Old Skool Blog

Bil Herd, one of the key designers of the Commodore 128, popped into the Retrobits forum to explain how and why the Z80 made it into the Commodore 128. So if you ever wondered why the 128 had a CP/M mode, here’s the story straight from the horses mouth.

Damn! I just discovered that Jim Butterfield, one of the leading lights of the Commodore world passed away on June 29, 2007 after losing his battle with cancer. I remember reading countless magazine articles and one or two books written by Jim over the years - he was one of the more prominent computer authors in the 80’s and he will be sorely missed. 8^(

Time to dig out some old magazines and re-read some of his material…

I am often amazed at the price some items go for on eBay. For example, take this Vic 20. It comes complete in its original box, has an 8K RAM expansion cartridge, two reasonably common game cartridges and a couple of books. Now Vic 20’s have been less common recently, with only about one or two units appearing on eBay a month, but still, $227.50 (at the time I posted this the auction still had 6 days to go) is absolutely ridiculous! The seller even states that the box is “very worn”, so it is hardly worth extra just because it is in a box. Obviously this is a case of someone who really wants a Vic 20, but just hasn’t done any research on recent sales. $27.50 would be a reasonable price, maybe even $30-40, but over $200 is just plain silly.

Then there are the sellers who try to rip buyers off. Take this guy for instance: $25 postage on a cassette! The most it would actually cost him is maybe $3-4 including a padded post bag.

Sometimes you just gotta laugh…

Here’s a list of various kits and projects based on classic microcomputers of yesteryear. Some of these are true to the original (down to using original components where possible) while others are re-imaginings of old systems.

• Micro-KIM - A KIM-1 clone that appears to be reasonably true to the original, though with a few modifications and an added serial port
• Replica 1 - A replica of the original Apple, with a couple of “modern” enhancements (such as the option of a USB port)
• COSMAC Elf 2000 - A reproduction of the COSMAC Elf with some modern enhancements
• Roll your own PET 4032 - A PET 4032 clone based on the CS/A65 project
• Kenbak-1 Series 2 - A faithful reproduction of the original Kenbak-1
• Altair 8800 - A faithful reproduction of the original Altair 8800
• IMSAI Series 2 - Based on the computer that appears in War Games
• Sinclair ZX81 - Original Sinclair ZX81 kits - not a clone or a replica, but the real deal!
• Sinclair ZX80 clone - If you want to try building a ZX80 completely from scratch
• Jupiter Ace clone - Similar to the ZX80 clone above

I have a couple of the Sinclair ZX81 kits and will be ordering the Micro-KIM and Replica-1 kits shortly. As for the others, well I’d love to have them all, but can realistically see myself getting the COSMAC Elf and maybe a Kenbak. I’d love the Altair, but just can’t see myself being able to afford the cost.