Computer Kits

I've recently gotten interested in electronics and I recalled something from one of my classes at school about kits like the Altair 8800 and the Sinclair ZX81, and i was wondering if there was anything a bit more modern with a similar idea out there that any of you know of.

Nowadays most folks play with microcontrollers instead of old iron.

I guess that would be the more modern approach. Time to pull out those old assembly books...

Not much different than programming the old Altairs, much better programming tools are available now.

It may be a kick to try it once but you would not want to use the old tools.

The first min I used was a data general nova. You had to toggle the boot loader in using the switches on the front panel. The boot loader loaded a paper tape loader. That loader loaded your program. We had a mag tape unit that we had adapted to work with it but you still had to start with the switches.

When I got my H11 (LSI-11) it had a boot rom. A vast improvement.