CIP - Commodore Info Page

From the early KIM-1 to the modern C64-DTV.
A few examples are: KIM-1, PET-2001, VIC20, C64, C128, Plus/4, C16, the Amiga series, the PC series, C64-DTV, C-one and many special editions.

Disk-drives

From the big CBM 5,25" drives to the relative small 3,5'' 1581 for the C64/128.
A few examples are: 8050, VC-1540, 1541, 1541-II, 1570, 1571, 1581, 1551, Oceanic, A1010, A590.

Datassettes

This was a cost effective way of storing data.
Best known are the C2N, 1530 and the 1531.

Monitors

Most Commodore computers can use a TV-set as display but a monitor gave a better picture.
A few examples are: 1701, 1081, 1084, 1402, 1930, 1950.

Joysticks

Games need a joystick to play. The best joysticks had micro switches such as the Competition Pro and the Arcade.

Printers

If you want to publish your work you need a printer. In the beginning there were only simple dot matrix printers. But later the inkjet made perfect prints.

Cartridges

Games and utillities were available as cartridge.
A few examples are: Final Cartridge, Power cartridge, EPYX fast load cartridge and many accelerators for the Amigas.

Disk software

A way to store your data was the diskette. Many games came on diskettes. But more were copied (illegal) to diskettes.

Cassette software

In the beginning loading was slow. But after the tape turbo's speeded the loading 10x problems were over.

Calculators

Commodore started with calculators. The first were mecahnical adders. Later came the LED and LCD calculators.

Books

Many books were written for the Commodore computers and devices. From manuals to programming languages.

Other

Everything that did not fit in a category is placed here.

Articles

Articles about Commodore computers, emulators, hardware, software, hacking, diskette and cassette data transfer and more.

New

New in my Commodore collection. I'm still collecting Commodore items.

Latest news:

C-One update
There is a new version of the C-One available. This new version has the FPGA extender card. The FPGA extender card has a Cyclone3 FPGA, 16MByte SD-Ram, Audio converter and a VGA connection. The extender card is also available for the owners of the "standard" C-One. With this extender card you can now run the minimig core (by Tobias Gubener) on your C-One. Other news things: New boot system, which is much faster. Support for stereo SID (by Peter Wendrich). Take a look at the C-One web page for all the details.

OVH Is Our King
New demo for the Plus/4. This demo is released by a new group called Monarchy. The coding was done by Attila (Csio) and the graphics are from Fischer (Derrick). The demo was 4th in the Arok 10 demo competition. You can download the demo for your Plus/4 or you can watch the demo on YouTube.

AmiKit 1.5.2
A new update package for AmiKit is available via the AmiKit Live Update program. In this update: AfA_OS 4.3. Amiga Image Storage System 4.5. antiword 0.37b. HivelyTracker 1.6. ixemul.library 48.3. ixnet.library 48.3. MultiRen 1.66. playOGG 9.4. SabreMSN Alpha 35. xad_7z client 1.8.

The Last Compo (SidCompo #8)
The web page c64.sk has a SID competition at the moment. You can still enter your own SID tune until November 28. You also can vote for your favourite tune.

OWB v2.14
Jörg Strohmayer released a new version of the OWB internet browser for AmigaOS 4.1. Jörg made the following changes. Added support for openamiga.org extended default mouse pointers. Fixed a bug in the AutoInstall script. Built current versions of libxml2 and libxslt. Added GETURL ARexx command. You need AmigaOS 4.1 for the latest version of OWB.

Building a X1541 cable.

It is possible to transfer a diskette from a 1541, 1540, 1570, 1571 or 1581 disk drive to a PC. The opposite is also possible. For the transfer you need a special cable. There are different kinds but the most common are the X1541 and XE1541 cables. The X1541 is the simple version and works fine with older PCs. But with modern PCs the X1541 cable doesn't always work. For these PCs the XE1541 cable is a better option. You can also use a XE1541 cable with older PC's.

This article will explain how to build a X1541 cable. It is easy if you have some basic soldering skills. But also for the in-experienced people this is a nice starting project.

The X1541 cable is developed by Leopoldo Ghielmetti.

Read more about: Building a X1541 cable.

Commodore VIC-20

The VIC 20 was the colourfull future of Commodore. The VIC-20 was the first computer from Commodore that had colour. In 1980 the president of Commodore (Jack Tramiel) gave an order to his designers to design a cheap computer. Jack feared stiff competition from competitors from Japan on the cheap homecomputer market. In stead of waiting for the competition he started the battle himself. He gave the order to design a computer that would cost no more than $300,-- and they had to have it ready in 9 months.

The VIC-20 was designed by Commodore Japan. In 1981 the first VIC-20s rolled of the assembly lines. Strange is that the VIC-20 does not have the same name all over the world. In Japan the VIC-20 is called the VIC-1001. In Germany it's called the VC-20. But in de rest of the world it's called the VIC-20. Why the VIC-20 in Germany is called the VC-20 is not clear but it would probably be short for Volks Computer.

The VIC-20 was a success right from the start. The production could only just keep up with the demand. At the top of production 9.000 VIC-20s rolled of the production lines per day. The competition did not know what hit them. They couldn't believe the introduction price of $300,--. The competition was pushed out of the market almost completely when the price dropped to only $130,-- in the next two years.

Read more about: Commodore VIC-20

Commodore C64

The Commodore 64 is the most known Commodore but why?
With the introduction of the C64 the computer made contact with ordinary people. Not only corporations or universities but everybody could now afford a computer with amazing capabilities. The predecessors of the C64 the PET / CBM range and the VIC20 already made there appearance with business and electronics wizards. The C64 was there at the wright moment, had the right capabilities and the price was fenomenal. The introduction price was half of that of the competition. In the beginning the C64 cost about the same to produce as what it was sold for in the shops. But the large production numbers made the production cost drop to a very low level. The very good sales figures also improved to the availability of many books, programs and hardware.

Commodore never put a lot of money into advertising. There motto was If it's good it will sell it self. The sales of Commodore almost pushed the competition out of the market. The only competitor that could keep up was Atari. Commodore was the biggest computer firm in the world for a while. The exact sales figures of the C64 where never released but they are estimated to be about 22 million. And that is a official world record. The C64 is the world most sold "home computer". And because nobody makes "home computer" anymore the record will stand forever.

On the picture you can see the revision A C64. This was the first version of the C64 but after discovering a error in this C64 all where recalled to the factory. This model can be recognized by the silver logos. Only a few escaped the recall and are now collectors items. The C64 was in production from 1982 until 1992.

Read more about: Commodore C64

Input devices.

You can use a Commodore computers for about every application. But almost every application has an interaction with the user. For these interactions you need a input device. The most well known is of course the keyboard. But there are also others such as the : joystick, paddle, mouse, touchpad and external keyboards like a piano keyboard. It is also possible to "read" switches or sensors via the different ports but these are not mentioned here.

Input devices have changed in the years. Sometimes only the shape like the keyboard. The mouse traded it's ball for a light what was the best thing ever. In the beginning joysticks had only 5 switches but nowadays you need the manual to learn and use all the options. And the latest fashion is to go wireless.

On the picture the Game mate 2 joystick set. This was one of the first remote devices available for the Commodore computers (also for other brands). Each joystick had a battery powered transmitter. And the receiver was connected to the computer such as the C64.

Read more about: Input devices.

VICE

VICE stands for Versatile Commodore Emulator. It provides emulation of the Commodore C64, C128, VIC20, PET, PLUS4 and CBM-II computers within a single package.

So what's an emulator? Some people say it's the only useful thing a modern PC can do. Emulation is making a computer do the same thing another computer does.

The modern PC can act like it is a Commodore 64. The program that does this trick is called an emulator. For the Commodore range of Computers there are several emulators available. VICE is a very good emulator and is kept up to date by a very enthusiastic team of programmers all around the world. Another advantage of VICE is that it can emulate about all of the 8-bit Commodore computers.

Not only the computer itself is fully emulated but also the diskdrive, datassette and printer. Besides software on virtual cassettes and virtual diskettes you can also use memory expansions, cartridges and much more.

VICE can be run on many platforms, at the moment VICE can be used on the following platforms: Unix, MS-DOS, Win32, OS/2, Acorn RISC OS, BeOS, QNX 6.x, Amiga, GP2X or Mac OSX.

Read more about: VICE

Commodore 264

The Commodore 264 is not actually a computer but it's a model range. This range of computers consist of the C16, C116, Plus/4 and the prototypes 232, 264 and the 364.
The name 264 was used for the first proto type of this range and is printed on most of the serial tags at the bottom of the computers. After the success of the Commodore 64 and the end of the VIC 20 production it was time to develop a new computer range.

The exact reasons for the 264 range are not clear. Some sources say that it was the successor of the VIC20. But there are also sources that tell that is was intended to compete with the Sinclair Spectrum or Timex as it was called in the USA. And if you take a look at the C116 that you will see similarities with the Spectrum. The target was to build a cheap computer like the C116 and the C16 with above that the advanced version with bigger memory and build in programs like the Plus/4. The proto type 364 was a Plus/4 with a bigger keyboard and a processor that could produce spoken words. The 264 series was also a attempt to get into the professional market. This was the main task of the Plus/4 with build in programs like a word processor, spreadsheet, database and a graphical program. The strange thing is that al the three models (C16, C116 and the Plus 4) use a different motherboard.

Read more about: Commodore 264

My museum

In the past years I have collected many Commodore computers and related items. In the beginning I had all items in a storage space because I could not put it in my home.
To keep track of the items I started the www.commodore-info.com web page. This page made it possible for me what I already had or not.

But when I got a bigger house I started to make my museum. This is a report about building the museum.

Read more about: My museum

The Beginning

Jack Tramiel was born in Poland. He survived the concentration camps of World War II. In the year 1948 he emigrated to the United States. He joined the US army and became a typewriter repair man. In 1952 Jack left the army to set up his own company. It was just a little store that would repair typewriters and he didn't make that much money.

In 1955 he got a contract to assemble typewriter for a Czechoslovakian company. In Canada he met C. Powell Morgan who wanted to put money into the new company. With this deal Jack founded the company "COMMODORE". A few years later in 1962 Commodore went public. In 1965 there was trouble. The financial company of C. Powell Morgan went bankrupt and Commodore was in financial trouble. The next year a new money man was found by the name of Irving Gould.

In the sixties Commodore starting to make mechanical calculators and later electronic calculators. The first computers came after Commodore bought the company MOS in 1976. With this deal Commodore could make it's own chips for the calculators and get in the new world of computers.

Read more about: The Beginning