Commodore PC compatible systems

The Commodore PC compatible systems are a range of IBM PC compatible personal computers introduced in 1984 by home computer manufacturer Commodore Business Machines.

This article is about 1980s IBM PC compatible systems manufactured by Commodore Business Machines. For the 2010s series of x86 computers, see Commodore USA.
A Commodore PC20
Close-up of a Commodore PC 20-III

Incompatible with Commodore's prior Commodore 64 and Amiga architectures, they were generally regarded as good, serviceable workhorse PCs with nothing spectacular about them, but the well-established Commodore name was seen as a competitive asset.[1]

History

In 1984, Commodore signed a deal with Intel to second source manufacture the Intel 8088 CPU used in the IBM PC, along with a license to manufacture a computer based on the Dynalogic Hyperion. It is unknown whether any of these systems were produced or sold.

In 1984, the first model released, the PC-10, sold for $559 without monitor ($1333 in 2021).[2] They were sold alongside Commodore's Amiga and Commodore 64c/128 lines of home and graphics computers. The PC10 was comparable in the market to the Blue Chip PC, Leading Edge Model D and Tandy 1000 line of PC compatibles.[3][4]

Models
Commodore PC30-III

The line consists of the following models:

First Generation:

Commodore PC 5:

  • The Commodore PC 5 is identical to PC 10 but with a Monochrome video card and only one floppy drive
  • Price: $1,395
  • Motherboard year: 1984
  • Processor: 4.77 Mhz Intel 8088
  • Standard Memory: 256k RAM on motherboard
  • Optional Memory: Commodore 380065-2 "256k" RAM Expansion card giving a total of 512k
  • Video Card: Hercules GB-101 MDPA (Monochrome Display and Printer Adapter)
  • Floppy drive: One 360k 5.25 drive. Could be expanded with the "Commodore PC910" floppy kit with gives a extra 360/720 3.5 Floppy drive
  • Harddrive: None.
  • Operating System: MS-DOS 3.2; GW Basic 3.2
  • Ports: 1x RSR-232 Serial port and 1x Centronic Parallel port.
  • Expansion slots: 5x 8Bit XT ISA.

Commodore PC 10

  • The Commodore PC 10 is identical to PC 5 but with a Color video card and two floppy drives
  • Price: NOK:18000
  • Video Card: ATI CW16800-A graphics solution (MDA, CGA, HGC & Plantronics color plus)
  • Floppy drive: Two 360k 5.25 drives

Commodore PC 20

  • The Commodore PC 20 is identical to PC 10 but with a 20 MB hard drive
  • Price: NOK 30000
  • Harddrive: 20 Mb Harddrive

Commodore PC 40

  • PC 40 is a different machine than the PC 5/10/20 series. Same Cabinet but with improved 16bit "AT" hardware
  • Price: ?
  • Motherboard year: 1984
  • Processor: Intel 80286 that runs at either 6 or 10 MHz choosable by the user
  • Standard Memory: 1 Mb Ram
  • Optional Memory:
  • Video Card: ATI CW16800-A graphics solution (MDA, CGA, HGC & Plantronics color plus).
  • Floppy drive: 1x 1,2 Mb 5.25 drive.
  • Harddrive: 20 Mb Harddrive
  • Ports: 1x RSR-232 Serial port and 1x Centronic Parallel port.
  • Expansion slots: 8x 8Bit XT ISA & 6x AT 16bit slots
  • Keyboard: 88 key XT style keyboard.
  • Cabinet: it has a key lock switch

Notes: The Commodore PC 40 is a 16 bit high-end PC 20 with a better motherboard and CPU. The PC AT is a PC 40 with a AT added to the name.


1985 "Second Generation":

Commodore PC 10-II

  • The Commodore PC 10-II is a PC 20-II with dual floppy drives and no hard drive.
  • Price: ?
  • Motherboard year: 1984
  • Processor: 4.77 Mhz Intel 8088
  • Standard Memory: 256k onboard memory
  • Optional Memory: Commodore 380065-1 384k RAM Expansion card giving a total of 640k
  • Video Card: ATI CW16800-A graphics solution (MDA, CGA, HGC & Plantronics color plus).
  • Floppy drive: Two Chinon FZ-502LII 360k 5.25 drive.
  • Ports: 1x RSR-232 Serial port and 1x Centronic Parallel port.
  • Expansion slots: 5x 8Bit XT ISA

Commodore PC 20-II

  • The Commodore PC 20-II is essential a PC 10-II with one floppy drive and one hard drive
  • Price: ?
  • Floppy drive: One Chinon FZ-502LII 360k 5.25 drive.
  • Harddrive: 20 MB Harddisk
  • Notes: The Commodore PC 20-II is essential a PC 10-II with one floppy drive and one hard drive


1989 "Third Generation":

Commodore PC I

  • The Commodore PC 1 is a low-cost, small size PC, meant for budget homes or office use.
  • Price: ?
  • Motherboard year: 1987
  • Processor: Siemens Intel 8088 running at 4.77 Mhz. (A 8087 FPU can be added to a empty slot.)
  • Onboard RAM: 512k RAM
  • Optional RAM: 4x 32k RAM could be added to four empty slots in the motherboard, giving a total of 640k
  • Video Card: Integrated Paradise PVS 2 (CGA, MDA, HGC and Plantronics)
  • Disk drive: 1x Chinon F-502L 360k 5.25 drive.(Optional 720k Commodore 1010 og 1011 can be added to the Amiga style Disk port on the right side)
  • Harddrive: the "PC 1-20" came with a 3.5" 20 Mb hard drive connected to the expansion port
  • Network: the "PC 1-NET" came with a Novell Ethernet 10 Bit card connected to the expansion port.
  • Options: Expansion box for connection isa cards and Harddrive. an additional 8 Ohm speaker can be added for sound.
  • Operating System: MS-DOS 3.20 and GW-BASIC
  • Ports: VGA, Component video, RSR-232 Serial port, Centronic Parallel port.
  • Expansion slots: Commodore "PCEXP1" is a special expansion cabinet made for PC1. this gives 3 additional ISA Slots plus a extra 5.25 drive
  • Keyboard: 84 Key XT Keyboard
  • Cabinet: Special small form factor inspired by the 128C

Commdore COLT

  • A PC-10-III for the American market with a different name.

Commodore PC 10-III

  • Price:
  • CPU: 4.77/7.16/9.54 variable MHz Intel 8088-1 CPU,
  • RAM: 640kb RAM,
  • Video: Paradise PVC4 card with CGA, MDA, Hercules & Plantronics.
  • Expansion slots: 3x 8bit ISA slots.

Commodore PC 20-III

  • Same as PC 10-III but with a 20Mb HDD.

Commodore PC 30-III

  • A downgraded PC 40-III with a 12MHz 286 CPU, EGA Wonder 800+ card, two floppy drives and a 20Mb hard disk.

Commodore PC 35-III

  • Identical to PC-30 but with a Cyrix 287 XL Co-Processor added.

Commodore PC 40-III

  • A 12MHz 286 system with 1Mb RAM, 4 expansion slots, on-board VGA, and a 40Mb HDD. It has a 5.25" 1.2Mb floppy drive. It has 3x AT 16 bit ISA slots and one 8 bit XT ISA slot.

Commodore PC 45-III

  • A 12MHz AMD 286 with 1MB of RAM, VGA graphics card.

Commodore PC 50-II

  • A 16MHz 386SX with 640Kb RAM, VGA graphics card, one 1.2Mb 5.25" floppy drive and a 40Mb Conner hard disk.

Commodore PC 60-III

  • a top-of-the-line tower PC for professional use.
  • Price: ?
  • CPU: Intel 386DX 25MHz
  • Optional CPU: A 387 FPU can be added.
  • Standard RAM: 2Mb onboard RAM
  • Optional RAM: upgradeable to 18Mb RAM via two expansion cards with max 8 Mb on each card.
  • Video Card: Paradise 88 VGA card
  • Floppy Drive: One Chinon FB-357 1.44Mb 3.5" and one Chinon FZ-506 1.2Mb 5.25" floppy drive.
  • Harddrive: It came with different choices of hard drive from 60Mb to 200Mb hard disk.
  • Expansion Bays: 4x 5.25 bay and 2x 3.5 bay.
  • Expansion Slots: 7x 16bit AT expansion slots + 2x Commodore Slots for memory card. 9 total.


Generation 4 SlimLine series

Commodore 286 SX

  • Price:
  • Description: Slimline computercase
  • Motherboard year: 1991
  • Processor: Intel 80286 running at 8/16 Mhz. (A 80287-16 FPU can be added to a empty slot.)
  • ROM: 64KB Phoenix Bios
  • RAM: 1MB onboard standard, expandable to 5MB
  • Video Card: VGA 256K Byte, expandable to 512K
  • Disk drive: 1x Chinon F-502L 360k 5.25 drive.(Optional 720k Commodore 1010 og 1011 can be added to the Amiga style Disk port on the right side)
  • Harddrive: 40 MB - (313241-02), 50 MB - (311839-01) and 100 MB - (311840-01)
  • Network: the "PC 1-NET" came with a Novell Ethernet 10 Bit card connected to the expansion port.
  • Options: Expansion box for connection isa cards and Harddrive. an additional 8 Ohm speaker can be added for sound.
  • Operating System: MS-DOS 3.20 and GW-BASIC
  • Ports: VGA, Component video, RSR-232 Serial port, Centronic Parallel port.
  • Expansion slots: 16 bit x1 (expandable to 16 bit x 3 + 8 bit x 2 by use of riser card)
  • Keyboard: 84 Key XT Keyboard
  • Cabinet: Special small form factor inspired by the 128C

Commodore 286-16

  • A 16MHz 286 with 1Mb RAM, VGA video card, 3.5" floppy drive and 2x AT 16bit expansion slots.

Commodore 386SX-16

  • A 16Mhz 386 with 1Mb RAM, VGA graphics card, 3.5" floppy drive and 5x 16bit ISA expansion slots.

Commodore 386SX-16

  • A 25Mhz 386 with a Cyrix 387 FPU, 4Mb RAM, Cirrus Logic GD-5402 VGA (512kb video RAM), 40Mb HDD, 3.5" floppy drive and 5x 16bit ISA expansion slots.

Commodore 386DX-33

  • A 33MHz 386 CPU

Commodore 486SX-25

  • A 25MHz 486 with 4Mb RAM, VGA video, 1x 3.5" drive and a 150Mb HDD

Commodore 486DX-33

  • CPU: 33MHz 486 with
  • RAM: 8Mb RAM,
  • Video Card: VGA video,
  • Floppy drive: 1x 3.5"
  • Harddisk: 150Mb HDD

Laptops

Commodore C286SX-LT

  • a 12Mhz 286 with 1Mb RAM

Commodore C386SX-LT

  • a 386 with 2Mb RAM and a 40Mb HDD

See also
  • 3D Microcomputers, a Canadian computer manufacturer whom Commodore Canada authorized to produce PC clones bearing the Commodore label shortly before Commodore International's bankruptcy in 1994

References
  1. "RUN Magazine issue 42".
  2. "TCP ad, Run magazine Sep. 1987".
  3. "The PC10 has Landed". Two of the PC10-2's most visible competitors for the home and school markets are the Leading Edge Model D and the Tandy 1000SX.
  4. "Run Magazine Issue 42 : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive". Internet Archive. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
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