website/content/museum/commodore-c64c.md

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

title	categories	types	origins	years	cpus	params
Commodore C64C	Computers	Home Computer	U.S.A.	1987	6510A	name company company_name specs tabs photos hardware emulators links videos comments related oc_id source C64C /companies/commodore Commodore label value NAME C64C label value MANUFACTURER Commodore label value TYPE Home Computer label value ORIGIN U.S.A. label value YEAR March 1987 label value END OF PRODUCTION Unknown label value BUILT IN LANGUAGE Commodore Basic V.2.0 label value KEYBOARD Full-stroke 65 keys with 4 function keys label value CPU 6510A label value SPEED 0.985 MHz (PAL) / 1.023 MHz (NTSC) label value CO-PROCESSOR VIC II (Video), SID (Sound) label value RAM 64 KB label value ROM 20 KB label value TEXT MODES 40 columns x 25 lines label value GRAPHIC MODES several, most used : 320 x 200 label value COLORS 16 + 16 border colours label value SOUND 3 voices / 9 octaves, 4 waveforms (sound output through TV) label value SIZE / WEIGHT 41.4 (W) x 24.3 (D) x 5.9 (H) cm / 1710 g label value I/O PORTS RGB (composite, chroma/luma and sound in/out), 2 x Joystick plugs, Cardridge slot, Tape interfarce (300 bps), Serial, User Port, TV RF output label value BUILT IN MEDIA Cassette unit. Provision for 170 KB 5.25'' floppy disc unit (1541C) label value OS GEOS label value POWER SUPPLY External power supply unit label value PRICE $229 photos hardware emulators links videos title subtitle text image COMMODORE 64C null title subtitle text image LEFT SIDE null title subtitle text image FRONT null title subtitle text image DETAIL null title subtitle text image REAR null title subtitle text image REAR #2 null title subtitle text image GREY CASE null title subtitle text image KEYBOARD CLOSE-UP null title subtitle text image RIGHT SIDE From left to right:\ Dual joystick connector, power switch and socket. null title subtitle text image REAR SIDE From left to right:\ • Cartridge slot\ • TV chanel selector\ • TV modulator output\ • Audio, video DIN socket\ • Serial DIN socket\ • Tape recorder connector\ • User I/O connector null title subtitle text image COMMODORE LABEL Commodore label and warranty seal (intact!) null title subtitle text image MAINBOARD Can you help us in describing the function of each chip? null title subtitle text image BOX #1 null title subtitle text image BOX #2 null title subtitle text image BOX #3 null title subtitle text image 1530 C2N Tape-recorder The classic Commodore tape-recorder ! /media/museum/hardware/commodore_c64_tape-recorder-1530-c2n_1.jpg title subtitle text image CMD SUPERCPU The SuperCPU by Creative Micro Devices is an accelerator cartridge for the Commodore 64. It contains an W65C816S processor running at 20 MHz, providing 20 times the performance of the stock 6510 processor! CMD later added a SuperRAM Card option that could include up to 16 MB of additional memory. There is also a v2 version that offers native 128 mode support (also called SuperCPU/128). It is one of the most sought-after Commodore peripherals. Thomas Conté /media/museum/hardware/c64_supercpu.jpg title subtitle text image CMD RAMLINK This RAM expansion unit by Creative Micro Devices was intended to be used as a RAM drive to accelerate disk access. It is externally powered, and thus will preserve the data even when the computer is turned off. Thomas Conté /media/museum/hardware/c64_cmd_ramlink.jpg title subtitle text image FLOPPY DISK UNIT 1540-1541 It is connected to the C64 via a serial link.\ It is very very slow and can store 170 kb per disk. /media/museum/hardware/commodore-diskdrive_1540_1.jpg title subtitle text image QUICK DATA DRIVE **Cheaper and faster than diskettes.** This Quick Data Drive from Dean Electronics is dedicated to Commodore 64 and <$252$>Vic 20 systems. It uses a special tape called 'Wafer', of 16, 64 or 128 Kb capacity. This wafer was also used by a product marketed for the <$223$>Sinclair Spectrum, called Wafadrive. Various tests proved that the Q.D.D. was approximately 20 times faster than a normal cassette recorder and 2 or 3 times faster than the Commodore 1541 disk drive. The reason : data transfer routines (called QOS) much more efficient than those of Commodore, and a file management operating system (FMU) much more modern and powerful. The Q.D.D. is however not more than an advanced tape recorder using a magnetic tape, and the delay to access a specific file still remains higher than with a normal disk drive. Despite its qualities, the Q.D.D. did not meet success because most C64 software was sold on disks or tapes and users had to acquire both Commodore peripherals before investing in a third powerful storage system. /media/museum/hardware/commodore_64_quick_data_1.jpg title subtitle text image CMD HD-20 20Mb hard-drive This is a hard drive for the C64 or 128. SWAP-Devicenumber-Buttons let the HD become drive 8 or 9. It can create sub-directories and partitions, including 1541 emulation. /media/museum/hardware/commodore_c64_cmd-hd20_1.jpg title subtitle text image VICMODEM Advert You could already send emails !! /media/museum/hardware/commodore_vicmodem_pub_1.jpg title subtitle text image WERSIBOARD MUSIC 64 Thomas Conté /media/museum/hardware/c64_wersiboard.jpg title subtitle text image MODEL 1525 It can print all the semi graphic characters of the C64. (30 characters per second) /media/museum/hardware/commodore_printer_1525_1.jpg title url platform text CCS64 http://www.ccs64.com/ Windows The best C64 emulator for the PC title url platform text Free64 http://www.umr.edu/~bmartin/ Windows A Freeware emulator for MS DOS title url platform text MESS http://www.mess.org Windows This fantastic emulator can emulate the mlost of the 8-bit Commodore systems title url platform text Win 64 http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Park/6558/win64.htm Windows The Best C64 Emulator for Win95 / WinNT title url platform text Win64 http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/park/6558/win64.htm Windows Good Commodore 64 for Windows title url platform text Mac Frodo http://internetter.com/titan/macfrodo/ Apple The MAC OS version of Frodo, one of the best C64 Emulator title url platform text Power 64 http://www.infinite-loop.at/Power64/index.html Apple Emulator for PPC Macintoshes title url platform text SID PLay http://stud1.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426444/sidplay/ Apple A player for C64 Musics title url platform text ccs http://www.funet.fi/pub/cbm/crossplatform/emulators/unix/ Unix / Linux C64 emulator for Unix title url platform text Frodo for Amiga OS http://www.uni-mainz.de/~bauec002/FRMain.html Amiga OS The best C64 Emulator for Amiga title url platform text VICE for Amiga OS4 http://amidog.se/amiga/vice/ Amiga OS This AmigaOS4 version is ported by Mathias "AmiDog" Roslund title url platform text c64.gr http://www.c64.gr/ Other platform C64 online emulator. Play favorite games in your browser! title url platform text C-ONE http://c64upgra.de/c-one/ Other platform Hardware emulator (re-configurable computer) title url platform text Frodo for PalmOS http://frodopalm.sourceforge.net/ Other platform Frodo for PalmOS title url platform text VICE http://viceteam.bei.t-online.de/ Other platform Emulates the C64, C128, VIC20, all the PET models and the CBM-II under Unix, MS-DOS, Win95/NT, OS/2, Acorn RISC OS or BeOS !! title url platform text Web C64 http://www.dreamfabric.com/c64/ Other platform The 64 as a Java applet in your Browser. Excellent ! title url platform text C=64 Emulator for OS/2 Full Screen http://home.hccnet.nl/w.m.brul/emulator/index.html OS2 Freeware emulator for OS/2 title url text C64.COM http://www.c64.com/ Excellent and beautifully designed site, full of games to download. A must title url text c64.gr http://www.c64.gr/ C64 online emulator. Play favorite games in your browser! title url text c64files.com :: the ultimate C64 portal! http://www.c64files.com/ News, Gaming, Music, Museum, Links etc. title url text Commodore 64 - http://folkvagn.commodore64.org Info about the C64 and successors, C64 emulators and the SID chip. Also contains C64 programs and a forum. In Swedish only. title url text Commodore 64 Game Endings http://www.c64endings.co.uk/ All your fave C64 game endings under one roof. title url text Commodore 64 Nostalgia http://www.staggs.pair.com/c64/ title url text Commodore Scene Magazine and Importing Service http://www.commodorescene.org.uk/ New publications, hardware and software for the Commodore 128/128d and C64 title url text Commodore Service Manuals http://www.devili.iki.fi/Computers/Commodore/ Commodore Service Manuals & other stuff title url text Commodore-64 Programmer's Library http://home.comcast.net/~c64proglib many of Robert Baker's early original magazine articles, programs and programming tips (not free) title url text Commodore-related Net Resources http://www.hut.fi/~msmakela/cbm/netresources.html title url text Good Old Games http://speccy.altervista.org/ Many games with screenshot comparisons, download and magazines title url text Greg and David's C64 Web page http://www.ozemail.com.au/~gvincent/ title url text HV C64 CD's - The ultimate CD set full of software for the C64 http://www.talent.demon.co.uk/64/ title url text LEMON 64 http://www.lemon64.com/ The source for all Your Commodore 64 Gaming and News needs ! Quite impressive !!! title url text Mayhem64 http://www.mayhem64.co.uk/main.htm For all your C64 cartridge needs... and more! title url text Remixes of music from C-64 games http://remix.kwed.org Hear the tunes from your fav C64 games like you've never heard them before! title url text Stadium 64 http://s64.emuunlim.com/ Are you a sportgaming fan? Then this site is definitely for you! Over 1000 sportgames available for download. Lots of manuals, reviews, covers, adverts, screenshots, hints&tips, world records + a lot more! title url text The Commodore 8-bit WWW server http://www.hut.fi/~msmakela/cbm/ title url text The Secrets Weapons of Commodore http://www.floodgap.com/retrobits/ckb/secret/ Awesome website ! Presents all the weird systems imagined by Commodore. title url text The Star Commander homepage http://sta.c64.org/sc.html title url text Web Wiz CAPTCHA http://www.webwizcaptcha.com This is a bulletin board run on a Commodore 64! title url text Commodore 64c commercial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pST-xHh7pGc Length: 29 s title url text C64 assembly line pictures! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vzfJLVS2YI Length: 6 min 56 s author date text Gatton (US) Tuesday 17th November 2020 This was also my childhood machine. I miss turning our computers on and seeing a Ready prompt. Kids these days have it great though. I am typing this from a Raspberry Pi $35 computer. It can run all the old Commodores and Apples or anything else. Super fun! author date text Gatton (US) Tuesday 17th November 2020 This was also my childhood machine. I miss turning our computers on and seeing a Ready prompt. Kids these days have it great though. I am typing this from a Raspberry Pi $35 computer. It can run all the old Commodores and Apples or anything else. Super fun! author date text David from Hungary Thursday 1st August 2019 My childhood machine. My mom bought it second-hand around 1996, long after the decline of the 8-Bit era. After we moved on to Windows PCs, the C64C and its peripherals sat boxed in in the basement. This year, I refurbished them, retrobrighted their cases, added heatsinks to the sensitive components. Everything works like a charm, and it''s still a great experience to tinker around with them. author date text Fabio (Italy) Saturday 22nd April 2017 Fantastic Commodore 64C\ I play all day during ''80...\ I ''ve got C64C with old keyboard, see here:\ https://www.wemedia.it/commodore-64c-166.html author date text Julián (Argentina) Thursday 26th February 2015 C64C was my first step into the computer world. I was 12 (too old for a newbie nowadays) when my father and I went to the shop to buy it. Programming in Basic, playing games with friends, reading related books to learn something else... all was great with the Commodore64C!! author date text Pasquale (Italy) Wednesday 20th February 2013 This model has been the most selled in Italy up to 1994.\ I have got the mine on 1992/93 and that still works good now.\ I have wrote a lot of programs with it and after 20 years i am yet happy to make the same! Viva il C64! Regards from Italy / Un saluto dall''Italia author date text Dag Monday 5th November 2012 Marco: Try tinchens online shop on ebay ! author date text Andreas (Sweden) Thursday 3rd May 2012 This one is my favorite C64. It has better picture quality compared to my older C64:s and the sound chip does actually sound better except for old-style digitized sound. But if you have a look on the Vicious Sid demo, you will see that the 8580 chip is doing much better when playing samples using their mechanism. author date text Der Doktor (Germany) Friday 24th February 2012 The C64 was my very first computer and it still runs today - perfectly. I have many old computers but the Commodore machines are very special to me. I just love the very simple an classic design and the hardware capabilities.\ But no C64 and 128 is complete without GEOS, the best OS of all times. It''s still mindblowing what Berkeley Softworks has done. They really managed to run a GUI on a computer with only 64kB of RAM. It''s really amazing. author date text Marco (Croatia) Sunday 5th June 2011 I have C64C with the diskete unit etc, and everything works fine. The only thing I miss is one key on the keyboard. Anybody knows where to buy a keyboard for C64C? I would really like to have it in "one piece" again. author date text Jon (United States) Tuesday 31st May 2011 I had one of these. The only drawback was the sound chip itself. You couldn''t hear digitized speech very well. In my experience with one of these, the digitized speech were very faint. The chip used was a MOS 8580, which could be replaced with a MOS 6581, which worked better. Other than that, I liked the styling of the case. The board was very small, and used fewer chips than the previous model it replaced. author date text Simon Lyne (UK) Monday 11th April 2011 http://www.scribd.com/doc/40437/Commodore-64-Users-Guide Although this is aimed at a C64 the C64C is a C64 re-packaged. So the principle should still apply. I hope this helps, I just got mine powered up although there''s some repair work involved. author date text Shadow (USA) Friday 8th April 2011 Looked good with C-16 command keys by the way author date text Shadow (USA) Friday 8th April 2011 I have had several 64c''s over the years, I still have one in good working order, with stereo SID on-board and 1mb of RAM. Still have working 1581 and 1541-II drives as well, love to boot up old games now and then. I used to have a 2400 baud USR modem attached to an RS232C cable, but I can no longer find it, I do have a 1200baud automodem though, always wanted to fire it up and hit the old BBS''s again author date text MJ (Slovakia) Tuesday 4th January 2011 I own C64C bought at ~1989, but it has 8510 CPU (2MHz). I tried it yesterday after 12 years of its inaction plus 9 year of every day use with cassette dataset. All tapes run with no problem. Compare it with your CD carriers. My own have been unreadable after 3-4 years... author date text Antonio Alves Thursday 18th February 2010 I am a guy who had a machine like this one! I would want to think if the c64c form (with keyboard slope and other anti slope towards the grid) was based on the generic graph of the envelope generator: "attack" "decay" "sustain" "release" /$_\ / $ just like the commodore profile! author date text Kerry Fletcher (Toronto) Friday 13rd October 2006 I had one of these from December 87 until April of 1995. Loved it, tons of games (Epyx anyone?) First used Compuserve with this. I still have the 300/1200 baud pocket modem that plugged into the back of the keyboard. Don't know why I still have it. author date text Allison (Always here somewhere) Friday 6th January 2006 I have one of these computers and have heard many good things about the gaming days from my boyfriend. The only thiing I need to do is to hook this up to a tv, but not sure how to do it on a modern television, so if anyone has a inkling on how to do this, e-mail me. Please! author date text anthony (Lebanon) Wednesday 8th September 2004 Hy all, ihave the commodore 64c,\ and unfortunatley, i don't have the manual,\ and i would like to know how to use the tape,\ can anyone please tell me where can i find on the net the manual for the tape. or any tutorial ?\ assi@intracom.net.lb author date text A. Edmunds (UK) Monday 31st May 2004 I had the C 64 c+ in about 1988, The keys were a darker colour & the letters on the keys were in a different font. I had a device with mine (sorry i don't recall the name) which let you read & write magnetic strips on cards - I put the info from my switch card on my tesco clubcard & amazed my friends when i "accedentally" put the clubcard in the cash point & got money out ... i really should have kept it. The mouse came with a programme called Cheese which was rather like paint. author date text Mike Palmer (U.K.) Wednesday 7th April 2004 The 64C had the awesome SID chip, with 4 waveforms, ADSR envelope forming, modulation, and a host of other cool tricks. Many people forget the crap gameplay of some of the early C64 games, but few will forget the awesome soundtracks that cam with them. /museum/commodore-c128-c128d /museum/commodore-c64 /museum/commodore-c64-aldi /museum/commodore-c64-golden-jubilee /museum/commodore-c64g /museum/commodore-educator-64 /museum/commodore-lcd /museum/commodore-sx-dx-64-executive-computer /museum/commodore-vic-1001 /museum/eds-c64-edc 998 url date https://web.archive.org/web/20230530055621/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=998 2023-05-30

The Commodore 64C was simply the original C-64 repackaged in in a beige C-128 style case. Internally, Commodore integrated most of the hardware onto a single VLSI chip.

The new model did not differ much from its predecessor, the only innovation was the flatter case, which made the keyboard (which had off-white keys) more ergonomic (it looked like the C128 case), not as high as than the old one. But the new case did not only have advantages: due to its low profile and additional metal screening, some of the numerous hardware expansions did not fit anymore. This was changed with the C64G.

The official name for this model was "C=64 C", but nevertheless the German 64'er magazine decided to call it "C64-II" (because the first units didn't have the new name on the label at the bottom), the badges on most of the 64 C's just says "Commodore 64". They pointed out that this name was only valid for the 64'er magazine, but since the 64'er was the magazine for the C64 for a long time, the name was widely accepted and so this model is mostly known as "C64-II" in Germany.

Commodore took advantage of the launch of the 64C to improve its range of peripherals. The machine could be delivered with:
• the 1541C disk drive, internally the same as the previous 1541, but with a beige case,
• the 1541-II disk drive, a smaller 1541 with external power supply and a beige case
• The 1351 two-button mouse which could operate in either proportional or joystick mode,
• The 1802 color monitor which accepted both composite and RGB video signals,
• The 1764 RAM expander which plugged into the expansion port and boosted the system RAM to 256 KB.

First 64C were bundled with GEOS, developed by Berkeley Software, a good window and icon opating system, considering that it ran on a 8-bit processors and 64 KB of RAM.

Sadly, the 64C was launched at the wrong time, at a wrong price (about $80 more than the C64). At that time the competition was hard with the new Atari and Amiga 32-bit computers. The 64C thus didn't meet a large success, except in some European countries.