We did sell $1.2 billion worth in 1980 dollars. Thats all we wanted was one year of not having nothing to show, the next show was going to be the Amiga and the end pf the 8 bit era. Bil
Hard to believe anybody remembers these old things from 30 years ago. The C64 was definitely the rock star of the family and nothing would ever touch it. Given that we didn't make both the LCD machine and the C128 I think that CBM should have picked the LCD over the 128 as that was unique and innovative.
Bil Herd I don't know why CBM didn't just buy Berkeley Softworks, use GEOS as the defacto OS, and introduce the Commodore 512 as a midrange PC with hardware and software backwards compatibility. $399 - $499 would probably have been a good price/performance ratio. From what I understand, 256K of RAM had gone down to something like $7 by the time the Amiga was introduced. It would have been nice to have an 8 bit capable machine that still played all the old games, GEOS software and used my drives and printer that had some memory overhead to say, run in 16 bit mode eventually.
Steven Smyth GEOS already came bundled with most versions of the 64C and 128. And don't forget that Commodore was selling a full line of IBM PC clones in the late '80s and early '90s -- in fact, people have argued that Commodore was wasting too much time and money trying to compete in the PC clone market when they should've been focusing all their efforts on the C64/128 and Amiga lines instead.
I agree totally. I used to sell computers at Federated Group in Los Angeles. We were one of the few mass market resellers that carried both the Commodore PC-1 and PC-5. They didn't sell too well. I sold more C-64s and Atari 520s than anything else. I know that GEOS was bundled but they really should've brought it in house as, later on, GEOS became a front end for many DOS machines. The Amiga was simply mis timed. Even though the Toaster helped extend its life, piracy and advances in IBM clones and the Mac stopped it from continuing.
@Paperclown Correct. The RGB output is for 80-column mode only. For 40-column mode (including all C64 software) you will need a TV, composite monitor, or luma/chroma monitor (luma/chroma can also be adapted to work with an S-video input; it's the same thing as S-video, just with a different connector).
@MixerVM The C128's power supply is a large, heavy box with the cord attached to it... therefore it's nicknamed "brick on a leash", because that's what it feels like when you carry it around.
Thanks for that! We've come a long way in 20 years! In 1966, I bought a Commodore portable typewriter to use when I was in high school. Then in 1993, we bought a few Commodore 386 PC's for use at work. I think that the Commodore brand disappeared soon after that.
I grew up with these nice 8 bit machines, I had a Tandy Color Computer 2, Apple II computers and of course the ever present commodore machines. The best thing to learn form these old machines is how simple computers really are.
6:20 Maybe it crashed because you didn't exit PC mode with "X" first? I personally think the reason that it does this is because the switching in-between modes causes bytes to be written to the RAM and when it keeps switching like that, the system tries to overwrite bytes in the memory that don't exist because they've been redirected from the last time it was in that mode.
i had a flood last year during the summer. this very model of the commodore was fully submerged. the only piece of hardware that didn't get water in it was the disk drive. I let the commodore 128 and the brick on a leash air out for about two weeks, damn thing still works with no issues. they built them tough back then!
@vwestlife Well, that's the problem, more than likely. The latch is limp. So the head probably isn't clamping on the disc. I'll open it tonight and clean it while I fix or replace that.
It is an unmodified original C128 with 16K video RAM. The C128 can do 640x200 graphics in 80-column mode but it has to be custom programmed; you can't do it from BASIC.
Great demo! I have a 64, though it's not the one I had when I was a kid (that one broke down in 1996), and I still hold it close to my heart. I even remember wanting to make a Westlife program on my real 64, and I made an emulated one play If I Let You Go. I have re-created my screen art for that program on one of my videos.
C128 was a great system. I loved its 80 column mode; made bbs'ing so much more fun to do -- really turned it into a PC-like experience with sharp text and ANSI graphics.
@RisteardXD4 See if the head clamps down on the disk when you close the latch. Also while you're in there, you can clean the head with a cotton swab and alcohol.
Ok thanks. I want to get GeOS up and running on my C128D and connecting it to the net :) Geos can be installed as a chip on the C64, do you know if the same can be done on the 128 ?
Commodore went bankrupt in 1994. A German company called Escom bought their assets and continued making Amiga computers until they, too, went out of business in 1996.
Just booted up the 128 I dug from the closet. Still works 14 years after I found during a Commodore swap meet to replace the 64 (they don't mix well with sweet tea ^_^¿). Unfortunately, the disk drive seems shot. Powers on snd stands by, but returns a 'file not found' error whenever I try to load from a disk. I think the spring on the latch is shot or out of place. Would that cause the error? Or should I replace the whole drive? Amazon or ebay might have them...
You should really revisit this review, if at all possible… Even if it is just because of the _awful_ camera used to record this (which is a hindsight statement, of course)… There is a bunch of really interesting info in it!
Nice video there, VWestlife ! I had one of those C-128s, but mine had some sort of problem where it would "flicker", and it might've been the power supply that was the culprit. It was quite an advanced machine for it's time, and had the Amiga not been released, the C-128 might've done a little better. The C-64 (or 64c) and the Amiga was pretty much "top dogs" for a long time, and the C64 is still going strong today for those into nostalgia. Amiga - that's become an interesting "Art" all in itself. :)
I just found a commodore 128 in my in laws garage. Pulled it out and it still works! It has 2 floppy drives and a original commodore monitor. Any idea of how much this is worth? I also found frogger cart in the original box with manual.
Awesome video... I grew up on a VIC 20 and C64, and then abandoned them for Macs and PCs. I now have a handful of C64's mint in box and 128 and 128Ds I got from I don't know where for free I have never even powered up. The 128 is everything the 64 should of been, wish I had had a 128 back then instead of a C64. I did a lot of harcore ML & basic hacking on the C64. Thanks for showing how to do these very basic things in 128 land.
Still have my C128. It still works fine, just don't have any place to have it setup :(. It was the first computer we ever had. I still have all the stuff for it, I just wish I would have spent more time at the Commodore Computer store that used to be in Boise Idaho about 14 years ago :(, they of course got old and retired and mostly threw all of the old stock away, wish I would have known that, I would have been over there going through their trash pile. It was a pretty decent size store, software all over the place, printers, parts, accessories, etc.
Adam Raisbeck Yea. I love this machine so much that I want to ensure that I will never be without a functioning one. Have repaired one already, one of the CIA chips were broken, the one handling the keyboard.
I owned a Commadore 64 why back. I never had a Commadore 128. Interesting that it has Commadore 64 mode and 40 and 80 column mode that can be switched between 😀. Very nice 😀. The SID chip is awesome for it's advanced sound. I always liked Commadore more then Apple. I would have loved it if Commadore was still around. The Commadore Amiga computers are awesome as well. They can give Apple Macs a run for their money if they were still around. Interesting that the Microsoft copyright is on the Commadore 128 BASIC screen but not the Commadore 64 BASIC screen. Awesome video 😀.
I didn't have a CP/M disk for it. By the time the C128 came out, the market for CP/M machines was rapidly disappearing, so it soon became an irrelevant feature.
VWestlife If you can figure out how to write to a DS/DD 5¼inch floppy, and if you're interested, I can send you a copy of a CP/M system and a CP/M utilities disk.
My C128 (originally my dad's first computer) still works perfectly fine, but the monitor (1091) made a hissing moise and white smoke came out. I tried it the other day and it still worked, but when I turned it on it smelled burnt. Should I try to get the monitor repaired (since it kinda still works) or just get a new one
That's probably just the line suppression capacitor; those often burn out as they're placed directly across the AC line. Replace the capacitor and the monitor should work perfectly fine.
+vwestlife Thanks! I couldn't find any broken capacitors so I'll try taking it to my local repair shop to get it fixed, hopefully they can. Would be a shame to lose that 1901.
That wasn’t the bug… ?””+-1 (or for C128: PRINT””+-1 ) (without parentheses) is *supposed* to direct to Monitor mode. The actual bug described here is that entering, then exiting, then re-entering it four times in a row, _completely_ crashes the system. I can tell, even without having used an Apple II-e in YEARS, that this bug is _not_ present in its ROMs.
Apparently it actually cost more to produce than an Amiga, which would make sense when considering the complexity of two 8-bit CPUs compared to a single 16 bit one.
Gunship, Sublogic Stealth comes to mind first. they ran in 64 mode but if a 128 was being used it took advantage of the fast mode. I believe the Last V8 even had a 128 mode title that ran in 40 col.
***** Probably because they intended the C128 to be more of a business computer, and in that category, color wasn't that important yet -- and they didn't want it to compete with the graphical capabilities of the Amiga.
Yeah, clean the heads, or get a head cleaning disk. If heads are down, and it's spinning.. try another disk. There is a head alignment proceedure. I think it tool a whole afternoon. Needed a 'special' test disk, and trial and error. Luckily, yopu have only one side of the disk to worry about. Try ebay! They are around.
@rainxxxx They did make a few, most notability the Text adventures that took advantage of the larger disk space. Most of the graphical games basically ran in 64 mode and took advantage of the 128 processor.
We did sell $1.2 billion worth in 1980 dollars. Thats all we wanted was one year of not having nothing to show, the next show was going to be the Amiga and the end pf the 8 bit era.
Bil
Thanks for commenting on my video! :-)
Hard to believe anybody remembers these old things from 30 years ago. The C64 was definitely the rock star of the family and nothing would ever touch it. Given that we didn't make both the LCD machine and the C128 I think that CBM should have picked the LCD over the 128 as that was unique and innovative.
Bil Herd I don't know why CBM didn't just buy Berkeley Softworks, use GEOS as the defacto OS, and introduce the Commodore 512 as a midrange PC with hardware and software backwards compatibility. $399 - $499 would probably have been a good price/performance ratio. From what I understand, 256K of RAM had gone down to something like $7 by the time the Amiga was introduced. It would have been nice to have an 8 bit capable machine that still played all the old games, GEOS software and used my drives and printer that had some memory overhead to say, run in 16 bit mode eventually.
Steven Smyth GEOS already came bundled with most versions of the 64C and 128. And don't forget that Commodore was selling a full line of IBM PC clones in the late '80s and early '90s -- in fact, people have argued that Commodore was wasting too much time and money trying to compete in the PC clone market when they should've been focusing all their efforts on the C64/128 and Amiga lines instead.
I agree totally. I used to sell computers at Federated Group in Los Angeles. We were one of the few mass market resellers that carried both the Commodore PC-1 and PC-5. They didn't sell too well. I sold more C-64s and Atari 520s than anything else. I know that GEOS was bundled but they really should've brought it in house as, later on, GEOS became a front end for many DOS machines. The Amiga was simply mis timed. Even though the Toaster helped extend its life, piracy and advances in IBM clones and the Mac stopped it from continuing.
@Paperclown Correct. The RGB output is for 80-column mode only. For 40-column mode (including all C64 software) you will need a TV, composite monitor, or luma/chroma monitor (luma/chroma can also be adapted to work with an S-video input; it's the same thing as S-video, just with a different connector).
@MixerVM The C128's power supply is a large, heavy box with the cord attached to it... therefore it's nicknamed "brick on a leash", because that's what it feels like when you carry it around.
Thanks for that! We've come a long way in 20 years! In 1966, I bought a Commodore portable typewriter to use when I was in high school. Then in 1993, we bought a few Commodore 386 PC's for use at work. I think that the Commodore brand disappeared soon after that.
I grew up with these nice 8 bit machines, I had a Tandy Color Computer 2, Apple II computers and of course the ever present commodore machines. The best thing to learn form these old machines is how simple computers really are.
Man I forgot all about that "ping" sound and the garbled text when you crashed it. I used to do that a lot by screwing around with mine as a kid.
Yes, I heard of that on the Vintage Computing forums. This 128 would definitely be a good candidate for that!
6:20 Maybe it crashed because you didn't exit PC mode with "X" first?
I personally think the reason that it does this is because the switching in-between modes causes bytes to be written to the RAM and when it keeps switching like that, the system tries to overwrite bytes in the memory that don't exist because they've been redirected from the last time it was in that mode.
Amazing how much that housing and power supply look like the ones for the Amiga 500.
i had a flood last year during the summer. this very model of the commodore was fully submerged. the only piece of hardware that didn't get water in it was the disk drive. I let the commodore 128 and the brick on a leash air out for about two weeks, damn thing still works with no issues. they built them tough back then!
Great video! I grew up on a Commodore VIC-20, then C64, then C128 and C128D, then got a Commodore Plus/4 on e-bay.
@vwestlife Well, that's the problem, more than likely. The latch is limp. So the head probably isn't clamping on the disc. I'll open it tonight and clean it while I fix or replace that.
It is an unmodified original C128 with 16K video RAM. The C128 can do 640x200 graphics in 80-column mode but it has to be custom programmed; you can't do it from BASIC.
Great demo! I have a 64, though it's not the one I had when I was a kid (that one broke down in 1996), and I still hold it close to my heart. I even remember wanting to make a Westlife program on my real 64, and I made an emulated one play If I Let You Go. I have re-created my screen art for that program on one of my videos.
C128 was a great system. I loved its 80 column mode; made bbs'ing so much more fun to do -- really turned it into a PC-like experience with sharp text and ANSI graphics.
@vwestlife Yeah, that was my next step. Any particular thing I should look for? Never opened one up.
3:55
You can hear his hand getting shocked by static electricity XD
I kept it and now I use the commodore monitor with my NES. It works great for that because it has AV input and built in sound.
@Paperclown No. I appreciate it because I got it for free and it works. My two C64's see far more use and have not yellowed.
That Amdek color monitor is a real 80's classic! SO iconic.
How did you sync the cam to the monitor? I see no flickering/running bar.
That looks awesome...
@RisteardXD4 See if the head clamps down on the disk when you close the latch. Also while you're in there, you can clean the head with a cotton swab and alcohol.
I still have my C128 but used it mostly for C64 programs!
Ok thanks.
I want to get GeOS up and running on my C128D and connecting it to the net :)
Geos can be installed as a chip on the C64, do you know if the same can be done on the 128 ?
No, the keys work fine. I'm just used to keyboards with a more tactile "click" feel.
Awesome computer! I really want to get an old Commodore computer. Trouble is I can't find any...
Commodore went bankrupt in 1994. A German company called Escom bought their assets and continued making Amiga computers until they, too, went out of business in 1996.
I used the 128 for all my programming. It just wasn't advanced enough over the 64 to really catch on
Just booted up the 128 I dug from the closet. Still works 14 years after I found during a Commodore swap meet to replace the 64 (they don't mix well with sweet tea ^_^¿). Unfortunately, the disk drive seems shot. Powers on snd stands by, but returns a 'file not found' error whenever I try to load from a disk. I think the spring on the latch is shot or out of place. Would that cause the error? Or should I replace the whole drive? Amazon or ebay might have them...
You should really revisit this review, if at all possible… Even if it is just because of the _awful_ camera used to record this (which is a hindsight statement, of course)… There is a bunch of really interesting info in it!
You'll have to ask someone else, because I don't have a C128 anymore.
VWestlife That's a bummer. Oh, well… Better luck next time…! Still a nice video, though, as always!
@RisteardXD4 Try opening up the drive to better see what is going on with the mechanism.
Nice video there, VWestlife ! I had one of those C-128s, but mine had some
sort of problem where it would "flicker", and it might've been the power supply
that was the culprit. It was quite an advanced machine for it's time, and had
the Amiga not been released, the C-128 might've done a little better.
The C-64 (or 64c) and the Amiga was pretty much "top dogs" for a long time, and
the C64 is still going strong today for those into nostalgia.
Amiga - that's become an interesting "Art" all in itself. :)
Using the color keys on the keyboard.
I just found a commodore 128 in my in laws garage. Pulled it out and it still works! It has 2 floppy drives and a original commodore monitor. Any idea of how much this is worth? I also found frogger cart in the original box with manual.
@Paperclown They had a composite cable adaptor that let you use the RCA video input in 40 col monitors but it only outputted in monochrome.
Awesome video... I grew up on a VIC 20 and C64, and then abandoned them for Macs and PCs. I now have a handful of C64's mint in box and 128 and 128Ds I got from I don't know where for free I have never even powered up. The 128 is everything the 64 should of been, wish I had had a 128 back then instead of a C64. I did a lot of harcore ML & basic hacking on the C64. Thanks for showing how to do these very basic things in 128 land.
Still have my C128. It still works fine, just don't have any place to have it setup :(. It was the first computer we ever had. I still have all the stuff for it, I just wish I would have spent more time at the Commodore Computer store that used to be in Boise Idaho about 14 years ago :(, they of course got old and retired and mostly threw all of the old stock away, wish I would have known that, I would have been over there going through their trash pile. It was a pretty decent size store, software all over the place, printers, parts, accessories, etc.
Awesome computer, I have 5 of them just as insurance that I will never be without a functioning one. :)
You have 5?
Adam Raisbeck Yea. I love this machine so much that I want to ensure that I will never be without a functioning one. Have repaired one already, one of the CIA chips were broken, the one handling the keyboard.
Maria Engström shift register?
Adam Raisbeck Yea, but much more too... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOS_Technology_CIA
+Maria Engström Mind sending one over to Canada? I have a few missing keys on mine. Just a keyboard will do, even. :)
That's an interesting demonstration of some of the features. I have a C64 but don't have the power supply however.
I know the Go to 64 mode, once in 64 mode can you go back to 128 with without resetting/restarting, and pick up the 128 session where you left it ?
I owned a Commadore 64 why back. I never had a Commadore 128. Interesting that it has Commadore 64 mode and 40 and 80 column mode that can be switched between 😀. Very nice 😀. The SID chip is awesome for it's advanced sound. I always liked Commadore more then Apple. I would have loved it if Commadore was still around. The Commadore Amiga computers are awesome as well. They can give Apple Macs a run for their money if they were still around. Interesting that the Microsoft copyright is on the Commadore 128 BASIC screen but not the Commadore 64 BASIC screen. Awesome video 😀.
You didn't show CP/M mode. I think that's one of the coolest features of the 128. It allows you to program for the Z80 chip.
I didn't have a CP/M disk for it. By the time the C128 came out, the market for CP/M machines was rapidly disappearing, so it soon became an irrelevant feature.
VWestlife If you can figure out how to write to a DS/DD 5¼inch floppy, and if you're interested, I can send you a copy of a CP/M system and a CP/M utilities disk.
Thanks, but I no longer have a C128.
My C128 (originally my dad's first computer) still works perfectly fine, but the monitor (1091) made a hissing moise and white smoke came out. I tried it the other day and it still worked, but when I turned it on it smelled burnt. Should I try to get the monitor repaired (since it kinda still works) or just get a new one
That's probably just the line suppression capacitor; those often burn out as they're placed directly across the AC line. Replace the capacitor and the monitor should work perfectly fine.
vwestlife Thank you, I'll try to replace it
What does it do, anyway?
Marco Rebhan This web page discusses it (same principle as used in old radios): www.justradios.com/safetytips.html
+vwestlife Thanks! I couldn't find any broken capacitors so I'll try taking it to my local repair shop to get it fixed, hopefully they can. Would be a shame to lose that 1901.
Monitor repair is still a viable option. Do a search locally.
@localhbci Yes, the second register is $d02f for num pad.
If you have 122K free I guess that it has a memory expansion, I have memories of about 77K free on a bone-stock C128.....
Set your camcorder's shutter speed to 1/60.
I just tested the ?""+-1 bug on an Apple //e - it also crashes into the monitor there.
That wasn’t the bug… ?””+-1 (or for C128: PRINT””+-1 ) (without parentheses) is *supposed* to direct to Monitor mode. The actual bug described here is that entering, then exiting, then re-entering it four times in a row, _completely_ crashes the system. I can tell, even without having used an Apple II-e in YEARS, that this bug is _not_ present in its ROMs.
What do you mean by "brick-on-a-leash"?
could this do video editing back in it day
Really enjoyed that. Thanks! :) .-.-.
Apparently it actually cost more to produce than an Amiga, which would make sense when considering the complexity of two 8-bit CPUs compared to a single 16 bit one.
I still have mine but sound is going bad
Then wait a year.
Hmm i was thinking of Geos, than can boot of a chip and Contiki with web support, dont know if Contiki can be boot of a rom chip :P
There were quite a few games that ran in the 64 mode but used the 128s features when available, especially for load speeds and extra processing speed.
never heard of those games. Could you tell some examples please?
Gunship, Sublogic Stealth comes to mind first. they ran in 64 mode but if a 128 was being used it took advantage of the fast mode. I believe the Last V8 even had a 128 mode title that ran in 40 col.
Thank you very much :-)
I was just telling the guys in the office about how I used to write assembler code for this IN HEX!! Man I was such a geek :)
I never understood why Commodore never added the enhanced colour palette of their C16 and C Plus 4 computers to this. They missed a trick there...
***** Probably because they intended the C128 to be more of a business computer, and in that category, color wasn't that important yet -- and they didn't want it to compete with the graphical capabilities of the Amiga.
It was because of their desire for 100% backward compatibility.
TV Guide back then used C64
that beast spacebar ^^
The C=128 was a great computer.
Wish I had one again
That's the plan. In the meantime, the search for an old computer in an antique or junk shop continues...
This was my first Computer and I still have it :)
Does it say Microsoft Corp. in there? Holy crap
Looks like someone replaced a few keys.
No, they just yellowed differently over time due to slightly different composition of the plastics they were made from.
Yeah, clean the heads, or get a head cleaning disk. If heads are down, and it's spinning.. try another disk. There is a head alignment proceedure. I think it tool a whole afternoon. Needed a 'special' test disk, and trial and error. Luckily, yopu have only one side of the disk to worry about. Try ebay! They are around.
GO 64
The only command you need to know to use your C=128
A Museum of Computer Science???
Not that I know of.
I'm seventeen. A bit young to have an EBay account and PayPal account...
My first computer even before I could read ;_; it had Geos on it
これがマイクラを作ったコンピューターか…
notch first programmed on this computer!
@seethootss early days of the internets
Hi. They say this was a failure and is actually weaker than the 64? The name sure it misleading. 128 should be twice the power. God bless, Proverbs 31
looks like the junky xbox360 power supply,lol,lmao back in the orignal tron days kevin flynn icon
ebay
jeee .. reading the comments here was more interesting than your video.. boring. thumbs down.
looks like the junky xbox360 power supply,lol,lmao
@rainxxxx They did make a few, most notability the Text adventures that took advantage of the larger disk space. Most of the graphical games basically ran in 64 mode and took advantage of the 128 processor.