CompUSA Newspaper Ads from 1999: Maximum Computery Nostalgia
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Date: 2023-09-08
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Comments and reviews: 20
imtekcs
I grew up In Elmhurst. Still glad to see that they still have community events. It's not just Elmhurst but the whole Chicagoland area is big on community events. As far as Elmhurst, the closest CompuUSA location was Downers Grove/Lombard. They moved from Butterfield and Finley to Butterfield and Highland to a new store location. Unfortunately they didn't last long after that. Their first location is a Brazilian steakhouse and their last location in Lombard is Dicks Sporting Goods. For the area, ElekTek and CompUSA were the got to computer stores. Then later Best Buy, Fry's, Microcenter. Best buy is not so much an enthusiast store like the others. Not to mention there was a PC King in Westmont not far from Microcenter. There were a few mom and pop locations around Chicago. Not mention for a short time we had a RadioShack Computer City in Oak Brook. That didn't last long either. And later on just like Tiger Direct stores I. Chicago didn't last long either.
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I grew up In Elmhurst. Still glad to see that they still have community events. It's not just Elmhurst but the whole Chicagoland area is big on community events. As far as Elmhurst, the closest CompuUSA location was Downers Grove/Lombard. They moved from Butterfield and Finley to Butterfield and Highland to a new store location. Unfortunately they didn't last long after that. Their first location is a Brazilian steakhouse and their last location in Lombard is Dicks Sporting Goods. For the area, ElekTek and CompUSA were the got to computer stores. Then later Best Buy, Fry's, Microcenter. Best buy is not so much an enthusiast store like the others. Not to mention there was a PC King in Westmont not far from Microcenter. There were a few mom and pop locations around Chicago. Not mention for a short time we had a RadioShack Computer City in Oak Brook. That didn't last long either. And later on just like Tiger Direct stores I. Chicago didn't last long either.
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CJ
I worked at CompUSA in the early 2000s. When these flyers came out, I always had to look through it to see which items had rebates without having to send in the barcode because we had people that would come in near the end of the 14 days, say they lost the receipt and try to refund the items after sending in for rebates. Had one guy that would try to do it even if the barcode was cut out of the box. : Best customer that knew how to game the system, would get high end graphic cards, buy the replacement plan, overclock them, bring them back, get it replaced under the plan, buy plan on the new one. So he was paying like 40 bucks for 400 dollar cards and I was meeting my quota of selling replacement plans out of the customer service corral.
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I worked at CompUSA in the early 2000s. When these flyers came out, I always had to look through it to see which items had rebates without having to send in the barcode because we had people that would come in near the end of the 14 days, say they lost the receipt and try to refund the items after sending in for rebates. Had one guy that would try to do it even if the barcode was cut out of the box. : Best customer that knew how to game the system, would get high end graphic cards, buy the replacement plan, overclock them, bring them back, get it replaced under the plan, buy plan on the new one. So he was paying like 40 bucks for 400 dollar cards and I was meeting my quota of selling replacement plans out of the customer service corral.
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fanjoy
I absolutely love this. I often pause in your other videos when you show what the featured device would've cost in its day, showing a whole ad page. Thanks, man.
4: 41 THIS, the 400MHz K6-2 Compaq in the picture, is how I played the Sims and Rollercoaster Tycoon and yes SC3K, and learned the wonderful Yamaha XG MIDI wavetable (included) which helped define me musically. Mom was nice to let me use her computer all the time.
She knew computers (programmer since '82) and kid me just knew '400MHz' was a good thing lol. Maybe i can still find that thing.
Edit: 10: 46 Didn't expect to see this! Hauppauge is where I grew up! Thank you for pronouncing it right lol
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I absolutely love this. I often pause in your other videos when you show what the featured device would've cost in its day, showing a whole ad page. Thanks, man.
4: 41 THIS, the 400MHz K6-2 Compaq in the picture, is how I played the Sims and Rollercoaster Tycoon and yes SC3K, and learned the wonderful Yamaha XG MIDI wavetable (included) which helped define me musically. Mom was nice to let me use her computer all the time.
She knew computers (programmer since '82) and kid me just knew '400MHz' was a good thing lol. Maybe i can still find that thing.
Edit: 10: 46 Didn't expect to see this! Hauppauge is where I grew up! Thank you for pronouncing it right lol
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Ngamer834
I remember back in the day a Pentium 1 based PC was my first computer. Those memories of going into MSDOS from windows 95 to play games like Quake, Doom, duke nukem amongst others. Then those popular windows games like Need for speed 2, Little big adventure, theme hospital, Earth siege 2. I really wanted a 3DFX card when they came out but my kid pocket money wouldn't cover it lol. Computers were a luxury item back then and owning one at the time was exciting. I remember my first Job whilst at college and saving for a AMD 1Ghz PC. I remember all the hype when processors hit 1Ghz.
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I remember back in the day a Pentium 1 based PC was my first computer. Those memories of going into MSDOS from windows 95 to play games like Quake, Doom, duke nukem amongst others. Then those popular windows games like Need for speed 2, Little big adventure, theme hospital, Earth siege 2. I really wanted a 3DFX card when they came out but my kid pocket money wouldn't cover it lol. Computers were a luxury item back then and owning one at the time was exciting. I remember my first Job whilst at college and saving for a AMD 1Ghz PC. I remember all the hype when processors hit 1Ghz.
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Mike
I had 2 of those Kingston tough pad. I not sure where I got them or if I still have them. I use the software that come with that touch pad for it's on screen keyboard because Windows 95 didn't come with a on screen keyboard. Was the Kingston touch pad good, not really.
Norton at that time was easy to get free antivirus update. Just download the update file, uncompressed it, and place the update into the update folder. You then tell Norton antivirus program to do a update. That it. I'm not sure if it would work on newer version of Norton antivirus program.
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I had 2 of those Kingston tough pad. I not sure where I got them or if I still have them. I use the software that come with that touch pad for it's on screen keyboard because Windows 95 didn't come with a on screen keyboard. Was the Kingston touch pad good, not really.
Norton at that time was easy to get free antivirus update. Just download the update file, uncompressed it, and place the update into the update folder. You then tell Norton antivirus program to do a update. That it. I'm not sure if it would work on newer version of Norton antivirus program.
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t3hbeowulf
Back in 1991, my parents bought a CompUSA pre-built 486 PC that was branded CompuDyne.
I loved pouring through these ads. Pancakes for breakfast, Funnies section and CompUSA+Circuit City ads was basically my Sunday morning for years. So much nostalgia seeing these again.
In 1999, I built my own first PC: a Pentium II-400MHz, 128MB RAM, Diamond Viper V770 Ultra, 6. 4GB HDD (from CompUSA, ZIP drive, LS-120 Drive (free after MIR from CompUSA) and a 32x CD-ROM.
I love that system, still have most of the parts from that build too.
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Back in 1991, my parents bought a CompUSA pre-built 486 PC that was branded CompuDyne.
I loved pouring through these ads. Pancakes for breakfast, Funnies section and CompUSA+Circuit City ads was basically my Sunday morning for years. So much nostalgia seeing these again.
In 1999, I built my own first PC: a Pentium II-400MHz, 128MB RAM, Diamond Viper V770 Ultra, 6. 4GB HDD (from CompUSA, ZIP drive, LS-120 Drive (free after MIR from CompUSA) and a 32x CD-ROM.
I love that system, still have most of the parts from that build too.
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RetroGaming
Man this really brings me back memories bro. I mean been a kid in the 90's was magical I can remember getting all this computer magazine and been mesmerized by it, especially the at the time brand new iMac G3 I thought was the coolest computer do to it's style all in color case which reminds me of my Jungle Green N64 because of the different colors were available. Of course I really enjoy seeing the new hardware coming up mostly Windows 98 Pc from Compaq, Hp and Gateway. Man I can go on but yeah those were the times.
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Man this really brings me back memories bro. I mean been a kid in the 90's was magical I can remember getting all this computer magazine and been mesmerized by it, especially the at the time brand new iMac G3 I thought was the coolest computer do to it's style all in color case which reminds me of my Jungle Green N64 because of the different colors were available. Of course I really enjoy seeing the new hardware coming up mostly Windows 98 Pc from Compaq, Hp and Gateway. Man I can go on but yeah those were the times.
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Boomhauer69
I'm From Michigan LGR I know th Grand Rapids 28 street CompUSA Location that store ad flyer with iMac would came in are local Newspapers called the Grand Rapids Press. The CompUSA store In Grand Rapids 28 street was converted to a Circuit City when CompUSA went out. Currently right now building is occupied by a fireworks store during the Fourth July. still looks like it did when Circuit city occupied the building. I remember going there in 90s and 2000s when it was both a few timesl
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I'm From Michigan LGR I know th Grand Rapids 28 street CompUSA Location that store ad flyer with iMac would came in are local Newspapers called the Grand Rapids Press. The CompUSA store In Grand Rapids 28 street was converted to a Circuit City when CompUSA went out. Currently right now building is occupied by a fireworks store during the Fourth July. still looks like it did when Circuit city occupied the building. I remember going there in 90s and 2000s when it was both a few timesl
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Nicholas
After the Franklin Rax 5000 Franklin sold the IP to Xircom. I just changed the batteries in my Xircom Rex 6000 that s been up & running, non stop since 2000. That s 23 years in service, non stop. It still works just fine I have an app app (so to speak) called Adder so I have more apps installed than the UI can manage & with 2MB RAM/Storage I m still using just 1% of the available storage after 23 years! Oh & one pair of CR2016 button cells last approximately a year, seriously. LGR
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After the Franklin Rax 5000 Franklin sold the IP to Xircom. I just changed the batteries in my Xircom Rex 6000 that s been up & running, non stop since 2000. That s 23 years in service, non stop. It still works just fine I have an app app (so to speak) called Adder so I have more apps installed than the UI can manage & with 2MB RAM/Storage I m still using just 1% of the available storage after 23 years! Oh & one pair of CR2016 button cells last approximately a year, seriously. LGR
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PoisonJam
I ll never understand how the Y2K bug stuff was ever allowed to get so out of control. Like, where were all the IT professionals, programmers, system designers etc, who would ve known that there was no catastrophic bug?
It s so ridiculous to me how anybody could think there was some extinction level event for computers just because the date is changing. But hey, how else would all those scamming companies make money selling their solutions to a problem that didn t exist?
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I ll never understand how the Y2K bug stuff was ever allowed to get so out of control. Like, where were all the IT professionals, programmers, system designers etc, who would ve known that there was no catastrophic bug?
It s so ridiculous to me how anybody could think there was some extinction level event for computers just because the date is changing. But hey, how else would all those scamming companies make money selling their solutions to a problem that didn t exist?
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lifewhydoyoumockme
This is nostalgia bait for me. 1998 was when I built my first computer that was just mine, not shared with my family. It was also the year we first got wireless LAN I think. We had a Wavelan access point which was basically just an Orinoco gold card attached to a microcontroller, the same hardware Apple later rebadged for their first aiport. It was neat because it had a 56K modem built in so everyone in the house could share the internet connection.
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This is nostalgia bait for me. 1998 was when I built my first computer that was just mine, not shared with my family. It was also the year we first got wireless LAN I think. We had a Wavelan access point which was basically just an Orinoco gold card attached to a microcontroller, the same hardware Apple later rebadged for their first aiport. It was neat because it had a 56K modem built in so everyone in the house could share the internet connection.
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Standard
I worked in the Tech Shop at CompUSA Store 288 in NJ in 1999. I had a great time working there for a few years and got a lot of experience working on so many PCs. I used to dream about getting the type of IT job I've had for the last several years. BTW those CompUSA custom builds weren't made in the stores. They were ordered and shipped from their main tech shop in TX. I think it was a third party company called GSS but I don't quite remember anymore.
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I worked in the Tech Shop at CompUSA Store 288 in NJ in 1999. I had a great time working there for a few years and got a lot of experience working on so many PCs. I used to dream about getting the type of IT job I've had for the last several years. BTW those CompUSA custom builds weren't made in the stores. They were ordered and shipped from their main tech shop in TX. I think it was a third party company called GSS but I don't quite remember anymore.
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Blackadder75
This is such an interesting time period for me. It's my dry computer era. In the early to mid nineties I was a student with a relative good disposable income and few responsibilities so i could buy top end PC's every 2-3 years. But around 1999 I was working and although my income was higher, i also had 0 money for Pc's because other things in life took priority. so from about 1998 till 2004 I mostly went with 2nd hand or free stuff
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This is such an interesting time period for me. It's my dry computer era. In the early to mid nineties I was a student with a relative good disposable income and few responsibilities so i could buy top end PC's every 2-3 years. But around 1999 I was working and although my income was higher, i also had 0 money for Pc's because other things in life took priority. so from about 1998 till 2004 I mostly went with 2nd hand or free stuff
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Lauri3000
On wow the 799, 97 Compaq is the exact same model I bought as my first new computer, with my first student loan. I think I paid like. eight thousand marks or something. Four gigabytes of HDD space was miserable even then. e: Well damn, the sole IBM is the model my dad got. Those Infinity speakers were really good - I still use them. And the monitor is the only CRT VDU I kept, sadly. (I'm not sad I kept it, I'm sad I recycled the rest)
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On wow the 799, 97 Compaq is the exact same model I bought as my first new computer, with my first student loan. I think I paid like. eight thousand marks or something. Four gigabytes of HDD space was miserable even then. e: Well damn, the sole IBM is the model my dad got. Those Infinity speakers were really good - I still use them. And the monitor is the only CRT VDU I kept, sadly. (I'm not sad I kept it, I'm sad I recycled the rest)
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banpeinet
My mom actually has that exact Compaq k2 266 including that screen and those fancy speakers. The machine was okay, except for the really slow Quantum Fireball 5 1/4 harddisk. It would take at least a minute to start up windows 98
I really enjoy these types of videos. I was ahead of you a few years, but as a student I didn't have any money either to spend on high end stuff. So for me it was budget and diy builds galore.
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My mom actually has that exact Compaq k2 266 including that screen and those fancy speakers. The machine was okay, except for the really slow Quantum Fireball 5 1/4 harddisk. It would take at least a minute to start up windows 98
I really enjoy these types of videos. I was ahead of you a few years, but as a student I didn't have any money either to spend on high end stuff. So for me it was budget and diy builds galore.
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ZipplyZane
I remember getting a 750Mhz PIII around this time. There were AMD systems (or some other non-Intel) that were above 1 GHz, but the salesman convinced us that they were less reliable. I still wonder if that was true, or if they were just cheaper and he got less commission for them.
I guess PIIIs came out later that year and doibled the clockspeed. It seems weird that they're pushing PIIs for the price of my PIII.
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I remember getting a 750Mhz PIII around this time. There were AMD systems (or some other non-Intel) that were above 1 GHz, but the salesman convinced us that they were less reliable. I still wonder if that was true, or if they were just cheaper and he got less commission for them.
I guess PIIIs came out later that year and doibled the clockspeed. It seems weird that they're pushing PIIs for the price of my PIII.
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TheOtherBill
You're using the term laptop when referring to notebook computers. Note how the manufacturers specifically called them notebooks and not laptops. At the time laptop was replacing luggable but notebooks were a special breed of nominally 8. 5x11 computers that you could easily fit in a briefcase. You often paid more for the smaller ones. The term eventually faded as demand for bigger screens drove them out of favor.
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You're using the term laptop when referring to notebook computers. Note how the manufacturers specifically called them notebooks and not laptops. At the time laptop was replacing luggable but notebooks were a special breed of nominally 8. 5x11 computers that you could easily fit in a briefcase. You often paid more for the smaller ones. The term eventually faded as demand for bigger screens drove them out of favor.
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Chumba
One of my passions is Apple PowerPC era machines, I have several from the exact same era of these CompUSA adds. On the Apple PPC side, you can track the pricing of systems, based upon similar Mhz CPU speed. Except the special one-off designs from Apple during this time period (i. e. Lampshade, Cube) you can simply take the WinTel price - add 500 - and get the Apple system price for similar speed/configured systems!
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One of my passions is Apple PowerPC era machines, I have several from the exact same era of these CompUSA adds. On the Apple PPC side, you can track the pricing of systems, based upon similar Mhz CPU speed. Except the special one-off designs from Apple during this time period (i. e. Lampshade, Cube) you can simply take the WinTel price - add 500 - and get the Apple system price for similar speed/configured systems!
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98Zai
Every time I see one of these ads for a tower PC from the late 90s, I am THROWN back into 12 year old me being so so hyped to get my first PC. I remember cutting the ad out and just looking at it for hours while it was shipping, which took a week. Longest week I've experienced.
I don't think I've been so excited about anything since, and probably never will again. I'm glad I got to have that once in my life.
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Every time I see one of these ads for a tower PC from the late 90s, I am THROWN back into 12 year old me being so so hyped to get my first PC. I remember cutting the ad out and just looking at it for hours while it was shipping, which took a week. Longest week I've experienced.
I don't think I've been so excited about anything since, and probably never will again. I'm glad I got to have that once in my life.
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The
I was being introduced to computers in 1999 as a young kid on my parents Compaq Presario 4712. Going online and web surfing was a magical experience for a young kid in the 90s. Such great nostalgic memories.
To me the 90s and the 2000s was the era wild west of tech. There was always something new around the corner and existing tech was evolving and becoming more affordable. What an amazing time to live in.
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I was being introduced to computers in 1999 as a young kid on my parents Compaq Presario 4712. Going online and web surfing was a magical experience for a young kid in the 90s. Such great nostalgic memories.
To me the 90s and the 2000s was the era wild west of tech. There was always something new around the corner and existing tech was evolving and becoming more affordable. What an amazing time to live in.
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