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Commodore 64 revivalist posts prototype PC pics

Closer to production, seemingly

Commodore USA's way-behind-schedule re-incarnation of the original Commodore 64 - it was supposed to ship in June 2010 - is moving ever closer to reality.

The company has posted piccies of its attempt to fit a modern PC's internals into a 64 casing, described as a prototype.

"This is not the plastic, color or finish that the production units will have," the firm pledges.

Commodore 64

This version includes an optical drive and memory card port selection in place of the Rom cartridge and cassette deck connectors of the past.

Will it ever make it to market? We hope so - and that it appears before potential buyers forget what Commodore was.

Commodore 64

The original operation went bust in 1994, 12 years after the release of the first Commmodore 64. The Commodore brand - after a lengthy jaunt around Europe, passing through the hands of various companies - is now seemingly in the hands of Dutch legal entity Commodore Licensing BV.

Commodore 64

Commodore USA set up shop last year, launching in March 2010 with the promise to release a new-look 64-esque machine called the Phoenix and, later, the true 64-alike. Of which the Commodore USA website has many more pics. ®

Anyone could put a nano-ITX motherboard into a plastic box.

This isn't deserving of the C64 name. It is no more groundbreaking than if I made a coat rack out of a board and five hooks I bought from a hardware store, and put an Ikea logo on it.

Commodore 64 is dead. It was beautiful while it lived, but it's gone now. So quit digging up its bones and wiggling its jawbone while yelling, "No, really, look, I'm not dead!"

9
1

Forget this

Anyone can stick a PC in a shoebox. Show us something interesting like the Amiga X1000.

7
0

Just one question.....

Why bother?

7
1

Only one reason

To make money out of people who think a fitting tribute to a truly innovative machine is to shoehorn a low power PC into a mock-up of the great machine its self.

I'd rather spend an evening tinkering with the original, relearning long lost skills, but then I do consider myself a computer geek.

3
0

Great Idea!!

I love this so much I am thinking of marketing my own versions! Yes!! I think I have an old ZX80 case lying around...ah here it is.... now let's see if I can cram a small PC Motherboard into it... great. Next product..... an old Dragon 64 case with.... yes you guessed it - a small PC motherboard in it. Super. I still have an old Oric-1 round here somehwere.....

For my next trick - an Breville Snack & Sandwich Maker with a small PC motherboard in it! Finally, a Goblin Teasmade with a small PC motherboard in it......no wait! Come back! These things are really really innovative you know......

(My coat is the white canvas one with the brown leather straps and the long arms that go round the back.....)

2
0

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