website/content/museum/commodore-cbm-500-600-series.md

title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Commodore CBM 500 / 600 Series	Computers	Professional Computer	U.S.A.	1983	MOS 6509	name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos adverts hardware emulators links docs related oc_id source CBM 500 / 600 Series /media/museum/photos/commodore_cbm-610_1.jpg /companies/commodore Commodore label value NAME CBM 500 / 600 Series label value MANUFACTURER Commodore label value TYPE Professional Computer label value ORIGIN U.S.A. label value YEAR 1983 label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE Microsoft BASIC label value KEYBOARD Full stroke 94 key with numeric keypad and function keys label value CPU MOS 6509 (Zilog Z80 & Intel 8088 optional) label value SPEED 1 MHz (500), 2 MHz (600) label value RAM 128 KB (up to 896 KB, varying according to the model) label value ROM 28 KB label value TEXT MODES 40 x 25 (500), 80 x 25 (600-700) label value GRAPHIC MODES 300 x 200 (500), 512 x 512 (600-700) label value COLORS 16 (500), Monochrome (600-700) label value SOUND 3 voices, 9 octaves (700) label value SIZE / WEIGHT 46 (W) x 59.5 (D) x 46 (H) cm label value I/O PORTS IEEE-488, Serial RS-232 label value BUILT IN MEDIA Change according to the model label value OS ROM Based (CP/M or MS DOS optional) label value POWER SUPPLY Built-in power supply unit label value PERIPHERALS 2 x 170 KB or 500 KB or 1 MB 5'' floppy disc unit, 8088 or Z80 card label value PRICE £695 (500) photos adverts hardware emulators links docs 118 title subtitle text image BACK SIDE Back side of a 610 model. /media/museum/photos/commodore_600_back_1.jpg title subtitle text image ITALIAN AD I bellissimi... Courtesy of **http://angelmemories.cjb.net/** /media/museum/pubs/commodore_600_aditaly_1.jpg title subtitle text image CLOCK/CALENDAR MODULE Could be connected to any PET/CBM user port. Clock and calendar were battery backed up. /media/museum/hardware/commodore_pet_clockmodule_1.jpg title subtitle text image EPROM PROGRAMMER Could burn 2716 and 2732 Eprom chips. /media/museum/hardware/commodore_pet_epromprog_1.jpg title subtitle text image TNW-2000 IEEE-488 to Serial converter Thanks to **Pascal Rollin** /media/museum/hardware/commodore_pet_tnw2000_1.jpg title subtitle text image DUAL DISK-DRIVES Model 2040 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. /media/museum/hardware/commodore_cbm2040-dualdisks_1.jpg title subtitle text image 8050 DUAL DISK-DRIVE 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. /media/museum/hardware/commodore_cbm_8050_diskdrives.jpg title subtitle text image 8250-LP DUAL DRIVE UNIT 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! /media/museum/hardware/commodore_700_8250fddunit_1.jpg title subtitle text image 9090 HARD-DISK 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. /media/museum/hardware/commodore_cbm_9090_harddisk.jpg title subtitle text image 8023P COMMODORE TRACTOR PRINTER /media/museum/hardware/commodore_printer_8032p.jpg title url platform text Versatile Commodore 8-bit Emulator (VICE) http://www.6502.org/users/andre/index.html Windows title url text Commodore 500, 600 and 700 computers page http://WWW.DAVIDVINER.COM/cbm.php Interesting info title url text Larry's PET/CBM Pages http://www.portcommodore.com/petindex.php?path=main-cbmidx Excellent source of information for PET/CBM computers title url text PET index http://www.6502.org/users/andre/petindex/index.html Some useful info here about PET computers title url text The Commodore CBM-II page http://ca.geocities.com/SJGRAY@ROGERS.COM/CBM/ All things CBM-II title url text THE Independent Commodore Library http://freespace.virgin.net/ken.ross1/ All sorts of programs here, text files covering a wide range of subjects title url text TPUG - Toronto PET Users Group Inc. http://www.tpug.ca/ The Commodore PET Users Group, founded in 1979 ! (seems offline, mail us their new address if you find it) title url text www.commodore.ca http://www.commodore.ca/products/pet/commodore_pet.htm Excellent site with a lot of info about Commodore computers including dedicated PET pages title url text Web Wiz CAPTCHA http://www.webwizcaptcha.com Discussion about Commodore micros title url cover text COMMODORE BASIC VERSION 4.0 - USER'S REFERENCE MANUAL http://www.commodore.ca/manuals/default.htm /media/museum/docs/couvs/commodore_basic_4_users_reference%20manual.jpg [**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 url cover text COMMODORE PET MACHINE LANGUAGE MONITOR http://www.commodore.ca/manuals/default.htm /media/museum/docs/couvs/pet_machine_language_monitor.jpg [**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) /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 104 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230602012715/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=104 2023-06-02

The CBM 500 had a 40-column, 300 x 200 pixels display. Contrary to the 600 and 700 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.