Robert Hurst

This week marked the arrival of some more toys for my 1980s computer collection.  This time they are for the Commodore “educational” line of home computers: C16 and Plus/4.  What was remarkable about these two models — that succeeded only in production date to the popular VIC 20 and C64 and not in marketing & sales — was the improved BASIC and a different video chip capable of displaying 121-colors.  It also sported a new ESCAPE key, which was very handy with the improved on-screen editing of BASIC programs and for applications that wanted to manage the screen with varying sized scroll regions (windowing)

The C16 (16kb memory) was to succeed the VIC 20 (5kb) for low-end computing, breaking the $100 price barrier for a color home computer.  That was the model I chose when shopping for my VIC 20 replacement, snubbing the more popular and powerful “gaming” computer in C64.  It was time to get a bit more serious about my career in computer programming, and I convinced myself that this little machine would serve my purposes better in that pursuit.  I was right at the time in December 1984, but in hindsight, the C128 home computer I would purchase just 7-months later was the real deal.

Pictured here is the Plus/4 model, with a price-point outside of its targeted consumers, outfitted in its sleek casing and cool keyboard layout.  It came with the full complement of 64kb RAM of which nearly 60kb of it was available to its improved BASIC 3.5 and built-in machine language monitor.  Back then, outlets were trying to gouge consumers for $399. Today, you can typically buy these in near-mint condition like this one for around $20.

Plus/4, joystick, floppy, and datasette

I have to confess that owning this floppy drive was a bit pricey - about $90 Euros plus overseas shipping — and the cost of a U.S. to Foreign power converter from the local Radio Shack. Not one of my better purchases, however, I am pleased the transaction of getting this working dinosaur went smoothly and without any disappointing incidents that occur frequently. So, I bundled the order with the Datasette and Jack Attack game cartridge to make the total purchase a complete success for the seller at Tinchens Online Shop.  Here’s a picture showing the peripherals working:

Floppy and Tape works!

C16 game: Jack Attack

The 1551 floppy drive connector into the game cartridge port has a passthru connector to allow a regular game cartridge to be fitted, as seen here with one of my all-time platform favorites in Jack Attack.

Tags: Technology //