Why retro computing is easier than ever to get into
You remember the sound. The click of the power switch, the hum of the monitor warming up, the blue screen with its blinking cursor waiting for you to tell it what to do. Maybe it was a Commodore 64 in the den, an Apple II in the school library, an Atari hooked to the TV in your bedroom, or the Amiga a friend's older brother wouldn't let you touch. Whatever it was, you remember the feeling: that a whole universe lived inside that beige box, and it was yours to explore.
If you've caught yourself thinking about those days lately, you're not alone. Thousands of people who drifted away in the '80s and '90s are finding their way back, and what they're discovering is that the feeling never left. The games are still fun. The music still gets stuck in your head. Typing in a program and watching it run still feels like a small kind of magic. And there's a particular joy in sitting down with a machine that does one thing at a time, with no notifications, no updates, no accounts, just you and the cursor. And with the holidays coming, think about it: what would be better than unwrapping a true piece of your childhood under the Christmas tree this year?
Here's the first thing to know: you don't have to buy anything to find out. Not a new machine, not an old one. Every computer in this guide can run on the laptop or desktop you're reading this on, for free, in the next ten minutes.
Emulators are programs that behave exactly like the original hardware, down to the quirks. They're mature, actively maintained, and used by the same people who collect the real machines. Pick the one for the computer you remember:
VICE for the Commodore 64, 128, VIC-20, PET, and Plus/4 (Windows, Mac, Linux)
Altirra for the Atari 8-bit line (Windows)
AppleWin for the Apple II (Windows)
DOSBox for DOS-era PC games and software
MAME for arcade machines and dozens of home computers in one package
The Internet Archive's software library runs thousands of titles right in your browser with nothing to install
Install one, load a game you remember, and see how it feels. If it grabs you, the rest of this guide is about what comes next. The machines are affordable, the hard parts have been solved by a generation of clever hobbyists, and the community is larger and friendlier than it was in 1986.
A lot has changed for people who do want real hardware. You no longer need a working floppy drive, a box of disks, or a TV with an antenna input. Modern add-ons let a 40-year-old computer load software from an SD card, connect to Wi-Fi, and display on a flat-screen monitor. Brand-new hardware that behaves exactly like the originals is being manufactured again, including an officially licensed Commodore 64. And every program ever printed in a magazine, including this one, is a download away.
This guide is for someone starting from zero. It will help you pick a machine, decide whether to stay with an emulator or move to original hardware or a modern remake, figure out what to actually buy if you do, and know what to do the first weekend it's sitting on your desk.
Which retro computer should you start with?
The right first machine is the one you remember. Nostalgia is the engine here, and the computer you learned on will pull you in faster than the one with the best specs. If you don't have a strong memory of any particular machine, the Commodore 64 is the safest starting point: it has the largest software library, the most active community, the widest range of modern accessories, and new hardware in production.
| Machine | Why people love it | What to know going in |
|---|---|---|
| Commodore 64 / 128 | Biggest game library of the era, the SID sound chip, and a huge active scene. Type-in programs by the thousands. | Easiest to get into. Originals are plentiful; modern remakes exist. |
| Commodore VIC-20 | Simpler, cheaper, and the machine many of us had first. Great for learning BASIC. | Smaller library; memory expansion is nearly mandatory. |
| Apple II family | The school computer for a generation. Enormous educational and productivity catalog. | Originals cost more; the IIe is the sweet spot for price and compatibility. |
| Atari 400/800/XL/XE | Superb graphics and sound for its day, and a devoted community with excellent modern networking tools. | Several models with small compatibility differences; the 800XL is the usual pick. |
| Amiga 500 / 1200 | The 16-bit leap: thousands of colors, real multitasking, and the demoscene. | Original hardware is pricier and needs recapping; accelerators and modern upgrades are a hobby in themselves. |
| DOS PC (386/486) | Doom, Monkey Island, SimCity, and the shareware era. | The cheapest route is emulation; real hardware is bulky but still easy to find. |
| TRS-80 / Color Computer | RadioShack's machines have a loyal following and a strong BASIC heritage. | Smaller scene, but welcoming and well documented. |
| Everything else | TI-99/4A, ZX Spectrum, MSX, BBC Micro, Commodore PET and Plus/4, Atari ST, classic Macintosh, Tandy 1000, and dozens more. Each has a community that will be thrilled you showed up. | If one of these was your machine, start there; nostalgia beats popularity. Expect fewer modern accessories and a bit more research, but nearly all of them emulate well and are covered in the Gazette. |
Don't overthink it. Most people who start with one machine end up with three.
Original hardware vs. modern remakes vs. emulators
You have three ways in, and none of them is wrong. Many people use all three.
Original hardware is the real thing: the keyboard feel, the power-on chirp, the slightly fuzzy picture. It is also 40 years old. Expect to replace a power supply (the original C64 "brick" is famous for failing in a way that takes chips with it), and know that some machines need capacitors replaced before they're trustworthy. Prices for a working C64 generally run from the cost of a nice dinner to the cost of a cheap video game console, depending on condition and what's included. Amigas and Apple IIs cost more.
Modern remakes give you the original experience without the aging parts. The Commodore 64 Ultimate from the relaunched Commodore is a full-size machine with a real keyboard, HDMI output, Wi-Fi, and a socket for an original SID chip if you have one. The MiSTer FPGA platform recreates dozens of computers and consoles in one box. TheC64 and similar mini consoles are the cheapest way to get a shelf-ready machine that just works. Remakes are the best choice if you want to sit down and use the computer rather than maintain it.
Emulation is free and runs on whatever you already own. VICE handles every Commodore 8-bit; Altirra covers the Atari line; AppleWin and MicroM8 cover the Apple II; WinUAE and FS-UAE cover the Amiga; DOSBox covers the PC. Emulators are the best place to try a machine before you buy one, and the best place to test a program you're about to type in.
Our suggestion: start with an emulator this weekend, decide which machine makes you grin, then buy that one, original or remake.
What to buy for a Commodore 64 (or any retro computer)
If you go with original hardware, here is the minimum setup and the handful of modern parts that remove the old frustrations. Using a Commodore 64 as the example; the same categories apply to every machine.
| Item | Why | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The computer | Obviously | Buy "tested and working" from a reputable seller. Untested lots are a gamble for a beginner. |
| A modern power supply | The original C64 supply can fail and destroy the machine | Several small makers sell safe replacements. Do not run a 40-year-old supply. |
| A video cable or adapter | To get a picture on a modern screen | S-video to HDMI adapters work well for the C64. Some monitors accept composite directly. |
| A storage device | To load software without floppies | SD2IEC (inexpensive, loads most games and all your own programs), Pi1541 (nearly perfect 1541 compatibility), or 1541 Ultimate II+ (the premium option, also adds network access). |
| A joystick | Most games expect one | Original Atari-style sticks still work; new ones are made too. |
| A fast loader cartridge | Original disk loading was painfully slow | Optional, but a Jiffy or Epyx-style cartridge turns minute-long loads into seconds. |
What you don't need: an original disk drive, an original monitor, a datasette, or a box of floppies. Those are nice later. They are not required to start.
If you go with a Commodore 64 Ultimate, a MiSTer, or a mini console, the list shrinks to the box, a monitor, and a joystick.
Your first weekend with a retro computer
Once it's running, resist the urge to download 10,000 games and scroll through them. Do these instead.
Type something in. Turn it on and type
PRINT "HELLO"and press RETURN. Then10 PRINT "HELLO ";and20 GOTO 10andRUN. This is the whole reason these machines mattered: they booted straight into a programming language and invited you to make something. Thirty seconds in, you're a programmer again.Play the game you remember. Not the best game, the one you remember. Load it and see how much of the map, the music, and the controls are still in your fingers.
Type in a program from a magazine. Pick a short one, 30 or 40 lines. Make a typo, hunt it down, fix it, and run it. That loop of type, fail, debug, succeed is the thing people who grew up on these machines miss most, and it still works.
Save your work. Figure out how to save to your SD card or disk image and load it back. Now you have a workflow.
Find one thing you didn't know the machine could do. A demo, a music disk, a new game written this year. The scene never stopped, and the best things ever made for these computers were made in the last decade.
If you get through those five, you're not getting started anymore. You're in.
Where to find the retro computing community
The best part of coming back is that you're not alone this time. In 1985 you might have known two other kids with a C64. Today there are tens of thousands of people online who will answer a question in minutes.
In person. The Vintage Computer Festival runs shows around the country, including VCF East (New Jersey), VCF Midwest (Chicago area), VCF West (California), and VCF Southwest (Dallas). Go to one. You will see every machine in the table above running on a table, usually with the person who restored it standing behind it, happy to talk. Many cities also have a monthly user group or a retro meetup; search for your city plus "Commodore" or "vintage computer."
Online. Lemon64 and the Commodore forums for C64 people; AtariAge for Atari (and everything else); the English Amiga Board for Amiga; the Apple II subreddit and comp.sys.apple2 for Apple. The r/retrocomputing and r/c64 communities on Reddit are active and beginner-friendly. Discord servers exist for nearly every machine.
On video. YouTube is where most people rediscover the hobby. Channels like The 8-Bit Guy, LGR, Adrian's Digital Basement, Retro Recipes, 8-Bit Show and Tell, and Noel's Retro Lab cover repairs, history, and new releases, and they'll teach you more in an evening than a shelf of manuals.
Software and reading. The entire historical run of COMPUTE!'s Gazette, every issue from 1983 to 1995, is available free right here on computesgazette.com, along with the COMPUTE!'s Gazette Disks, the companion disks that shipped alongside the magazine, as ready-to-run disk images. Every type-in program ever printed, without the typing, if you'd rather skip it. If you want to relive the magazine you read as a kid, or type in the program you never finished, start there. Beyond that, the Internet Archive holds scanned manuals, magazines, and disk images for every machine listed here, CSDb catalogs the Commodore demoscene, and itch.io is full of new games written for old hardware.
Retro computing FAQ
Is retro computing expensive? It doesn't have to be. Emulators are free, mini consoles cost less than a new video game, and a working Commodore 64 with a modern power supply and SD card loader is usually a couple hundred dollars all in. Costs climb only if you chase rare machines or mint-condition boxes.
What's the best retro computer for beginners? The Commodore 64. It has the largest software library, the biggest community, the most modern accessories, and new hardware in production. If a different machine is the one you remember, start with that one instead.
Should I use an emulator or real hardware? Start with an emulator; it's free and takes ten minutes. Move to real hardware or a modern remake once you know which machine you want to spend time with. Most people end up using both.
Can old software still be found? Yes. The Internet Archive, CSDb, and sites like this one host disk images, manuals, and magazine scans for every major platform, and new games are still being released for these machines every month.
Do I need to know how to program? No. But these computers boot into BASIC and invite you to try, and typing in a short program from a magazine is still one of the best parts of the hobby.
A monthly guide for the trip back
The hardest part of coming back isn't the hardware. It's knowing what's going on: which new accessory is worth it, which game released this month is actually good, what the Commodore relaunch means, how to fix the thing that just stopped working. That's what a magazine was for in 1984, and it's what COMPUTE!'s Gazette is for now.
Every issue has type-in programs, hardware guides, interviews with the people building the scene, and a healthy dose of history, in print, delivered to your mailbox, the way you remember it. We cover every machine in this guide, not just Commodore.
Ready to buy something? Our Retro Shopper guide walks through the best modern hardware, replicas, and upgrades for every classic system, with the what and the where. It's the shopping list we wish we'd had when we came back, and it makes a very good hint to leave open on the kitchen counter in December.
Welcome back.