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Commodore PET 64 for sale...

Very nice! When in time were those PET 64/4064 and Educator made? I understand it must've been slightly after the C64 was released so autumn of 1982, early 1983? I'm unsure when the 8032-SK model was introduced, sometime during 1983? Just trying to put it in perspective, if Commodore had a surplus of those all-in-one cases and used them to produce sturdy C64's for schools while transitioning new PETs to the rounded cases.

Even more interesting as reports from some fairs in the spring of 1982, before the C64 was released, mentioned a Commodore 64 in a rounded case which to many parts better resembles the P500 than anything else. Of course there were a lot of rumours, prototype runs and so on which don't have to mean much.

Sorry for bringing the topic slightly out of focus, but I noticed you posted this in the Commodore section rather than the For Auction section so I guess it is fair game to discuss what's on sale and related products. :)
 
I remember them being available at least until 1985. There was a dealer in RUN Magazine who advertised them probably a lot later after that, but that dealer sold a lot of weird PET stuff. I remember the same dealer advertising the 9060 and/or 9090 hard drives absurdly late in the game too.

There were several circumstances around them. Commodore had a surplus of refurbished 64 motherboards. Schools were complaining that the standard 64s were easy to steal. And Commodore had a surplus of the old-style square PET cases. So they put the surplus boards in the surplus cases, which resulted in a cheap solution to the theft problem.

Commodore explicitly listed the PET 64 as being compatible with their public domain educational programs, which I think they stopped producing in 1983 or 84. So that would point to the PET/Educator 64s initially being available (or at least planned) no later than 1984, and wouldn't eliminate 1983 or late 1982.
 
So out of my own ignorance (I've read about them but not seen one) is there anything that it can do that a C64 cannot? What advantages could be gained by having this in a collection? (besides bragging rights and cool points)
 
They're just a 64 in a PET case, usually with a mono monitor, so if anything, a regular 64 is more versatile since you can hook it up to any composite monitor or TV and get color. But there are what, 20 million regular 64s out there? I can't find any indication anywhere how many PET/Educator 64s were made but I would guess we're talking tens of thousands. Just my opinion.

So yeah, you've got it. Bragging rights and coolness points, from those of us who appreciate this sort of thing.
 
If those models would've had one or two built-in 1541 floppy drives, they would have made quite nice machines. Something like a CBM 4032 but with redefinable graphics, sprites and SID sounds if one needs them in office suites. I understand you can connect a floppy drive externally, but having one or two built-in would make the whole kaboodle easier to transport and take slightly less space. After all, the CBM 8296-D has dual floppy drives and there were plans of a B-series CBM 720-D (if I remember the model number correctly) so Commodore definitely considered the all-in-one solutions.
 
Very nice! When in time were those PET 64/4064 and Educator made? I understand it must've been slightly after the C64 was released so autumn of 1982, early 1983? I'm unsure when the 8032-SK model was introduced, sometime during 1983? Just trying to put it in perspective, if Commodore had a surplus of those all-in-one cases and used them to produce sturdy C64's for schools while transitioning new PETs to the rounded cases.

Even more interesting as reports from some fairs in the spring of 1982, before the C64 was released, mentioned a Commodore 64 in a rounded case which to many parts better resembles the P500 than anything else. Of course there were a lot of rumours, prototype runs and so on which don't have to mean much.

Sorry for bringing the topic slightly out of focus, but I noticed you posted this in the Commodore section rather than the For Auction section so I guess it is fair game to discuss what's on sale and related products. :)

People often say that the Educators were thrown into surplus 8032 cases but I'd have to disagree. The Educators are in PET-style cases for sure, but both the top and bottom are built FOR the Educator. The top is moulded plastic with the correct cutout for the C64 keyboard, and the bottom has no cutouts on the back for "pet" ports, rather they are on side for the "C64" motherboard. I don't have my photos handy to confirm, but I'd bet that the plastic top has it's own unique commodore part number different than the PET (perhaps as simple as a -01 to -02 change).

As for the SK machines, Commodore stuffed standard PET motherboards into those cases which were clearly not designed for them. The 8032-SK machine I have has the motherboard rotated and elevated to make it fit, with port extensions via ribbon cable. Only the final CBM8296 has a motherboard DESIGNED for the SK casing. I must say though, that the 8296D must be the best-looking machine commodore ever released.

Yes, there was confusion at the time. The C64, Max Machine, and CBM-II machines (B128, P500) were designed at the same time and there was much confusion. As well, Commodore were designing the VIC 1.5 chip (40 column, pin compatible for VIC-20) so who knows what was called what...

And, yes, it would be cool for commodore to have released an Educator 64 with built-in drives. An old article by Jim Brain mentions that Commodore were developing "DMA" drives for the PET, and they would have been internal. I'm guessing that's the reason for the PET case re-design with the plastic faceplace in some models. Remove the plate and voila... access to the drives. You'll notice that those cases already have mounting screws for internal drives ;-) Unfortunately, the Educator64 uses the small-height case without cutout area, so no easy place for the drives.

For me, I'd love to see an Educator 64 in the new SK cases with built-in drives AND a nice colour monitor (I'd hate to think of the weight of such a machine). Better yet, a P500 motherboard instead of the C64 (since I'm a CBM-II lover). I'd build one myself but I can't find a 12 inch CRT that would fit. I suppose I could fake it with a 12 inch LCD but it wouldn't look authentic.

Steve
 
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