home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Loadstar 229
/
229.d81
/
t.commodore
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
2022-08-26
|
3KB
|
118 lines
u
COMMODORE USERS LOVE THE MACHINE
Most people think
the computers are outdated.
By Joshua Tehee
STAFF WRITER
The Oregonian
If Dick Estel's old Commodore 64
sees any use these days, it's thanks
to his grandson. "It's kind of a
dedicated Pac-Man machine around
here," Estel says of the machine,
which he purchased for $199 in 1987.
Robert Bernardo is passionate
about his Commodore One computer. For
10 years it was his computer of
choice.
Estel now owns a personal computer
for home use, but still has a fondness
for the old Commodore.
And he's not alone.
Once a month Estel meets with
other Commodore enthusiasts at the
Fresno Commodore User's Group, where
members watch demonstrations, share
software programs, and catch up on the
latest Commodore news.
The group is fairly small in
Fresno -- with only six active, local
members -- but has many out-of-town
members from as far away as Nevada.
"There's a worldwide community of
people who still use the Commodore.
We've never met them, we don't see
them, but thanks to the Internet there
is some form of connection," Estel
says.
Some are more dedicated than
others.
Robert Bernardo has taken his
Commodore 128D to another level. He
purchased it for $595 in 1986 and has
since added more than $2,000 worth of
upgrades, like an external modem
connection, extra memory and a 20-inch
digital monitor.
Bernardo, the president of the
user's group, is serious about his
Commodore. He doesn't own a PC. Any
work he does at home -- including
checking his e-mail -- is done on the
128D. For him, the familiarity, speed
and ease of the Commodore give it an
advantage over PC's. "If I boot up
from the RAMLink -- a battery-backed,
16 meg. RAM expander which holds
programs/data even when you power down
the system -- I can be word-processing
in about five seconds, or I can be on
the Internet text-browsing or checking
my e-mail in 30 seconds. A Windows PC
would still be booting up from
power-up," he says.
With upgrades, these computers are
pretty impressive for their age.
At a recent Commodore convention,
Bernardo watched streaming video of
"X-Men II" from a Commodore screen.
Some users link their computers to
MIDI instruments to create "Commodore
music." There is even work on ethernet
adapters as well as a Linux server
that will allow the Commodore to
interface with all modern printers,
flatbed scanners and CD writers.
Then there is the C-One, a
super-enhanced Commodore that will
eliminate many of the computer's
limitations, Bernardo says.
Still, there is a bit of nostalgia
within the club, Estel says. It
started as an educational meeting in
1983 and at one time had as many as
100 members.
One cannot deny the importance of
these computers.
During its run from 1983 to 1992
more than 17 million Commodore 64s
were sold, more than all of the
Macintoshes in the world, according to
old-computers.com. "A lot of people
who work with computers
professionally, that is where they
started," Estel says. "They may not
have touched one in 20 years."