Readers' Choice: Best Tech Products PCW Missed

Apple LaserWriter

Any rational tech buff would affirm that the laser printer was one of the most important product categories in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

We chose one such printer--HP's workhorse LaserJet 4L, from 1993--for our list. But several people who read our story wondered why no similar recognition was extended to Apple's LaserWriter, which hit the market in 1985. This $7000 device wasn't the first mainstream laser printer--HP's first LaserJet shipped in 1984--but its use of an innovative page-rendering technology called PostScript, devised by an obscure company named Adobe, allowed the LaserWriter to produce by far the most professional-looking output of its era.

Atari 800

Atari advocates identified not one but two machines that they thought we should have lauded in our list. One was the Atari 800, which--to give us our due--we did celebrate last year as the 14th-best PC of all time. Among the 800's virtues (as pointed out by forum member Jmjohnson): It had advanced graphics, polyphonic sound, and multitasking; and it could handle awe-inspiring amounts of RAM via bank-switched memory. As for me, the first computer I ever bought with my own money was the much cheaper Atari 400--which had most of the 800's features but cut costs by including one of the worst keyboards in computer history.

Atari ST

Last year, this 1985 system (specifically, the 520ST) showed up among 25 PCs that we listed as runners-up to the Top 25 PCs in history. The ST line boasted a low price, plenty of memory, and a graphical user interface back when that wasn't a given. ST machines also had built-in MIDI ports, which made them a major hit with musicians. But our favorite thing about them was their nickname, which referenced Atari CEO Jack Tramiel: "the Jackintosh."

Commodore 64

When you dis Commodore loyalists, you hear from them in droves. They told us that the C64 should have been on our list of the top 50 tech products. The 1982 machine had a low price tag ($595) for its time and a whopping amount of RAM (64KB--hence the product's name). And with 30 million units sold over its 11-year production run, it ranks as one of the best-selling tech products in history. If you have one in your closet, you're not alone.