Commodore 16 computer - rare U.S. version

The entry-level model from Commodore's ill-fated 264 series of computers. The C16 was intended to replace the VIC-20 but was not compatible with it or the C64. It was a total flop in the USA but was mildly popular in Europe due to its low cost. Eventually the remaining stock of C16s were sold off in Mexico and Hungary.

[@kz0313]

It's a normal C=16 vith terrible white painting. C=16 was very common in my country (Hungary) because it became very cheap after it's fall in the western countries. I think it was a very friendly computer with advanced and "clever" basic. Several C=64 game port made in Hungary for the 264 series (Barbarian, ELITE, Last Ninja, etc...) I collect old computers and C=16 (with 64k memory extension) is one of my favourites.

[@discusobscurum2194]

4:04 Just when I thought the paint job couldn't have been any worse... It was.

[@danxepha4535]

lol that paint job is hilarious!

[@jamesdecross1035]

Obtained one of these, here in the UK, just a few days ago. Very pleased to finally get my hands on one.

[@damienretro4416]

In Australia they sold a C64 "Family Pack" which included a 1531 datassette with a C64 adapter. They must have had lots of them left over after the C16/+4 flop.

[@und4287]

No, the 1531 Datasettes came with the mini DIN to card edge adapters.

[@abacero2009]

In Mexico the Commodore 16 was popular, since it was sold by a supermarket chain as an entry-level, affordable computer. It was my first computer in 1986. Unfortunately, the support was not so good and it made it fail.

[@JJsMessyBench]

Your local auto parts store should carry a spray can of plastic safe paint stripper, or "bumper stripper". Might be worth a shot.

[@vwestlife]

Bil Herd, the guy who designed these computers, has a video about the Commodore 116, the rubber keyboard version sold in Germany. He says the 116 is what the original design was supposed to be -- an ultra-cheap computer to sell for under $100. But Commodore's marketing department kept wanting to add more and more features to it, resulting in the Plus/4, which ended up costing as much as a C64 -- so then they came up with the C16 to try to get back to the original target price of under $100.

[@anticat900]

I did the same re-spray job to my commodore vic20, when my friends starting getting c64's for Christmas :-) I got jealous and tried to make it look like a c64.

[@fibersilkington]

If you learned to be an expert on computers by opening them and stuff as a kid... that means I might end up the same way! :D

[@Mr_Meowingtons]

that thing looks like it was in a fire!

[@thereasonforyou7048]

I HAD A C64 IN 80´s and recently after 30 years passed i bought another. CONGRATULATIONS DUDE FOR SAVING THAT RARE MACHINE AND IT´S WORKING..I supose you restored it make another video showing us how he looks today ok ?

[@Kundalini12]

If the Commodore 16 has a better basic version than the Commodore 64, I wonder if it would be possible to transfer it over.

[@siliconinsect]

At first glance I thought that was fingerprint dust! Bought a few systems from police auctions covered in the stuff.

[@starfleet-verdadero9808]

Many we learned we took our first steps at the level of programming, we even knew thanks to this computer, the assembly language that came built-in machine. It was a faithful computer to learn. Greetings :)

[@sandmanxo]

I didn't know that the 16 was a stripped version of the plus4. Commodore really dropped the ball after the success of the 64 by not releasing a computer that was compatible with it and a 256 color palette. As far as the paint, hopefully you can find something to strip it. I've had success with Goof Off in the past, but it wasn't removing spray paint either.

[@vwestlife]

Yes, the Super Expander 64 cartridge gave you an enhanced BASIC with sound and graphics commands.

[@Evan420]

LOL, I was known for taking things apart and breaking them as well. It all started with this Pixar I had back in 2009...

[@stunthumb]

Aww, I'd be tempted to paint it again, but get it painted chrome or something like that :D It reminds me of when you'd get a calculator that someone has painted with tip-ex.

[@Matthew28845]

1:23 The logo looks like an angry face

[@sensibleb]

I've been looking at the Commodore logo for 35 years and this is the first time I've noticed that.

[@jordanhazen7761]

"Chicken Lips" was popular among (ex) Commodore people. From Dave Haynie's page: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i2SXnpKOiK-UgqM

[@AthenaNova1]

I'm in the US, and my Mom almost bought Me a Commodore 16 at Zayre, but the guy at the electronics counter warned us off it due to a lack of software. I ended up with a Coleco ADAM. I loved that computer a lot.

[@CJ-rf9jm]

Was always fascinated by these but didn't get 1 till 2002 or so. I still fiddle with it occasionally. The memory management n basic language were really good.

[@blogueroconnor]

they were also popular in Argentina.

[@nickscott9129]

Here in the UK, later on in the C64c lifespan, I remember some of the bundle packages coming with the Datasette 1531 instead of the standard 1530. An adapter was supplied for connection to the C64c. Whilst mismatched with the colouring it was typical of Commodore to use whatever stocks they had lying around, and I am sure they had plenty of redundant stocks with the failure of the C16/C116/Plus-4

[@MichaelWeaser]

what I just realized just recently is that commodore was headquartered in the state i am from which was in pennsylvania , and also that that MOS technology was from Pennsylvania as well

[@reverendduke]

first computer i ever had. learned to program in basic and had several "tape drive" text based game i made. Wish i still had it if only for nostalgia reasons. other than that, i could not reccomend it!

[@starfleet-verdadero9808]

Many we learned we took our first steps at the level of programming, we even knew thanks to this computer, the assembly language that came built-in machine. It was a faithful computer to learn. Greetings :)

[@vincentrichnomd1265]

I do enjoy your KZbin channel

[@thepirategamerboy12]

My 7th Grade Social Studies teacher actually has this on display in he class. She just said it was some old computer that isn't worth anything, and she eventually threw it away, I think. What do you think of that?

[@ericsills6484]

The different cartridge port would have irritated me, but I'm guessing it was made different due to the differences in the video and sound.

[@dave4shmups]

Excellent and informative video as always vwestlife! No SID chip, but IMO, it still sounds pretty good! Do you have any games for it?

[@vwestlife]

The TRS-80 series uses CLOAD to load a program from cassette, but on a Commodore it's just plain LOAD.

[@dennisr2990]

Is this really a US version machine? It seems to have a British pound currency (script L) key: bottom row, second to the right in the main keyboard section, between the right Shift key and the = key. But then it would also have PAL video instead of NTSC. I've never seen any other US keyboard with a pound currency key.

[@vwestlife]

Yes, all Commodores had the same keyboard layout regardless of where they were sold. That's why you see the pound symbol on a U.S. version and the dollar sign on a UK version.

[@dennisr2990]

Thanks for the information. I actually owned a US version Commodore 64, but I don't remember the pound symbol key. I probably never used that key except just to see what character it output.

[@miked4377]

good video...i saw one of these at childrens palace back in 84

[@napomania]

in your (technical) opinion: was not possibile to update the firmware inside the Plus/4 togheter with the 4 bundled programs?

[@vwestlife]

Do you mean adding the Plus/4's integrated software to a C16? Maybe, but why would you want to?

[@napomania]

i mean for the Plus/4.. or maybe a better choice could be to change the 4 programs with 4 games, :-)

[@be236]

I wish I had this Commodore 16 in my Commodore collection...

[@wilkes85]

It's really cool how you hung onto it all these years. The paint job isn't pretty, but you were just a kid. I'd leave it as-is. :-) Hah, I used to do that when I was a kid too... I'd open things up and attempt to repair or modify them in some way, and I'd end up breaking them. The first time I did that successfully was when I replaced the speaker and power cord in my clock/radio (that I still use). I tried to add a headphone jack and a dial light, but that didn't go so well hehe.

[@ManiacalMichael504]

You could probably clean that up. I used Pine-Sol once to remove spray paint from plastic years ago. It didn't get all of it off but it was better than nothing. Depends on what condition the plastic underneath was in at the time it was painted.

[@krist0sh]

Looks nice. Shame you painted it though, but, well, we all were young and dumb (in my case the C64 we had got thrown away, before I finally found out about it years later)

[@anonUK]

Did they bring out the V3.2 Basic for the C64? Would you have to replace chips within the case in order to take it, or could you just run it off a disk?

[@BertGrink]

@anonUK As far as I know, the only BASIC upgrade for the C64 is the one called SIMONS' BASIC, which was usually in the form of a cartridge you put into the port on the back of the machine. Disk and Tape versions were also available, though. Anyway, this upgrade provided the C64 with 114 new commands and functions which remedied the lack of graphics and sound commands in the original BASIC.

[@vwestlife]

I could download tape images of C16 games, but I would need to get a joystick for it, or an adapter to let me use an Atari joystick, but it's not really worth the bother, because most of the C16 games I've seen don't look that interesting or fun to me. SteveBenway has videos of some C16 games on his channel if you want to see what they look like.

[@zacharyschwanke7080]

does any no how I can't get cheap working used comador 64?

[@KingHenryVR4]

I want to say my neighbor bought a Commodore something at a yardsale back in the 90s but took it back cause he couldnt get it work

[@legofan206]

Will you repaint it? I bet it would look nice

[@infinitecanadian]

Were these in Canada?

[@TRONMAGNUM2099]

Updated video of it repainted please

[@BillLykken]

I have had a Commadore 64 but I never heard of a Commodore 16!!??

[@dominikschutz6300]

You could get rid of the paintjob by washing it with a rubbing sponge and finish it with a fiberglass pen :)

[@the_jcbone]

Restore it! And put 64kB in there! Nice Computer

[@dklucas1]

I had one when i was younger,another downfall is that the computer did not understand peek and poke commands in basic

[@vwestlife]

It does have PEEK and POKE commands -- they just don't work the same as the ones used with the Commodore 64 or VIC-20.

[@LynxCarpathica]

Hey, I live in Hungary, and yes, the C16 ant the plus 4s are not really hard to find, nor expensive. as far as i can tell.

[@weepingscorpion8739]

Is there any Hungarian ebay-type website where you can find and buy these? Or is it better to be there in person to find one?

[@mikelee8520]

You made the C16 ugly by doing that. Now say after my, "What I naughty boy I am" And we will say no more about it LMAO

[@Commander64]

*poor thing* this machine need some TLC! are you considering maybe restoring/refurbing it?

[@vwestlife]

Its flaws are only cosmetic. It still works perfectly.

[@henriklarsen1504]

never knew about this computer

[@LordXelous]

C16 fanboy here... But, why oh why did you spray it?!??!!

[@mcfuson37]

Years ago I bought one at a yard sale for $5 but it dint work.

[@tmxl7847]

here In Mexico it was know as the "Sigma Commodore 16"

[@indiosse]

What was the amiga called then ? lol j/k

[@rvbrexer]

Rich E I think it was called the "Commodore Female Friend" , shortened to FF ;)

[@captaincorleone7088]

One of the many, many poor decisions by Commodore that over time contributed to their collapse.

[@windowsreviews1650]

They actually did go the the The 8-Bit Guy

[@armanelgtron4533]

The the the?

[@vgcs-vv2pj]

Commodore 16/116/Plus4 game in 2016: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpq5ip5qpMmaaq8

[@andrewdupuis1151]

wow i never seen that one befor

[@tefatronix]

nice

[@MariaEngstrom]

Lol! You totally molested that poor C16 with that questionable paintjob! :D I have a Plus/4, but video have stopped working so I guess the TED chip is fried, and I don't think I will fix it because I see no use in it. I prefer keep playing with the C128. :)

[@und4287]

The TED is not as reliable as the VIC series.

[@CountVarg]

It's Zed-ex not Zee-ex :)

[@vwestlife]

Not if you're an American. And the Z80 processor is an American invention so the Brits should stop calling it the "Zed 80". It's the "Zee 80"!

[@amberb9701]

+Markus Anton Sega was also an American company when it started out (Moved to Japan at a later date). Sega stands for "Service Games." So no, it's not pronounced Seega, and the chip is called the Zee 80.

[@vwestlife]

+Chris B And in Australia, they pronounce Sega as "seh-ga" (rhymes with mega) instead of "say-ga".

[@Matthew28845]

+vwestlife I'm American and pronounce it as seh-ga

[@numbers9to0]

Well this sad ugly thing would fit as a movie prop in a cyberpunk movie. :)

[@harunal-muhajir5555]

The C16 and Plus/4 are incredibly sexy looking precisely because of their color -- and you ruined it :(

[@Roflcopter4b]

Hmm, you must be from somewhere relatively near the Canadian border. Your pronunciation of "white" and other similar words is a classic example of Canadian Raising, though the way you pronounce "out" is clearly not raised. I'd guess you live somewhere around the great lakes, though possibly in northern New England. Uh, not that I mean to sound so creepy. I just couldn't help but notice that you keep pronouncing those words in such a Canadian way, and yet the rest of your speech is American.

[@vwestlife]

Roflcopter4b I'm from New Jersey.

[@Roflcopter4b]

vwestlife Hmm. I looked into it and apparently Canadian Raising, despite the name, is popular throughout a lot of northwestern America, including much of the area surrounding Philadelphia, such as most of New Jersey. Maybe I should learn to keep my big mouth shut. By the way, I like your videos.

[@MercedesCitarobusvideos]

Roflcopter4b Maybe you should :P

[@THOMASSU63]

Love the paint job! Ah, to be young and dumb again.

[@bilbojutebeutlin8386]

WHY?!? WHY THIS COLOR?!!?

[@tasbalaa9489]

Hungary yey!

[@Silverfox0786]

Europe????? This was made for the PAL market, Commodore was based in UK. It was more popular in Europe/UK than any other country. also the Sinclair was UK based too and its pronounced ZED EX not ZEE EX. alot of your facts are wrong here

[@vwestlife]

USA????? This C16 was made for the NTSC market. Commodore was an American company with their headquarters in West Chester, PA. Sinclair also had U.S. headquarters in Massachusetts and it was pronounced ZEE EX here because Americans say the letter Z as "zee". A lot of your facts are wrong here!

[@mjnurney]

Nice video however the Sinclair ZX computers are pronounced Zed X not zee X , very much as Jaguar is pronounced JaG U are not jagwar. The c16 is part of the failed TED range that was supposed to be introduced in 1983 as a cheap $99 computer to take on timex however by 1984 jack tramiel had quit and the marketing arm of commodore added extra built in software to the cheap plus4 and sold it as a premium machine which it was never intended to be. The c16 was also part of this product line as was another model which was never produced.

[@vwestlife]

mjnurney I am American so I use the American pronunciation of "Z". If you insist that the pronunciation must follow the product's country of origin, then I request all Brits to stop pronouncing the Z80 processor as "Zed 80", since it was designed and made in the USA, so you should pronounce it "Zee 80"!

[@mjnurney]

Don't forget Americans speak English and that is the county of origin is it not? Or did Americans invent that too.

[@danielbeaston]

+mjnurney sure English came from brits but we shorten and invented our own version of English just like when spain took mexico you have spain's verison of spanish and you have mexico's verison of spanish and how i see it its the z thing is the same as potato or po-TAH-to it doesn't matter

[@neillees2115]

+mjnurney why do some English, more specifically, some BRITISH people get so tetchy about pronunciation of the international language that is English? Do you rant at Canadians, Kiwis and Aussies, maybe have a go at South Africans too? Quit the snobbery.

[@mjnurney]

+Neil Lees hello, i wants aware it was a rant? just a comment. I'm saying thats how the British say it as the ZX Computers were British made thats all. Forgive me if i came across arrogant or forceful in anyway. that was not my intnention.

[@spamspamer3679]

can you help me with the rf port how can i connect it on my tv

[@vwestlife]

Use an RCA cable and then an RCA to F (coax) adapter to connect it to your TV's antenna jack. You can get these at Radio Shack if there are still any in your area.

[@spamspamer3679]

+vwestlife Im in the EU and i dont no how to connect with chinch or scart. where can i buy a scart cable for the c16

[@vwestlife]

spam spamer Look on eBay. It uses the same video cable as the C64 so it should be easy to find.

[@spamspamer3679]

That's the hundredth comment

[@vwestlife]

I might try some chemicals to remove the spray paint. Taken on its own, the C16 was a very good computer for its price, but it came too late -- by the time it was introduced, Commodore had reduced the price of the VIC-20 enough that both it and the C16 were selling for $99. So even though the C16 was technically superior, most people still chose the VIC-20 because of its far larger software library.

[@gettingpast4391]

Citrus Orange paint stripper

[@retroscener]

Contrary to popular belief, just because the Commodore 16 didn't sell great in the USA it doesn't make it a failure, as he points out it had moderate success in Europe and the UK with lots of games released for around 5 years which isn't bad at all. The scene is still very much active today. There were expansion cartridges released by 3rd parties boosting the C16 to either 32k or 64k. I own a 64k cartridge, but I've had my C16 upgraded internally to 64k. Terrible paint job btw, lol.

[@Werwil69]

Christmas 1985 my parents bought a c116 vor my sister as typing machine (of course useless rubber shit) and as an Atari VCS substitution (much better!). The Idea of the C+4 as a cheap small business solution was great, but the software was bad und the keyboard could better. Last but not least a german layout had been nassecary!

[@Phrennie]

I had one of these when I was a kid. It was a replacement to my beloved VIC-20, which was fried in a tragic power mishap. Great video!

[@PP-bs3od]

Europe or Mexico. Think about that for a minute.

[@twizz420]

Wow. That really is the worst paint job I've ever seen. Just wow.

[@vintagestuffguy1998]

Ah! Darn it! My plan for world domination using English pronunciation has been thwarted! You win. Keep up the good work with the videos!

[@SkazaTV]

pimp my computer

[@jnorthrop70]

I remember seeing these in the Hills dept store in Elmira NY back in the day. they always had cool video game and computer systems set up in the front of the store...my Mom would leave me there and enjoy some peaceful shopping time. I was a Vic 20 owner after returning a C64 that had an issue with static and would freeze up constantly...they were out of stock on 64s and the Vic-20 looked the same to me! A few years later I received a +4 for free when my parents were looking at Timeshares and I tried to pin out my own joystick and write a drawing program. I had it all done and went to show my friend, and the +4 apparently fried.

[@_brett_7893]

I had the 16!! Was my first too. Good times, circa 1984.

[@starfleet-verdadero9808]

Exactly :)

[@Ryoga2K]

paint the poor thing again man, I'm pretty sure nowadays you can do a much better paint job than what you did when you were a kid.

[@LiviuDragon]

the music sounds like an NES game console

[@und4287]

It's basically a Plus4 with 16K of RAM, no user port, no built in business software, a VIC-20/C64 style case, a proper keyboard, a different power input and a different power brick to go along with it.

[@Theshadowsnose]

This is the worst paint job, I've ever seen ;-) This machine was so very unpopular anywhere in the world. Here in Germany, they sold the C16's datassete with an adapter for the C64, because the had so many of them in stock that they couldn't sell. It was rubbish as a gaming system, but the basic wasn't too bad. With the C116 you can't even use the basic... the keyboard is horrible. They gained a little popularity when they were sold off at Aldi for 100/150 German marks (ca. $50/$75).

[@m2esectr]

I noticed that the function keys on this C16 are numbered in a different sequence than on my C64. On the C64 the function keys are given ASCII codes 133-140 in the order F1,F3,F5,F7,F2,F4,F6,F8. But your F2 key is where my F3 key is! So if you type PRINT ASC("{F2}") pressing your F2 key between the quotes, what do you get?

[@mheermance]

I saw a talk by Bill Herd who was the designer of this machine and never heard of it before that. He would be pleased to hear that you thought the BASIC was better. He also talked about why the C64 used that blue on blue color scheme. Apparently it was to work around a bug in the VIC-II chip which had blue display artifacts.

[@markforster4984]

What size is the barrel plug on the power supply?

[@marcinl4396]

big diode ? , made in japan

[@Lambonights]

I used a C16 back in the day. I hope you are going to consider restoring it. The missing plate shouldn't be that hard to track down.

[@vk4akp]

Vandal! That was a beautiful machine! Go to church now and repent you terrible sinner! Pray to the CBM God's for forgiveness! :( .-.-.

[@Dan-TechAndMusic]

Who is the CBM God? Jack Tramiel?

[@xaer0knight]

Commodore and Atari in the 80's didn't have a clue.. so many consoles and computers. Always trying for the next thing... you think SEGA would of saw what they were doing... but alias we got the 32X and then a rushed out the Saturn.

[@indiosse]

this is why bill gates is on to the biggest winner ever. you talk about a thin manual for the computer, where is the manual for windows you buy now. i mean what a business he has!

[@cleanycloth]

Man, that's quite dirty! ;) Very cool though!

[@arthurvandelay4225]

This was my first computer too, and it came with a very good book that taught me how to program.

[@kcinplatinumgaming2598]

Funny enough the commodore 16 and VIC-20 were used a lot in the UK!! I know my friend had one and I had the 16 plus 4 which was also a popular one now the C16 was not as common as the 64 or the VIC-20 and the Zed Ex Spectrum :D not Zee Ex lol but a lot of the 80s generation kids had them and we spent many hours in Manchester England playing on them !!! :D in addition when I was a kid I always wondered why its seemed better the 16 compared to 64 in ways and it explained in this video ... good video (y)

[@vwestlife]

Here in the USA, we pronounce Z as "zee".

[@kcinplatinumgaming2598]

yes I know :D

[@CJ-rf9jm]

I have a few of those UK C16 programs (all tape), all the 1's I really wanted to try were pal only (GRRRR)

[@n64ever]

YOU HAVE VIOLATED THE ZX SPECTRUM CODE OF CONDUCT!!! ITS PRONOUNCED ZED EX YOU RACIST!!! XD lol just kidding XD

[@LiviuDragon]

can it runs windows xp 😁