Commodore 64
Updated:11th April 2015
The Commodore 64 was released in August 1982. Selling an estimated 17 million units, it holds the Guinness World Record, as the highest selling single computer model of all time.Released at a very low price of DOLLARS595, the Commodore 64 can be said as one of the main contributers, to the video game crash of 1983. The nearest priced competitor to the Commodore 64, was the Atari 800, selling at DOLLARS899. Whats more, Commodore offered a DOLLAR100 rebate to anyone trading in another computer or console. Using this rebate, helped Commodore to effectively wipe out the competition.
In Europe, things were a little different for Commodore, the ZX Spectrum was half the price, and released a few months prior. Other competition came from Amstrad, and the BBC Micro.
In 1984, the first ever full colour portable computer was released, the SX-64, a portable version of the Commodore 64. These systems in working condition, are extremely rare.
In 1986, the C64C was released, a new look, and new SID, VIC, and IO chips.
1990 saw the release of the console based C64, the C64GS. This unit never sold well, and was only released in Europe.
Commodore's SID chip is a very powerful sound chip for the time, and has been responsible for many chiptunes. The chip is still in use today by a still active demoscene.
For full details on the Commodore 64, visit the C64 Wikipedia page.
