The Commodore 64
CPU:
MOS 6510, 1MHz
RAM:
64K
Display:
25 x 40 Text
320 x 200 16 color
Sound:
SID 6581, 3 Channel Sound
Available Ports:
Composite Video
2 x Joystick
ROM Cartridge
Serial Port
Available Peripherals:
External 170K Floppy Drive (5 1/4")
Cassette Recorder
Printer
Modem
OS:
ROM Basic 2.0
Year:
1982
Original Price:
$595
This is the first of several pieces in my vintage computer collection to be displayed here, The Commodore 64. The Commodore 64 was one of the first computers I was actually able to touch. There are two that I can specifically remember from my childhood. First was my best friend across the street, sometime in early grade school. They had one hooked up to a black and white television along with some game cartridges. Gorf, a space invaders knock-off was among my favorite. The device gained a certain mystique though when I had fallen asleep at his house one weekend, waking up in the afternoon to find my friends mother keying in pages of basic code. I watched her silently curious. As a young school boy I wonder what she was doing. What purpose could such a thing be used for besides video games.
My second encounter with the Commodore 64 was at my aunts house. I saw them infrequently when I was young because they lived 300 miles away. Holidays we’d visit and they eventually had gotten a full setup. Color monitor, two floppy drives, joysticks, and a printer. I remember a large library of 5 1/4″ disks with different games. I’d put one in, get the classic blue boot screen, and enter in a string of characters that seemed like gibberish at the time to make the game run. I only knew what to type because they had written it on the label of the disk. I also recall a very archaic publishing type of software. I made some small use of the printer, combined with the publishing software, to create a “KEEP OUT” sign for my bedroom door.
Data on the Commodore C64 computer was obtain from the following sources:
September 3rd, 2008 - 4:25 pm
Holy crap. Just reading those specs makes me giggle.