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Anyone actually try/experience a "Commodore USA" 64x or other?

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barythrin

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I don't recall why I was looking at the site a little while ago but I found it interesting (until I realized all their prices were bare bone cases and the systems are all $1200-2200 for seemingly little reason) that they've included DVI and not just HDMI. That combined with their linux operating system that they're calling "Commodore OS Vision". The interesting claim is that they're prepackaging WINE in their linux install (or maybe it's only with purchase?), also VirtualBox for emulating a Windows system again, and some sort of c64 type of support. They say with a single click so I'm guessing they have .d64 files associated with an emulator that gets called via the GUI.

They do say the OS is free which I was wondering, it's not overly obvious where to get it though (at least I haven't traversed all the links yet).

What I was wondering is with the 64x and "Amiga" (which looks nothing like anything other than an Amiga and Commodore logo) they have almost game worthy video cards (512MB GeForce GT 520 in the 64x, and 1GB Geforce GT 430 in the Amiga Mini), however it still says I think a dual core Atom processor in the 64 which I didn't think could handle much let alone any number crunching. Never used one though.

Has anyone posted a link of them gaming or a 3d capability review? It has XBMC which I thought was a cool featurette. Still that was all still a little high when I thought the price was $400, then after clicking I realize that only gets you a case which is pointless and yeah the while system is way overpriced for a novelty item.

If it was $250 I'd be tempted to bite just as a vintage looking home media center/player or gaming system on the TV.
 
I haven't even looked at this stuff since it was all first announced. The new Amiga case designs are fantastic, and I'm of the opinion that they're probably something like C= would've morphed to if they still existed today. The C64x stuff is nice, especially the breadbox. That said, I think I'd rather gut a dead original C64, use a keyrah, and dremel out the panel for the mini-ITX board, making my own PCB mounts with hot glue and a little bit of care. Maybe not as nice as a $400 custom case, but much, MUCH more affordable.

It really kind've sucks too - if they had their cases on sale at just a regular high price (~$250), they'd move. Instead, they price them astronomically high and only the zealous fanboys with too much money or not enough brains will ever have them.

Frankly...I think I'd contact the guy that bought out Commodore Gaming's remaining stock to see if he has any tower cases left with a C-KIN or two before I ever dropped $400 on one of these... those cases were nicely done, the C-KINs were amazing, and the cost to import them from the UK was around ~$250-275, IIRC. (I really, really wanted to see Commodore Gaming succeed - good product, fair prices for custom systems... this new company has some nice vision, but their prices are way too high for them to make it, unfortunately)
 
Not too hot on their prices and such myself, but I have to admit that the 'VIC-Slim' computer in a keyboard is pretty neat. (Might just have to have one if I ever get some cash ahead again, lol.)

Really, the recreation C64 and that VIC-Slim are neat machines, it's nice to see something with a bit of personality out there again. Though I find the other two 'mini' systems to be a little generic for my liking, tust look like cheap clones of that Mac mini that came out a few years back. In fact, couldn't a person basically build a PC in one of those cases and install some flavor of Mac OS on it nowadays for a hackintosh mini?
 
I'm really not sure these are worth what they are trying to charge, even more so since I'm sure I can create one myself for less, completely build.

On a side note though, I do wonder what's up with the stuff like DD3 memory on some of the pages. I've never heard of DD memory, sounds like a backup tape to me.
 
lol ok they typo'd DDR on one or two pages but still have it correct on a few too. I agree on the pricing, it's pretty ridiculous. I do almost like the c64 layout although I'm not sure how nice it'd be on a newer system or function key wise but as pointed out the back is ugly as hell just showing the obvious micro-itx motherboard sitting there in the plastic case. I'm not big on vintage case modding but I suppose if one was to truly have a trashed c64 or sold the guts then it might be interesting to set up a wiki on making your own case mod and installing their linux distro just to be friendly.
 
commodorejohn said:
The "VIC-Slim" is just a preexisting Chinese all-in-one with a badge and a substantial markup...
Click to expand...

So, where does one find one of these preexisting Chinese all-in-one keyboard pc's without the substantial markup? I've tried a little searching, and only managed to find results so far that have minimum order volumes of 500+ pieces, and still want $150~$180/piece for the 'barebones' 1.8ghz model...
 
chalackd said:
So, where does one find one of these preexisting Chinese all-in-one keyboard pc's without the substantial markup?
Click to expand...

In China, I guess... ;) or you can buy a notebook with a crashed display and remove the display part. And voilla, you get a sleek all-in-one keyboard pc (some hand-tuning needed if the display hinges stick out of the bottom part :p ).
 
WOW.

All I have to say. WOW.

CommodoreJohn, after seeing your post, I went to their website for the first time in about a year (since they were first shipping the C64x). They'e changed their offerings a LOT. The "Amiga Mini" is horrible! When I mentioned their beautiful Amiga cases, I was referring to the prototypes that they used to have on their pages for the various Amiga models... THOSE were gorgeous. I can't believe that they ditched the concept for such a generic-looking Mac-Mini clone.

And considering that it's off-the-shelf cases, I can't believe the 4-6wk lead-time on these things. They're obviously not keeping anything on-hand if they're still having to ship the cases out to get etched and configured.

Totally disappointed...

*edit

And now that I look through that ebay store listing, I see the other "Amiga" cases.... Very nice. At least they're "out there" should someone wish to pay the fees.
 
So, I requested a quote on one of the only 'PC-in-a-keyboard' computers that I could find elsewhere, available in single units, a Cybernet ZPC-D5.

For a 1.8Ghz Dual core, 2Gb DDR3, 1Tb SATA, and Win7 Pro x64 I was quoted a unit price of USD$645.00...

Seems to make commodoreusa's price/markup look not so bad...
 
chalackd said:
So, I requested a quote on one of the only 'PC-in-a-keyboard' computers that I could find elsewhere, available in single units, a Cybernet ZPC-D5.

For a 1.8Ghz Dual core, 2Gb DDR3, 1Tb SATA, and Win7 Pro x64 I was quoted a unit price of USD$645.00...

Seems to make commodoreusa's price/markup look not so bad...
Click to expand...

The Vic-Slim is a rebadged Great Wall U310. The Cybernet is a bit more fancy in that it has a built-in touchpad, optical drive, SD card slot, and an audio line-in jack (instead of only mic-in). The Vic-Slim lacks those features, and the entry-level model only gives you VGA video out, not HDMI, although you do get a numeric keyboard an an honest-to-goodness RS-232 serial port!
 
I have a barebones on order. :blush:

Yes I know it is overpriced for a miniITX case, but I had a couple of pounds sitting in my paypal account from some items I sold on ebay during a recent clearout and decided to treat myself to it.
Also with the barebones it can sit and wait while I collect the rest of the components over a longish time (board, HDD, optical drive etc.).

Barebones is the case including the keyboard and SD card reader.

I'm hoping that it'll make a useful 'portable' machine, somewhere in between the netbook and the full tower desktop, that can be used on a desk then plugged into the TV.

Had a couple of ideas about getting a broken datacorder and putting an external HDD in, and of using the DTV joystick axis combined with a USB joystick controller to use as a gaming input (and possibly mouse) to a suite of emulators.

So yes, it is overpriced - I don't often treat myself to something as expensive as this, but I liked it as it is a bit unusual, reminds me of my old C64.

I shall update with details.
 
Meh, plenty of other scoundrels in the sea. Overpriced computers aren't really that new of a concept. Let us know what ya think. Which model did you order? I'm curious what they do since I hear they do have some sort of emulator built-in their linux distro. Not sure if it's just a free one they're pretending is theirs or if they've done any real work on it.
 
barythrin said:
Meh, plenty of other scoundrels in the sea. Overpriced computers aren't really that new of a concept. Let us know what ya think. Which model did you order? I'm curious what they do since I hear they do have some sort of emulator built-in their linux distro. Not sure if it's just a free one they're pretending is theirs or if they've done any real work on it.
Click to expand...

I ordered the barebones which will allow me to build up my own spec of miniITX board etc. over time. Their fully built system was over $1200 (+ UK taxes) which was a bit more overpriced!

I have tried to use the Commodore Vision OS on my desktop, but couldn't even get it to boot to an X windows session. I didn't get time to look into the xorg.conf or anything. Its meant to be a fork of Mint. I'm sure the emulator will be Vice or similar. I think they give the option to boot into the emulator to give the classic boot screen.

As for the company, I'm not overly impressed thus far.
Initially my bank would not release the funds as it was to the states, when they did I emailed them asking did the order go through successfully as other than the initial invoice email I had heard nothing back. They simply replied last week - verbatim (punctuation and all!) - " yes, it will ship next week ". I was tempted to thank them for the intricate reply. Last night for some reason they sent an identical email - " yes, it will ship next week ". Not impressive when they can't even write an email.
Maybe they're annoyed "Why are you wasting my time when all you ordered was a barebones system".

Anyhow, I'll post details when it eventually arrives, unless I keep getting " yes, it will ship next week " emails every week.
 
lol wow. I wonder if they're using a non-english speaking helpdesk service. Pretty common but can often add poor communications with customers.
 
Please post detailed interior and exterior pix when you get the unit! Would love to see the guts of the thing. I've got a buck that they're using a Keyrah for the keyboard translations... Also, ISTR reading that they were using free software, which was why they were offering the "Commodore Vision" OS for download on their website? That would seem to answer the question about what they've coded for the C64 emulator. I suspect that while they spend a fair amount of time to customize the OS to provide the look that they wanted, that there is very little custom coding or custom emulation in the machine. That's not a knock against them, per se (why re-create the wheel if you don't have to?)... just a hunch.
 
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