--- title: Commodore CBM 500 / 600 Series categories: - Computers types: - Professional Computer origins: - U.S.A. years: - '1983' cpus: - MOS 6509 params: name: CBM 500 / 600 Series image: /media/museum/photos/commodore_cbm-610_1.jpg company: /companies/commodore company_name: Commodore specs: - label: NAME value: CBM 500 / 600 Series - label: MANUFACTURER value: Commodore - label: TYPE value: Professional Computer - label: ORIGIN value: U.S.A. - label: YEAR value: '1983' - label: BUILT IN LANGUAGE value: Microsoft BASIC - label: KEYBOARD value: Full stroke 94 key with numeric keypad and function keys - label: CPU value: MOS 6509 (Zilog Z80 & Intel 8088 optional) - label: SPEED value: 1 MHz (500), 2 MHz (600) - label: RAM value: 128 KB (up to 896 KB, varying according to the model) - label: ROM value: 28 KB - label: TEXT MODES value: 40 x 25 (500), 80 x 25 (600-700) - label: GRAPHIC MODES value: 300 x 200 (500), 512 x 512 (600-700) - label: COLORS value: 16 (500), Monochrome (600-700) - label: SOUND value: 3 voices, 9 octaves (700) - label: SIZE / WEIGHT value: 46 (W) x 59.5 (D) x 46 (H) cm - label: I/O PORTS value: IEEE-488, Serial RS-232 - label: BUILT IN MEDIA value: Change according to the model - label: OS value: ROM Based (CP/M or MS DOS optional) - label: POWER SUPPLY value: Built-in power supply unit - label: PERIPHERALS value: 2 x 170 KB or 500 KB or 1 MB 5'' floppy disc unit, 8088 or Z80 card - label: PRICE value: £695 (500) tabs: - photos - adverts - hardware - emulators - links - docs photos: - title: BACK SIDE subtitle: '' text: Back side of a 610 model. image: /media/museum/photos/commodore_600_back_1.jpg adverts: - title: ITALIAN AD subtitle: '' text: |- I bellissimi... Courtesy of **http://angelmemories.cjb.net/** image: /media/museum/pubs/commodore_600_aditaly_1.jpg hardware: - title: CLOCK/CALENDAR MODULE subtitle: '' text: Could be connected to any PET/CBM user port. Clock and calendar were battery backed up. image: /media/museum/hardware/commodore_pet_clockmodule_1.jpg - title: EPROM PROGRAMMER subtitle: '' text: Could burn 2716 and 2732 Eprom chips. image: /media/museum/hardware/commodore_pet_epromprog_1.jpg - title: TNW-2000 subtitle: IEEE-488 to Serial converter text: Thanks to **Pascal Rollin** image: /media/museum/hardware/commodore_pet_tnw2000_1.jpg - title: DUAL DISK-DRIVES subtitle: Model 2040 text: This dual 5.25" floppy disk is single sided, double density and has a storage capacity of 170 Kb per disk, or 360k total. It's connected to the computer through an IEEE-488 interface and uses CBM DOS 1.0. image: /media/museum/hardware/commodore_cbm2040-dualdisks_1.jpg - title: 8050 DUAL DISK-DRIVE subtitle: '' text: |- CBM PET Model 8050 Dual disk drive. It uses a 100 TPI single headed drive with a storage capacity of 533,248 bytes per drive. Each 8050 disk has 77 tracks, and is read/write compatible with the model 8250 disk. This compatibility is limited to one side of the diskette. It can be used with Commodore Series 2001, Series 3000, Series 4000 and Series 8000. It uses an IEEE-488 interface. image: /media/museum/hardware/commodore_cbm_8050_diskdrives.jpg - title: 8250-LP DUAL DRIVE UNIT subtitle: '' text: The 8250-LP (for Low Profile) uses dual half-size double-side, double-density 1 MB capacity floppy drives. The main logic board is entirely different from the full-size 8250. It uses two 6502 processors! image: /media/museum/hardware/commodore_700_8250fddunit_1.jpg - title: 9090 HARD-DISK subtitle: '' text: This is a single drive non-removeable Winchester technology storage device. It features 3 platters with recording surfaces on both sides and provides 7.5 million characters of storage. A single random access file may occupy the entire capacity. It has an IEEE interface connector and a "slow blow" fuse on the back. image: /media/museum/hardware/commodore_cbm_9090_harddisk.jpg - title: 8023P COMMODORE TRACTOR PRINTER subtitle: '' text: '' image: /media/museum/hardware/commodore_printer_8032p.jpg emulators: - title: Versatile Commodore 8-bit Emulator (VICE) url: http://www.6502.org/users/andre/index.html platform: Windows text: '' links: - title: Commodore 500, 600 and 700 computers page url: http://WWW.DAVIDVINER.COM/cbm.php text: Interesting info - title: Larry's PET/CBM Pages url: http://www.portcommodore.com/petindex.php?path=main-cbmidx text: Excellent source of information for PET/CBM computers - title: PET index url: http://www.6502.org/users/andre/petindex/index.html text: Some useful info here about PET computers - title: The Commodore CBM-II page url: http://ca.geocities.com/SJGRAY@ROGERS.COM/CBM/ text: All things CBM-II - title: THE Independent Commodore Library url: http://freespace.virgin.net/ken.ross1/ text: All sorts of programs here, text files covering a wide range of subjects - title: TPUG - Toronto PET Users Group Inc. url: http://www.tpug.ca/ text: The Commodore PET Users Group, founded in 1979 ! (seems offline, mail us their new address if you find it) - title: www.commodore.ca url: http://www.commodore.ca/products/pet/commodore_pet.htm text: Excellent site with a lot of info about Commodore computers including dedicated PET pages - title: Web Wiz CAPTCHA url: http://www.webwizcaptcha.com text: Discussion about Commodore micros docs: - title: COMMODORE BASIC VERSION 4.0 - USER'S REFERENCE MANUAL url: http://www.commodore.ca/manuals/default.htm cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/commodore_basic_4_users_reference%20manual.jpg text: |- [**COMMODORE BASIC VERSION 4.0 - USER'S REFERENCE MANUAL**](http://www.commodore.ca/manuals/default.htm)written by Commodore  compiled/archived by www.commodore.ca\  type of document : PDF\  source : [www.commodore.ca](http://www.commodore.ca) - title: COMMODORE PET MACHINE LANGUAGE MONITOR url: http://www.commodore.ca/manuals/default.htm cover: /media/museum/docs/couvs/pet_machine_language_monitor.jpg text: |- [**COMMODORE PET MACHINE LANGUAGE MONITOR**](http://www.commodore.ca/manuals/default.htm)written by Commodore  compiled/archived by www.commodore.ca\  type of document : PDF\  source : [www.commodore.ca](http://www.commodore.ca) comments: - author: lodger (Germany) date: Friday 18th November 2011 text: I was just given one european (german) CBM 610 salvaged from destruction by a friend. There is a lot of confusion about these systems. The 610 and 620 models are identical to the american CBM 128-80 and CBM 256-80. The 6x0 computers were advanced 8 bit systems that featured BASIC 4.0+, the very powerful SID sound chip (MOS 6581) and were usually equipped with 128 Kb RAM (a few 256 Kb models were built as well). All 6x0 machines had character graphics only. Aimed at advanced hobbyists and professional users, these systems had no success at all. Yet, in germany the CBM 6x0 computers were actually marketed (I vaguely remeber a few ads in magazines) and almost all units produced in the german plant were eventually sold at very low prices by electronics vendors. The machine I now own was originally purchased by an architect who also owned two PETs. Looks like some people actually used these machines after all. related: - /museum/commodore-cbm-700-series - /museum/commodore-cbm-80xx - /museum/commodore-pet-200 - /museum/commodore-pet-2001 - /museum/commodore-pet-30xx - /museum/commodore-pet-cbm-40xx - /museum/commodore-superpet oc_id: 104 source: url: https://web.archive.org/web/20230602012715/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=104 date: '2023-06-02' --- The CBM 500 had a 40-column, 300 x 200 pixels display. Contrary to the 600 and [700](/museum/commodore-cbm-700-series/) it also had two ports for joystick, light pen and paddles. The CBM 600 was the same as the 500 but had a 80-column display and 256 Kb RAM. MicroSoft Basic was in ROM. Both models had an option for a second processor (8088 or Z80) to function alongside the standard 6509, the 6509 was then used for I/O, display and keyboard management. They worked under Commodore DOS or CP/M and MSDOS when the computers used the other processors. The 500 / 600 series was mainly sold in Europe, but a few models are known to have been sold in the United States. The model pictured here is a 610.