My first dabblings into the computer world were back in the 1980s. We had Commodore PETs at my high school, and while I was there we got a Commodore VIC-20, which was a blast because it was in colour and had a real joystick port! (No more hammering the A key playing Space Invaders!)
The summer after I finished high school, I got a Commodore 64 as my first computer at home. I had a great time with it. I got rid of it a couple of years later when I needed some money.
Of course, nowadays this stuff is given away and the really cool bits are generally affordable, so I've reaccumulated some of the stuff I had and gotten some of the stuff I wish I had had at the time. I don't use it every day but I like having it.
Today I decided to play with it. I have a Commodore 128 with three 5.25" floppy drives (two 1571 drives which store 340K and a 1541-II which stores 170K), and a 3.5" floppy drive (1581, which stores 800K). This would have been an awesome system in 1985. :) Today, it's fun but there are certainly some annoyances. For example, a task that we take for granted on modern computers, file copying, requires an external utility on the C128!
Despite these quirks, I miss the 8-bit days. The simplicity of the hardware made the experience more fun. The games are simpler too! (Who needs a manual? Just grab a joystick!)
I have several hundred floppy disks to go through, just full of games and productivity software... so I will be able to keep busy for awhile.
If Commodores interest you, a great website is Lemon 64. If you have an IRC client, the channel #c64friends at irc.eskimo.com is enjoyable, too. There is a regular chat there every Saturday night (North American time) but impromptu chats break out. Stop on by!