[HN Gopher] Tempted by the Dark Side, I now have a Commodore 128
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Tempted by the Dark Side, I now have a Commodore 128
Author : rbanffy
Score : 50 points
Date : 2024-09-09 10:33 UTC (12 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.goto10retro.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.goto10retro.com)
| daneel_w wrote:
| _" I knew the Commodore 128 was released in 1985 as a sort of
| bridge between the Commodore 64 and Amiga ..."_
|
| That may have been Commodore's intention, I don't know, but
| technically the C128 is merely a modest step from the C64 and
| _very far_ from the Amiga in every way. All the same the C128
| offers a lot to explore, whether you run it as a C64 or as a
| C128, and I wish you lots of fun with it!
| mixmastamyk wrote:
| I remember drooling over one and the Plus/4 in the store at the
| time. Didn't realize they were mostly smaller C64s with double
| the RAM. But compared to my ancient Vic-20 (C-5? :-) it was
| very advanced. So it did cp/m as well? Oh well, had no money
| for software anyway.
| wazoox wrote:
| The Plus/4 had 64KB but absolutely no software available,
| because it wasn't C-64 compatible... at least the C128 has a
| C64 mode.
| cmrdporcupine wrote:
| I (VIC-20 owner) drooled over the C128, too. 80 columns! Mo
| memory!
|
| Then I realized I could get an Atari ST with 512KB of RAM,
| 68000, 3.5" drive, mono monitor for the same price. The C128
| made no sense, price wise.
|
| So I followed Tramiel over to his new venture, too.
| shellac wrote:
| I assumed this would a Spectrum user. How wrong I was: don't
| remember any Atari machines from that 80s 8-bit generation.
| jhbadger wrote:
| The Atari 8-bits were introduced in 1979 and were moderately
| popular in the early 1980s at least in the US because they had
| considerably better graphics and sound than their competitors.
| This was due to (unlike most other early 8-bits) they used
| custom chips similar to those later used in the Amiga -- and in
| fact one of the primary engineers for the Atari 8-bits was Jay
| Miner, who also played a big role in the Amiga.
| shellac wrote:
| Ah, it may never have reached the UK. Conversely you've
| probably never heard of the Oric-1 or Dragon 32. The 8 bit
| boom was quite a time.
| fortyseven wrote:
| As an American I love hearing all about machines that we
| completely missed from overseas. Little parallel universes
| to learn about and experience. (Helps that a lot of my
| favorite retro gaming YouTubers are British, too. ;))
| gmiller123456 wrote:
| I'm surprised some of the C64s still work. I had to return mine
| (for exchange) many times. I remember seeing huge signs at the
| return counter that said "NO RETURNS ON COMMODORE EQUIPMENT". As
| a kid it didn't set off any alarm bells. But apparently quality
| wasn't a goal at all. I remember seeing a talk by a former
| employee where he saw a stack of C64s and a sign that said "bad".
| He walked by the same spot a little later and someone had shipped
| them. Apparently the 1541 drives were even worse. I could never
| find one to buy, as anytime they were in stock people would bring
| theirs back for exchange, so not a lot of motivation for stores
| to stock them.
| exitb wrote:
| First of all, the later "short board" models (including C64C,
| most popular in Europe) run much cooler, which makes them less
| prone to failure. Second - we got pretty good[1] at fixing the
| faults.
|
| [1] https://www.pictorial64.com/
| daneel_w wrote:
| It's likely the actual problem you had was with the epoxy-
| encased "wedge" PSU model. Most of them have lasted fine
| through decades of use but there were some batches that kept
| giving people problems.
| jandrese wrote:
| MOS chips are notorious among system restorers even today.
| Commodore's power supply design that made the most common
| failure mode one that increased the voltage output so it fried
| the attached machine is another stellar design decision.
|
| That said, Commodore sold a ton of hardware in the 80s. There
| is a cottage industry around getting C64s up and running again,
| and since they're so plentiful and well known it's almost
| always possible to fix them. There are replacement chips for
| everything on the board, even the weirdo custom stuff like the
| PLAs. Everything on the C64 has been reverse engineered and
| well documented.
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