Electronic Arts
Aegis Guardian of the Fleet by Software Sorcery
Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe by Lucasarts
Harpoon
Red Baron series

First Computer was a 386SX with 512 MB memory and a whopping 33Mhz CPU.I remember getting my first 5 or so MB hard drive and wondering how I was ever going to fill it up.

How about an ICBM JR with no hard drive?? Even pong was exciting to play.

That was my first computer, a 486 DX, 33MHz, with "Turbo" speed to 66MHz (around 1995 or so). It was what was called at the time a "clone" computer (i.e., not manufactured by IBM, HP, etc.). My dad and I were so excited - we had picked it up at a computer show held on the L.A. County Fairgrounds. We came home, set it up, and then both of us were sitting there, scratching our heads, wondering how to get Windows 3.1 to load up from the DOS prompt. I remember we tried all sorts of commands like:

-start windows
-windows start
-windows
-run windows

..etc... Finally, my dad called his sister, who was pretty computer savvy, and so she revealed to us the magic word: "Win!"

Not long afterwards, a co-worker of my dad's came over and introduced me to games like Aces of the Pacific. It's been all downhill ever since.

I remember experiencing something similar to what one might describe as a religious experience the first time I played a game in super VGA (640x480).

LOL! Well my PC experience started in SVGA! Does my Tandy Color Computer 2 count as pre SVGA days? Didn't play any sims on that one though.

I think at the time it was more a question of the game supporting SVGA. I bought my first PC in 1992 and the video card and monitor supported SVGA but at the time there were very few games that supported SVGA. I think the very first game I played that had SVGA was "V For Victory: Utah Beach". I believe my first SVGA flight sim was Aces Over Europe.