Which of these 1996 Computers would you buy?

This ad was from Best Buy that features 1996 computers, was posted online a few months ago. It really brought back a lot of memories. In 1996, I was lucky enough to have a 486 computer, but all of my serious computer friends had been talking about Pentiums since 1993.

As you can see, three years later, and the Pentium was still the hot chip in all 1996 Computers. This ad would have been something I would stare at while eating my breakfast cereal. This was fantasy material for me since most of these machines with their nearly $2000 plus price tag were well out of my reach.

When computers were advertised, they would put a price that would not include the monitor. Yet, they would display the monitor with some small text to tell you it was not included. This drove me nuts.

This ad’s prices include the whole caboodle. Except for the Mac, of course, you can see the disclaimer in the very tiny fine print.

So let’s take a look at these machines.

You have the 133MHz HP Pentium is a mere $1899.

For $100 more, you could pick up a Packard-Bell with a 133MHz HP Pentium.

If you had all the money in the world, you could really splurge and get yourself a Mac. It will cost you nearly $3000 with the monitor included, but that is the price you pay to own Apple products. Some things have not changed much.

Here is the full ad in all of its 1996 glory.