Hi

OK Day 5 and 20 says to Christmas....

Today I feature the much loved Commodore SX64

http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com/amiga/amiga_scuzz262.htm

And I was Cardiff bound....

scuzz blog for the Commodore SX64

Bright sunny late weeks holiday if I recall and we had
just had the petrol scare about shortages, which amounted
to nothing. And I was off over the bridge to Cardiff. The guy
selling the SX64 and been shedding his kit and you could
see that he had been looking after his kit. This SX64 was
in ace condition and I didn't mind the very long trek into
Wales to pick this up. 

He had warned me that it he lived in the woods. I mean deep
in the woods, with just an unmade road leading to his home.
I struggled to find the route, and eventually had to phone
for directions. His wife answered and told me the way.
So I ventured through a field gate and down a farm track
to a clearing and a wooden building with open doorway.
I walked in and found not a home but a small cottage
business with two people there. I told the lady I had come
to collect the computer and she said it was on the desk
and I should take it. I decided before taking the computer
to look inside... Duh ! A Dell computer.. You gotta be joking.
I was just about to walk off with a faulty PC... Wrong address.
I told them I was after a Commodore SX64... and they 
hadn't got a clue what I was talking about.... further
up the lane.

Eventually I came across this white cottage high on a hill
overlooking Cardiff and there at the door was a young lady
with baby. She apologised for her husband not being there
and proceeded to literally kick the parcel across the hall
to me.  So heavy that she just pushed it.... I cringed.. I
couldn't go barging in... Anyway I retrieved parcel and
headed home.

I lay the thing on the floor and made a refreshing cuppa 
tea and reflected on the lady kicking an rare bit of kit
like this... Anyway I moved back to the lounge ... And
managed to kick the box with just my socks on. There
was a crack... A very large scream.. And I broke my toe
on the box... Was purple, blue and red for some good weeks.
So don`t go kicking the SX64... its bloody heavy.

And so to the SX64 which basically was Commodore`s
answer to the luggable.. Big beefy and bloody heavy.

[ blurb ]

The SC64 the worlds first colour portable toe breaker.

http://oldcomputers.net/sx64.html

Commodore SX-64 "Executive" 
Introduced: January 1983 
Released: January 1984 
Weight: 23 pounds 
Price: US $995. 
CPU: MOS 6510, 1MHz 
Audio: 3 channels 
RAM: 64K 
Display: built-in 5" color screen 
 40 X 25 text 
 320 X 200, 16 colors max 
Storage: internal 170K floppy drive 
 external floppy drive 
Ports: S-video, composite video 
 2 joysticks, cartridge port 
 serial and 'user' ports 
OS: Commodore BASIC in ROM 

[ quote ]

Although heavy at 23 pounds, it is a very nice and 
sturdy system. Almost 100% compatible with the C64, 
it runs all cartridges and floppy based programs. The 
only thing missing is the cassette port, which is a 
minor consequence. 
 
The SX-64 featured a built-in five-inch composite monitor 
and a built-in 1541 floppy drive, and weighed 23 lb (10.5 kg). 
The machine was carried by its sturdy handle, which doubled 
as an adjustable stand (like most CRT based oscilloscopes). 
It was announced in January 1983 and released a year 
later, at US$995.

The first portable color computer in the world. Released in the 
early '80s, these things were sold to business executives, but 
due to crappy marketing and bad business decisions, the SX-64's 
disappeared before the general public had a chance to catch on.

[ end blurb ]

And what do I think... A novelty. I bought a 5" screen TV back
in 1978 which I played through a hi fi and the picture was
pretty well impossible to use sensibly. Mostly listened to
things like Hitchhikers Guide, Faulty Towers and Not the
Nine O'Clock News along with Rising Damp... Not related
but in those days I had a very expensive Sony reel to reel
tape recorder, a Realistic amp, GB3 speaker system and
this National Panasonic TV. Music was generally Punk in
those days, Boom Town Rats, Stranglers, Elvis Costello
Jam, etc plus the odd sprinkling of Roxy Music, Kate Bush,
Queen and Judy Tzuke, plus Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd and
Mike Oldfield. Telly was as described but memorable for
Hot Gossip on the Kenny Everett show when on ITV not 
BBC. We hadn't quite kicked the crap years of Grease and
The Bee Gees Saturday Night Fever but groups like XRAY-Specs 
were making music all very enjoyable again...  Oh and Blondie...

er Rising Damp...

' ITV's finest and most enduring sitcom, distinguished by the 
magnificent acting of Leonard Rossiter, cast as Rigsby, the 
landlord of a rundown boarding-house in a northern university 
town. Rigsby was obnoxious - a nosey, bigoted, racist, lecherous 
but sexually frustrated, miserly, interfering wretch - but in 
Rossiter's hands he became somehow loveable. '

Anyway... that's my advent calendar entry for Day 5... And
guess what Day 6 tomorrow...

scuzz
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com

Hi

' On the Edge ' : the Spectacular Rise and Fall of 
Commodore tells the story of Commodore through 
first-hand accounts by former Commodore engineers 
and managers.

548 pages
Hardcover with Dust Jacket
6" by 9"
ISBN 0-9738649-0-7
Second Printing

Must get this for Christmas

scuzz
http://www.commodore-amiga-retro.com

SX-64