News

2021-06-05 12:22 A Load of Old Tosh

This update adds appearances of old Toshiba laptops. Amateur has a T1000SE and Darkman II: The Return of Durant a T4800C. Then there are two machines making their first appearance on the site: a Toshiba T3200 in Medicine Man and a Toshiba T2400CS in the "Bugs" episode Down Among the Dead Men.

2021-05-31 11:12 Assorted PCs

Here is a small collection of PCs. The Computer Games episode of "The Girl from Tomorrow" has an IBM PC XT and you can just about make out an IBM PS/2 in The Abyss. There's an Amstrad PC 2086 in The Full Monty. And finally there are two machines making their Starring-the-Computer debut: The Compaq Deskpro 4000 in Eagle vs Shark and the MSI Concerto III in The World Is Not Enough.

2021-05-24 00:31 Stranger Strings

Stranger Strings is a rather ropey Stranger Things spoof created for a Java conference, but it's full of Starring-the-Computer delights! There is an Atari Mega ST2, an IBM PC XT, a pair of IBM Portable Personal Computers and an Osborne 1. Additionally, two machines make their Starring-the-Computer debut: the ICL PERQ 1, and the Norsk Data Nord-10/S.

2021-05-16 15:18 Commodores and things

We'll start with a couple of Julian Assange biopics with Underground: The Julian Assange Story featuring an Apple Macintosh IIcx/IIci along with a Commodore 64 and Amiga 500, and The Fifth Estate having a shot of a Commodore 64C and a Starring-the-Computer debutante in the IBM Thinkpad T43. There is a Commodore Amiga 2000 (or its keyboard at least) in the "Tales from the Loop" episode Home, and a VIC-20 in the "Empty Nest" episode Ex-Appeal. Wonder Woman 1984 features the Commodore CBM-II and PET 2001 along with a Tandy TRS-80 Model 100, and Black Cat, White Cat also has a Commodore PET. Finally a pair of related Australian films: Future Past with an Apple MACINTOSH Plus, and Commodore 64 and Amiga 1000 and Computer Ghosts with an Apple Lisa, Commodore 128, Commodore 128D (making its first appearance) and Amiga 1000. Both of those also see the DEC PDP-11/20 making its debut appearance.

2021-05-09 14:10 Laptops, laptops, laptops

First up we have Mini's First Time which has has an Apple Powerbook G4 and the "Hawaii Five-0" episode Kuipeia E Ka Makani Apaa which has a Panasonic Toughbook. Then all of the following make their first appearance on the site: a Gateway Solo 2100 in Tomorrow Never Dies, a Toshiba Satellite A205 in Deadline, a Dell Inspiron E1505 in 1408, and finally a Dell Latitude C800 in The Italian Job.

2021-05-01 15:52 Robocops

The first Robocop has a fleeting glimpse of an AT&T PC 7300, and Robocop 2 has an AT&T PC 6300, an Olivetti M20 and, making its Starring-the-Computer debut, a Sun 3/60.

2021-04-17 12:16 Mr Robot

I'm sure there are some things I missed (please let me know if you can identify other computers), but here's the result of a recent Mr Robot marathon. From season 1, episode 5 has an important role for a Raspberry Pi and episode 9 has brief appearances for the IBM PS/2 Model 50/70 and two Starring-the-Computer debutantes - the Apple Power Macintosh 9500 and NEC PowerMate 433D. There's a Commodore 64 season 2, episode 11, and season 3, episode 19 has a Panasonic Toughbook. Then from season 4 there is an IBM PC in episode 3, an Apple Unibody iMac and, making their Starring-the-Computer debut, a number of Dell PowerEdge Rx2xs in episode 5. Episode 7 (and other episodes too, I think) has another debutante - the Razer Blade, episode 11 has an Apple IIe, and finally episode 12 has two Apples: the iMac G3 and Unibody iMac.

2021-04-04 14:57 Eight times 8-bit

Here are eight features including 8-bit computers: All the Money in the World and the "Young Sheldon" episode A House for Sale and Serious Woman Stuff both feature an Apple IIe, and Code of Silence has a IIc. Next, a couple of British computers in the form of a Sinclair ZX Spectrum in the second season opener of McDonald & Dodds and an Amstrad CPC 6128 in Commando Ninja. And finally there are the Commodores: a VIC-20 in Kuai can che, a Commodore 64 in Counterforce and also in Here We Go Again, Rubinot! along with a Olivetti M10 making its Starring-the-Computer debut.

2021-03-28 12:29 Challenged Viper

The pilot episode of Viper gives the SGI Challenge its Starring-the-Computer debut.

2021-03-21 15:23 Big Iron Bunch

Here's a collection of larger computers. Do Not Fold, Spindle or Mutilate has a brief glimpse of an IBM System/360 and Giovannona Coscialunga disonorata con onore has more lingering shots of its successor, the System/370. A Wing and a Prayer has an IBM AN/FSQ-7, the "Sixth Sense" episode The Man Who Died at Three and Nine has a CDC 3800 and the TV series The Consultant is all about an ICL 2900.

2021-03-14 23:09 Amateur Burroughs

The Amateur has a couple of Burroughs machines. We've seen the B3900 before, but the B80 makes its debut appearance.

2021-03-06 17:22 A Portfolio of Portables

Fast & Furious starts us off with the diminutive OQO Model 2. Then there is a small collection of Apple laptops: a Powerbook 5300 in Grosse Pointe Blank, a Powerbook G4 in Wedding Crashers and a Macbook in Contract Killers. Finally there are a bunch of laptops making their Starring-the-Computer debut. The Incredible Hulk has a Dell Latitude XPi and a Getac A770, The Girl in the Spider's Web has a Getac V110 (and a sneaky Commodore PET in the background), Iron Man has the Toshiba Tecra 730CDT, Hacker has the Dell Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme and 7424 Rugged Extreme, Colorless Green has the Compaq Presario C700 and HP Compaq dc7600 (along with the familiar Apple Macbook Pro), and the season 10 finale of Death in Paradise has a Samsung Galaxy Book.

2021-02-14 11:39 More Macs

Free Willy has a brief shot of a Macintosh, 101 Dalmatians has a role for a Macintosh Quadra 630, and Kill Your Friends has a Powerbook G3 along with a Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh. Final Destination 3 has a tiny glimpse of a Power Mac G5 and Little Fockers has a iMac G4 and a Macbook Pro.

2021-01-30 14:48 Crowning Computers

Season 4 of "The Crown" features a number of machines. Fairytale and Favourites have shots of a Commodore PET, 48:1 has a Commodore CBM-II, and Avalanche features the IBM PS/2 Model 30.

2021-01-16 16:39 A Deskpro XE and more laptops

Ri¢hie Ri¢h gives Starring the Computer its first Compaq Deskpro XE along with a Compaq Contura. Senseless also has a Compaq Contura along with a Toshiba Satellite Pro 400 and a Commodore 64. And more laptops - the Apple Powerbook 5300 in Anaconda, the Panasonic Toughbook in All Is Lost and an Apple Macbook Pro in Sinister.

2021-01-02 16:02 A Pair of Rugged Ultra-portables

We see in the new year with a pair of rugged ultra-portables making their Starring-the-Computer debut. RED 2 has the Panasonic Toughbook CF-U1, and San Andreas has the DAP 8640 (along with the familiar Apple Macbook Pro).