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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
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The Commodore 64 is back!

By | April 5, 2011, 10:10am PDT

Summary: Don’t panic! It isn’t 1982 and that homemade time machine you’ve been working on hasn’t started working. It might not be the 1980s, but that doesn’t stop Commodore bringing back and updated version of the legendary Commodore 64!

Don’t panic! It isn’t 1982 and that homemade time machine you’ve been working on hasn’t started working. It might not be the 1980s, but that doesn’t stop Commodore bringing back and updated version of the legendary Commodore 64!

Check out the Commodore 64 image gallery here!

Yes, it’s a Commodore 64, but not like you’ve ever seen before!

This thing comes fully-loaded:

  • Cherry keyboard (pure awesomeness!)
  • Dual Core 525 Atom processor
  • NVIDIA Ion2 graphics
  • 2GB of DDR3 memory - expandable to 4GB
  • Slot or tray load DVD R/W (Blu-ray optional)
  • Multi format card reader/writer and a USB slot
  • 1080p HD quality video playback and 6 Channel High Definition Audio
  • Play all your favorite 8-bit era games within seconds of turning the Commodore 64 on, by either selecting the C64 icon from the boot menu to run a C64 emulator directly, or from a media center program within our own Commodore Operating System
  • Fully PC compatible, so it will run Windows!

Prices start at $595, but with additional options that’ll go up to $895.

So, who’s interested?

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Topics

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes, Commodore 64

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

Disclosure

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

All opinions expressed on Hardware 2.0 are those of Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. Every effort is made to ensure that the information posted is accurate. If you have any comments, queries or corrections, please contact Adrian via the email link here. Any possible conflicts of interest will be posted below. [Updated: February 23, 2010] - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other actual/potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted so far on this blog.

Biography

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology -- whether that be by learning to program, building a PC from a pile of parts, or helping them get the most from their new MP3 player or digital camera.

Adrian has authored/co-authored technical books on a variety of topics, ranging from programming to building and maintaining PCs. His most recent books include "Build the Ultimate Custom PC", "Beginning Programming" and "The PC Doctor's Fix It Yourself Guide". He has also written training manuals that have been used by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Adrian also runs a popular blog under the name The PC Doctor, where he covers a range of computer-related topics -- from security to repairing and upgrading.

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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
gdprassem@... 13th Apr 2011
I wonder if this version still allows you to write your own programs?
This is bent
View in thread
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
Onaka 5th Apr 2011
So... I can buy a non-standard hardware package computer that I can't upgrade worth **** and the only selling point is that it plays Commodore games and is shaped like a Commodore 64? Sorry, but I'll stick to a real computer thank you very much.
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
KBot 5th Apr 2011
@Onaka

oh come on u know you want it.

EPIC!
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Not me
Robert Hahn 5th Apr 2011
@KBot I'm holding out for the Atari 800 lookalike.
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Message has been deleted.
nomorebs Updated - 10th Apr 2011
  • Flagged
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
overseer1 6th Apr 2011
@KBot
Uhhhhhhh......no!
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
Hasam1991 5th Apr 2011
@Onaka
Just get an Ipad for that price LOL
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
dustinday 6th Apr 2011
@Hasam1991
The iPad is a waste of money compared to a computer!!!
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
Fletchguy 6th Apr 2011
@Hasam1991
But the ipad does so much less then this can do why would you pay the same price for an ipad which can't do very much and doesn't even have the cool factor like this does?
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
dustinday 6th Apr 2011
@FletchGuy
HAHAHA, it makes perfect sense to a buy an iPad lol
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
Rob.sharp@... 6th Apr 2011
@Onaka

Spoken like someone who never owned a Commodore 64. Kudos for the first person who remembers the load command.
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
Ogniob 6th Apr 2011
@rob.sharp@... LOAD "*",8,1
I would buy one of these in a heartbeat! I started on a Vic 20, then the C64 and finally the 128. The Commodore line was a pioneer in the home computing world!
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
Bit-Smacker Updated - 6th Apr 2011
@rob.sharp@...
Don't forget that ML programs has to be jump-started:
SYS 49152
or
SYS 51200

I still have my C=128, C=1541, and C=1581 with JiffyDOS chips installed. Very cool days. I don't know why I hang on to all of that old hardware and my hundreds of 5.25" floppies. I keep thinking I'll have time to be nostalgic with it someday, but I'll probably end up having a heart attack and dying from spending so much time cheating on it with "IBM clones"....
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
Onaka 6th Apr 2011
@rob.sharp@...
Oh no, I do own a Commodore 64, I actually have 3 of them in storage, one ready to be hooked up in my game room.
I never did do extensive gaming on it as I was younger though, as not having friends made swapping games a tad difficult, but I did play around with the programming.
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
BillDem 6th Apr 2011
@Onaka This is basically a movie streaming PC, which is also a conversation piece. For those who used a C64 as their first computer, this will be a fun way to stream movies from their home media server to the living room. If it didn't have 1080p and HDMI, then I agree it would be truly useless. If they really wanted to make this the perfect HTPC, they would have included a cable-card HD tuner inside. As it is now, folks will need to use a USB tuner, which is much less than ideal.
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
MajorlyCool 6th Apr 2011
@BillDem Only your truly geeky friends would recognize/care/appreciate this computer to make it a conversation piece.
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
alan_r_cam 6th Apr 2011
@BillDem Actually, this is a Laptop - without the screen, or a built in battery.
In theory, you could throw it in a backpack, and take it to a LAN party. In practice, some geek with a custom Shuttle PC will out-perform you.
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
fibreoptik 8th Apr 2011
@BillDem

lol conversation piece? good one!
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
overseer1 6th Apr 2011
@Onaka
10-4 on that one!
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
erichmercado 5th Apr 2011
The specs hopefully is better than a typical netbook but I'm interested in having one. It's also a good direction that the Commodore OS is installed on the machine. Play games and load programs with it is nostalgic.
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
Loverock Davidson 5th Apr 2011
That is cool. The best part about this is the C64 emulator. I wonder if you can find games for it and program it like you could back in the day.
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
bitcrazed Updated - 5th Apr 2011
@Loverock Davidson - you can go download any number of C64 emulators and games for your PC right now. For that matter, you can also download emulators for your Sinclair Spectrum & QL, Dragon32, Vic20, TRS-80, BBC Micro, Acorn Archimedes, Oric, Atom, Ace, etc
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
Rama.NET 5th Apr 2011
@bitcrazed
Agreed. For that price I would go with solid gaming PC and install those emulators and play games. I really don't need a dedicated c64 at that price tag.
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So?
Rick_R 5th Apr 2011
Ah ... I think I'll stick with my original, even though there are problems with the floppy disk drive because it didn't align properly. I do have the alignment disk somewhere ...

(I used a C-64 for several years and bought a new one shortly before it was discontinued. Just for kicks I tried the newer one recently and it still works. Of course, it doesn't have the mod that makes the video a little sharper. And, yes, I do still have the modem and the cable to connect to a Centronics printer.)
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
Rama.NET Updated - 5th Apr 2011
@Rick_R
I had Amiga from early 90s for good number of years. After that I haven't seen Amiga. I was using it for media mixing at that time. I had C64 for a long time. amiga used to be my best buddy those days. happy
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JumpMan and Archon
RichN_z 5th Apr 2011
JumpMan and Archon are still two of my all time favorite games. I've never seen them ported to another platform.
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Wait a second!
Gavello 5th Apr 2011
For a moment i thought this was an April's Fool joke, until i noticed this was posted on April 5th.

Looks awesome.
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
Michael Kelly 5th Apr 2011
@Gavello

I'm still wondering if Commodore forgot to take the page down after the 1st.
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
bobiroc 6th Apr 2011
@Michael Kelly

I don't think so. There was some news and blogs about the Commodore brand coming back with these types of computers a while back.

Aside from nostalgic reasons I see no purpose for these. They are OK machines but at $600+ you can get a much higher performing computer.
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C64 has 'option' for a blue ray drive
HollywoodDog 5th Apr 2011
While my iMac at home doesn't.

Advantage Commodore.
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
dustinday 6th Apr 2011
@HollywoodDog
If you buy this, you will actually own a computer, instead of that apple toy!
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
Fletchguy 6th Apr 2011
@HollywoodDog
Lol thats an awesome fact .
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
chris@... 5th Apr 2011
I'm wondering about the "Commodore OS"-
"Unleash your creative potential with our new Commodore operating system, a distinctive, attractive, advanced and stable operating system experience, that will come pre-loaded with dozens of the latest and greatest productivity, creativity and education software the open source world has to offer. Featuring dozens of exciting 3D games, the latest web browsing technology, a Microsoft Word compatible Office Suite, advanced graphical manipulation programs, 3D raytracing software, advanced software development tools and languages, photo and movie editing and sound and music composition programs, there is no task too big or too small for a Commodore or AMIGA to accomplish. "
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
Greenman76 5th Apr 2011
@chris@... I would love to see a dedicated gaming system, not sure that this is it, but sounds like a step in that direction.
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The Amiga 1000 never did get any Commodore respect .. then or now.
kenosha77a 5th Apr 2011
Perhaps the legend that Commodore never did like the Amiga because it was a computer which was designed outside of the Commodore engineering community is true after all.

Interesting that Commodore would bring back the 64 and not any of the Amiga Brands. Perhaps Commodore does not hold the rights to Amiga brand anymore and that would explain this "retro-modern" product.
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According to wiki
oncall 5th Apr 2011
@kenosha7777

The Amiga OS is currently licensed to Hyperion Entertainment even though Commodore also holds license to the Amiga trademark but not the OS. Go figure.
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
kenosha77a 5th Apr 2011
@oncall

Thanks.
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The VIC Slim is cool.
People 5th Apr 2011
..
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Considerinng...
AttackComputerWhiz 5th Apr 2011
I still have all my old hardware, I would seriously consider this for the heck of it. I see an HDMI port, so can it still hook up to a TV? There are some things I would love to see on a huge wide-screen just for the fun of it.
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
rgcustomer@... 5th Apr 2011
I'm confused. I already have C64 Forever. Why would I want to spend hundreds of dollars on this, when I could spend that money on external hard drives or something?
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
AndyPagin 6th Apr 2011
No doubt Sinclair Research will now bring out a new ZX81 with dual quads, raid5 and a terabyte of RAM for $99.
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
Peter Perry 6th Apr 2011
Give me one of these with an E-350 and I'm all over it!
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
Warp7533 6th Apr 2011
I bought a Commodore Pet when it first came out, number 150 off the assembly line, when I lived in Silicon Valley in the 70's. I then upgraded to the Amiga -loved it. I still have both and they still work. Lack of support killed them. Advantage - MS based PCs.
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
ThatWasUnexpected 6th Apr 2011
Now if they could put an LCD in one of those gigantic Commodore CRT Monitor enclosures, that would be epic....
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
d_britton@... 6th Apr 2011
I have the Original -- still in box, no monitor. Think I'll stick with that. Tx.
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
mtully@... 6th Apr 2011
Only if I can hack into the Pentagon's WOPR and play War Games like Tic Tac Toe
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
jmwells21 6th Apr 2011
It's not a C64 without a the 1571 5" floppy drive (OK, I had an operational C128 until two years ago), dot-matrix printer and cartridge slot! I can't be without Rootin' Tootin' (only the best pac-man-inspired maze game EVER).
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I'm holding out for an Atari 130XE
Jim Johnson 6th Apr 2011
BASIC was an optional language, not its OS.
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
Jeanmarin@... 6th Apr 2011
Too Funny, what's next the Amiga 128BIT??? Awesome though. Anyone have a PC emulator for free that will just run on your exiting PC?
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
Jeanmarin@... 6th Apr 2011
@Jeanmarin@... Funny thing is I just sent my Vic20 for recycling...
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
jlb1960 6th Apr 2011
Are youi sure its not an April fool just a bit late
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RE: The Commodore 64 is back!
gdprassem@... 13th Apr 2011
I wonder if this version still allows you to write your own programs?
This is bent

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