Commodore 64 (C64, bread box)

Summary

In January 1982 Commodore introduced the Commodore 64 (C64). The fans affectionately call the computer because of its form “breadbox”. At the beginning of 1983 the computer cost 1495 DM, later the price fell to 698 DM in the same year.

Like the predecessor, the VC20, the MOS CPU is clocked to around 1 MHz, which is rather weak. But graphics and sound chips are better than the competition. No other home computer of the generation offers such a variety of sound variations. Many call the C64 “Game Computer” or “Daddle Box”, but that was less a downgrading than a sales argument. There are about 17,000 commercial game titles for the C64. An important source of tips and tricks is the magazine 64.

Many computers were manufactured at the Commodore plant in Braunschweig. According to estimates, the sales range from 12.5 to 30 million copies. This makes it the most popular home computer of the Germans.

The normal C64 appears in different versions. Noteworthy variants are the SX-64 (1984), in which the computer is bundled with monitor and floppy drive. A special edition is the golden C64, which appeared in a small edition on the occasion of a million sold C64. Another rarity is the Educator 64 (1982), a C64 in a PET case. An outsider is also the Commodore 64 Games System (from 1990), a C64 without a keyboard. In 2018, the C64-Mini was released as a new edition of the C64 with 64 preinstalled games.