Retro Computers

My Journey Through Digital History

Welcome to the heart of my collection. To many, ”Retro Computers” are simply old machines, but to me, they represent the golden era of innovation, where every new microcomputer brought a revolution in how we work, play, and create.

My journey into the world of computing began in 1985, a pivotal year that saw the birth of legendary systems and the dawn of home computing as we know it. What started as a fascination has grown over the decades into a massive preservation project. Today, this collection features hundreds of unique vintage computers, ranging from early 8-bit pioneers and classic home consoles to the powerful workstations that shaped the modern world.

Each machine in this gallery tells a story of engineering ingenuity—from the clicky mechanical keyboards and the hum of floppy drives to the iconic glowing CRT monitors. Whether you are a lifelong enthusiast or a newcomer curious about the roots of technology, I invite you to explore these digital treasures.

Collection Highlights — Treasures from the Museum

Among the hundreds of machines in this collection, a number stand out as particularly rare or historically significant. The Telmac TMC-600 and TMC-600AS are Finland’s only domestically designed BASIC home computers, with fewer than 600 units ever produced — among the rarest surviving home computers in the world. The Telmac 1800 (1977) was Finland’s first computer kit and the platform on which Chesmac — one of the world’s first commercial video games — was developed. The Itumic Salkkumikro M6800 is an extraordinary 1970s Finnish briefcase computer that predates Nokia’s MikroMikko entirely.

Internationally significant pieces include the Apple Lisa 2, one of the first personal computers with a graphical user interface; the original Apple Macintosh 128K from 1984; the extremely rare Apple Macintosh Portable M5120 (Apple’s first laptop, 1989); and the Commodore MAX Machine, sold only in Japan and one of the rarest Commodore products in existence. The Commodore SX-64 was the world’s first colour portable computer, while the NeXT NeXTstation is the direct ancestor of macOS and the platform on which Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. The IBM ThinkPad 701CS ”Butterfly”, with its ingenious folding keyboard, is in the permanent collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art. The Pioneer Palcom PX-7 uniquely combined an MSX computer with a LaserDisc player in 1984. The Processor Technology SOL-20 (1976), designed by Lee Felsenstein, represents personal computing at its very beginning.

My retro computers in alphabetical order.