Items tagged with Commodore
What is old is new (and popular) again, or so it seems with recent tech trends, and particularly retro gaming. Fueled in-part by Nintendo and its NES Classic and SNES Classic systems, retro consoles and computers are seeing a surge in rebirths. Here is one more for the pile—THEVIC20, a fully licensed re-imagining of the the original VIC-20 from the glorious early days of personal computing in the 1980s. The company behind the project is Retro Games, the same one that brought back the Commodore 64 with its TheC64 system. "Following its launch in 1981, the original VIC-20 home computer went on to become the first computer of any kind to sell one million units, and even now still holds a special...
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Commodore 65 machines are most certainly a rare appearance these days, and when they do see the light of day, they can fetch astronomical prices. When we last caught up with a fully functional Commodore 65, it was selling for around $28,000 on the eBay's German language auction site. Recently, another Commodore 65 prototype has popped on eBay's UK website. The system itself is said to be in "perfect shape" with no signs of yellowing or scratches on the enclosure. More importantly, the system is fully functional in its current state with a working disk drive and audio output. This particular Commodore 65 unit is being sold with a copy of the manual and Euro-spec power supply (which North...
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Although it may not be readily apparent to current computing enthusiasts given all the attention to modern Intel and AMD hardware running Windows, macOS and Linux operating systems, there is still a large community dedicated to supporting Commodore Amiga systems. Even though over 30 years has passed since the world was graced with the very first Amiga, there are still tinkerers out there creating custom hardware to repair and enhance existing systems and extend the capabilities of the platform. A little over a year ago, we brought you up to speed on the travails of the Apollo Team, which created the Vampire V4 FPGA device as a follow-up to their previous-gen Vampire products. The...
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A few weeks back, we showed you a handful of Commodore Amiga-related hardware projects that were designed to breathe new life into the popular, vintage machines. Even decades after Commodore’s demise, the Amiga user community remains vibrant and new hardware is being introduced at a steady clip, relatively speaking. In that previous post, we showed you some freshly-minted Amiga motherboard PCBs that were reverse engineered by a couple of members of the Amiga community. We also shined the spotlight on the Vampire 4, a Altera FPGA-based device that could eventually be the foundation – or at the very least a precursor -- of a new, standalone Amiga platform in the future. Those projects...
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Although it has been over three decades since the first Commodore Amigas were originally released, a fan base for the beloved systems is still going strong. Of course, the Amiga install base is a small fraction of what it was during the machine’s heyday, but the community supporting the Amiga is still vibrant and very much alive. In fact, the Amiga community – and many other retro-computing communities for that matter -- seems to be more active now that it has been in years, and a number of exciting new hardware projects have cropped up or hit major milestones in recent weeks. Two relatively new projects, led by popular members of the Amiga community Paul Rezendes and John “Chucky”...
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It's not very often that we see working examples of the Commodore 65 up for sale, but one just showed up this week on eBay -- albeit the German version of the website. The system is selling for 25,000 euros, which is roughly $28,000. For those not in the know, the Commodore 65 -- also known as the C65 or C64DX -- is a prototype system that was produced by Commodore in the 1990 to 1991 time frame. It's said that no more than 200 units of the machine were built, making it a very rare gem indeed. In fact, a system that went up for sale back in 2015 fetched a whopping $23,000, which means that the current $28,000 offer isn’t too far off the mark. The Commodore 65 was powered by a...
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An upcoming documentary – The Commodore Story – is poised to hit long-time computer geeks that witnessed the birth of the 8-bit personal computing revolution right in the feels. At one point in time, Commodore was a billion dollar company and trailblazer in the fledgling personal computer market. Commodore’s accomplishments included the creation of the single, best-selling PC of all the time, the Commodore 64, and the introduction of the Amiga, which was the most advanced personal computer money could buy at the time. The Amiga offered multimedia features that were unmatched for many years, it was affordably priced (relatively speaking), and was the first personal computer...
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For long-time enthusiasts that were around during the ascent of personal computers, the Commodore Amiga remains one of the most beloved systems of all time. When it was originally released back in the mid-80’s, the Amiga could do things that no other consumer-class computer could – its graphics, sound, and multi-tasking capabilities were simply unmatched at the time. That initial sense of amazement at the Amiga’s unique capabilities is one of the reasons why the platform continues to have rabid fans some 30+ years later and why a small group of skilled enthusiasts have designed and manufactured a brand-new circuit board, dubbed the Amy-ITX, that brings actual Amiga hardware to the current mini-ITX...
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Dave Haynie, one of the chief engineers that worked on the Amiga back in its heyday, put it best when he said, “Amiga users make Macintosh users look like PC users”, in the Viva Amiga documentary that was released early this year. Those of us that were around when the Amiga initially debuted knew Commodore had something special on its hands. At the time of its launch, the Amiga was the most advanced personal computer money could buy – bar none. It offered multimedia features that were unmatched for many years, it was affordably priced (relatively speaking), and was the first personal computer with true multi-tasking capabilities, among numerous other things.Despite the Amiga’s superiority, Commodore...
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Even after more than two decades since the company’s demise, the Commodore Amiga still has loyal fans that refuse to let the innovative platform die. Proof of the Amiga’s cult-like following is evident all over the web, but a review of the A-EON AmigaOne X5000 that just hit over at ArsTechnica has reignited the conversation in modern tech circles that don’t typically discuss the beloved Amiga. The A-EON AmigaOne X5000 is technically not a new product. Although Ars’ review was just published, the motherboard powering the system has been available for quite some time – full systems built around the motherboard are relatively new, though. And Amiga OS 4.1 “Final Edition” went gold years ago. The...
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Some three decades later, what's old is new again with the Commodore Amiga 2000 HD making an unlikely comeback. Well, sort of. Just over a week before Halloween, some lucky expo attendee stumbled upon a never touched and fully functioning Amiga system powered by a Motorola 68000 processor running at all of 7.16MHz. Oddly enough, his rare find wasn't even the first decades old virgin Amiga system unearthed this month! Around three weeks ago, a Facebook user posted pictures of a non-HD Amiga 2000 that was still in its retail packaging to the Commodore Amiga Facebook group. The system was sold as of an estate sale after the original owners passed away. He paid £200.00 (around $244 in U.S. currency)...
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Longing for those days of yesteryear, questing and conquering in Defender of The Crown? Or perhaps you miss that fast-paced platform action, snuffing out Aliens in Another World? You're not alone; Glenn had the itch too. Commodore Amiga Facebook group member Glenn, (and we'll leave it at that so you're not tempted to ring him up for a retro therapy session), was fortunate enough to stumble upon a machine that could quite literally take him back in time, circa 1985, maybe 87ish, otherwise known as the glory days of Commodore's Amiga personal computer. Rocking a Motorola 68000 processor, 256kB of ROM, 256kB of RAM and a cutting-edge 3.5-inch floppy drive, back in the day, the Amiga 2000 was all...
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One common complaint in the twenty-first century is that nothing is built to last. Even complex, expensive computers seem to have a relatively short shelf-life nowadays. One computer in a small auto repair shop in Gdansk, Poland, however, has survived for the last twenty-five years against all odds. In January a photo was taken by Facebook user Bartek for the page Retrokomp/Loaderror. The picture recently resurfaced on Commodore USA’s Facebook page. The computer claiming victory here is a Commodore C64C that has been balancing driveshafts non-stop for a quarter of a century. The C64C looks like it would fit right in with a scene from Fallout 4 and has even survived a nasty flood and pigeon poop....
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The name "Commodore" is one that incites the nostalgic cells in many people, and its copyright owners know it. A couple of years ago, an all-in-one PC that was modeled after the iconic C64's keyboard was released, and for the most part, it was awesome. After all, how could something modeled after the C64 not be? Well, if you missed out on that AIO PC and want some legit Commodore hardware, you're going to get a second chance. As long as you're fine with that hardware being a smartphone, that is. And a plain-Jane off-white one at that. Named after another Commodore PC, the "PET" smartphone makes itself a little unique by preinstalling two emulators that will let users play classic C64 and Amiga...
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Ever since the original Amiga A1000 launched in 1985, Commodore’s flagship desktop computer lineup has been called ahead of its time. When it first hit the scene, the Amiga’s advanced audio, graphics, and multi-tasking abilities were light years ahead of competing platforms. But, that was then. Although it still has somewhat of a cult following and is highly regarded amongst long-time geeks (like myself), the sad truth is that the Amiga can’t hold a candle to today’s modern systems in any meaningful technical category. That hasn’t stopped the Grand Rapids Public School district in Michigan from using an Amiga to control its HVAC system in 19 buildings, though. According to a story out of Grand...
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It's with heavy hearts that we report the death of Jack Tramiel, founder of Commodore International, who passed away at the age of 83. Tramiel, born in Poland in 1928, died while surrounded by family on Sunday, April 8, according to Forbes. He is survived by his wife Helen and their three sons, Gary, Sam, and Leonard, along with their extended families and millions of fans and the computing industry at large, including those who might not have been familiar with his name until now. By all means an unlikely pioneer in PCs, Tramiel was a taxi driver when he founded a typewriter repair business named Commodore Portable Typewriter. His business would later morph into a typewriter manufacturing outfit...
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Commodore. Remember that name? It's a big one in the world of retro gaming, but perhaps not as big as the Amiga brand. Both are coming back into the limelight this week with the introduction of the Commodore Amiga Mini PC, a Core i7-powered small-form-factor box that is sure to tickle the fancy of gamers who remember what it was like to rely on an Amiga. It's the first Amiga to surface in 20 years, and it's packing a serious punch. It ships with an Intel Core i7-2700k (3.5GHz quad-core) CPU, 16GB of DDR3 memory, a 1TB hard drive (or optional SSD), Wi-Fi module and a slot-loading Blu-ray drive. There's room for two 2.5" hard drives, too, and it measures just 7.5" x 7.5" x 3". That's not all that...
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Commodore. It's a name that aged gamers will never forget. And hopefully, it's a name that even new-age gamers will recall and respect. Somehow or another, Commodore USA is still kicking, and they announced today that they're now shipping production orders for the new Commodore 64 Extreme model (C64x-EX). The C64x Extreme is the most powerful Commodore computer ever produced, running at a whopping 3.3Ghz with Intel's Turbo Boost Technology. Featuring a 2nd generation Sandy Bridge 2.2Ghz 64-bit Intel core i7 (Quad Core/Eight Threads CPU [i7-2720QM]) the C64x Extreme runs fast and cool while providing a massive amount of storage, RAM and I/O options. This includes a 2 TB Hard Drive, 8 Gigabytes...
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Commodore USA LLC promised a working C64 replica (with modern internals) by "late spring," but despite a tie-in with Tron: Legacy, nothing has shipped yet. However, in a YouTube post (somewhat less obvious that a press release, guys) the company has promised pre-orders will begin shipping this week. Commodore USA posted the video, which shows their Florida facilities, on Friday, June 17. It's just a montage, really, but the post with the video at YouTube's site has the important info: shipping of pre-orders begin this week. Pricing ranges all the way from $250 (for a pretty much empty chassis) to $895. The C64 will sport a mini-ITX PC motherboard featuring a dual-core D525 Atom CPU (1.8Ghz) and...
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There's no question that few people will ever buy one of these, but just because it's a niche product line doesn't mean that we can't smile about it. Those who have been following consumer electronics for decades now may remember Commodore USA, mostly from the video game sector. But now, Commodore is coming back in a big way. In one week, we've heard about the revival of both Duke Nukem Forever and Commodore USA. Is the world ending? Have we hit our heads? Is it April 1st somewhere? Commodore USA has just acquired the rights to re-use the AMIGA branding, and they're planning to do so on all-in-one keyboard computers. These machines will reportedly run AROS, which is an open source version of...
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For a long time geek like me, who got his start in computing by spending countless hours in front of a Commodore 64, Ben Heck's latest mod is about as cool as it gets. Using the original parts from a working C64, Ben crafted a fully functional laptop, complete with a custom enclosure and 15" LCD screen."This project somehow has the distinction of being both the longest and fastest portable electronics project I have ever done. I originally started making a C64 laptop in the fall of 2006, and kept pecking away at it every so often. Finally, a few weeks ago, I said “screw it” and started over.I redid everything in a week and a half - the shortest project ever. (The previous record hold was the...
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The Commodore 64 is legendary, and just last year celebrated its 25th anniversary. And now owners of the Nintendo Wii will be able to play classic games of that era via the Wii Virtual Console.Bala Keilman, CEO of Commodore Gaming, commented, “The massive impact the Commodore 64 had on video gaming is still evident today with many gamers remembering the computer and its games with great fondness. By working with Nintendo of Europe, we are ensuring that future generations of gamers can play some of the best and most popular titles that kick-started the computer games revolution and so keep the C64 legacy in gamers hearts.”Laurent Fischer, Managing Director of European Marketing & PR of Nintendo...
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