Keeping Up With The Commodore and the SX-64

[@spitzspitzer6117]

I do have one BIG request. Do more videos about Amiga. Quality of Your materials are just superb.

[@Stingray64er]

Amiga Love, what a great channel! And thank you for including Commodore 8-bit computers (including your C128 vids, btw, I love you C128DCR setup fully kitted out with CMD gear!) 👍👍👍

[@Stingray64er]

Subscribed 👍

[@75slaine]

"Are you keeping. up with Eric's collection, 'cause Eric's collection has far surpassed you ...". Lovely video as usual Eric. In the ever evolving situation of us having very similar tastes, I've finally gotten my hands on that C128D I've been after, YAY. Arrived pretty banged up by the courier, BOO!. It's salvageable so I'm getting there. Have the same. C64c case for a spares board I was given by someone in work that I managed to restore. It's my mod64, will be loaded up with all sorts of mods. One I'd dearly love it to have is a Mechboard64. I guess that's the next item to chase :)

[@AmigaLove]

I will never sing that song with those lyrics. Nor have I ever - I swear! >:) Congrats on the D!! Such great machines. I hope the case/keyboard wasn't damaged badly. Of course, my policy is to always have 2 of everything just in case I need a "donor" machine. But D's aren't easy to come by, I know. Where was yours made? I hope to see your mod64 some day when you're happy with it. Good times!

[@75slaine]

@AmigaLove The old 2 is 1, 1 is none mantra, I like it. I've been after a 128D for many years. Was kicking myself for not picking up a local one (incredibly rare to find) several years ago. Managed to find a good deal on eBay. Unfortunately the courier dropped it and the front panel got shunted sideways. Bent the floppy eject bar, snapped the floppy eject handle, smashed all the front panel support struts. Thankfully the machine shell and electronics all seem to be fine. Waiting on a local 3d print shop to print up some reinforcement/replacement struts for the front panel so I can put it all back together again.

[@oIdcomputergames]

Nice video! But you should make a video about the color to black & white converter used to get colors on your Sears Solid State tv! 😆

[@Shot97]

I've been going through episodes of the Computer Chronicles in order recently, and was quite disappointed when they got to a dedicated "portables" episode in 1985, and of course this was nowhere to be seen. I"m pretty sure I've seen it on that show at some point, maybe just because it made it easier to show off something without setting up a whole system, but yeah... I mean it's said at the end of every episode, this is made possible by the funding of people who are completely in the pocket of IBM, and therefore we really should not have been expecting them to truly give a fair shake to others. I'm surprised they covered the Amiga as much as they did, which wasn't much but certainly more than they covered any other inexpensive machine. They must have been getting screamed at in letters. Anyway, looks slick in black, reminds me of when I was given a VIC-20 rescued from the trash by someone who knew I was into the old stuff. Was not a fan of the white case so the first thing I did was put it in a modified 64 case, swapping over the badges, lol.

[@AmigaLove]

I love that show sometimes. It kind of gives me Bob Ross feels except with retro Tech instead of oil paints. They got quite a few heavy hitter future legends on that show too, which is pretty cool.

[@rahkuaschount]

The old computer shows and news reports were a product of the publishing industry. They truly hated the classes of people who shopped at K-Mart and would buy a C-64. They wouldn't deign to even step foot in one and their reporting reflected that. Commodore wasn't killed by bad advertising. It was killed by poor marketing to the "educated and refined" class of reporters and influencers who needed their egos...and other things... massaged. The people who could have made a difference needed to be spoon fed and flattered and Commodore did not know how to play the game.

[@Fratm]

Nice. I like that motherboard.

[@AmigaLove]

Do you have one as well? It's been great for years, but ever since the latest firmware enabling the Wifi I absolutely love it. Being able to search, mount and run literally any C= software ever made (and stored online) over WiFi (and copy it locally if I want to) is next-level.

[@SteveGuidi]

That's a beautiful C64c! What happened to the underside? Oh and I spotted what you did to the SX-64 at 3:14. 😉

[@AmigaLove]

The bottom of the underside of the 64C is just the nature of the current process with the original molds. I'm not 100% sure, but it I were to guess the plastics they use today are a different chemical composition. And for some reason some colors really show a lot of streaking from the pour and drying process. At least it isn't the top! (Although the tops do have their own issues, too, but they aren't nearly as noticeable.) As for the kernal, that OG owner actually did that for me. And... I approve!

[@RacerX-]

I have the exact same case. Other then the minor flaws that I guess goes with using old molds or inexperience, (?) it is pretty cool. Nice vid. I always wanted an SX-64 until I actually used it and like you said the screen is not great for text. They used a regular CRT sized shadow mask so the holes are too big for the size CRT it is. The result is a pretty obvious dot pattern. This could have been oh so much better with a better quality CRT.

[@AmigaLove]

You are absolutely correct. In fact, when I got my SX-64 a few years ago I actually didn't know about that inherent problem and actually contacted Ray Carlsen to see if he should repair it. He soon set me straight. Everything about the machine I got is museum-quality, however the keyboard membrane is definitely on its last legs and something I need to replace. I got the new membrane but haven't installed it yet. I need to get beyond my fear!

[@AmigaLove]

As for the imperfections in the plastic, I assume it is due to using more modern plastics (different chemical composition) that are fire retardant, don't yellow over time, etc. It can also have to do with how they are cooled. I know that with the Mega65 cases the 1st batch were quite flimsy and it was because they were being pulled off the molds too early. In any CASE ;) I really don't know. But regardless I do very much like the SX-inspired color scheme. It's a lot sturdier than my Plexilaser. =)

[@RacerX-]

@@AmigaLove LOL. You know when I first saw the SX in a store I was in awe at the screen and the whole portable deal. Of course I was a freshman in high school so my eyes were a little better then they are today. haha

[@AmigaLove]

Wow, I’m impressed you actually saw one in a store! I never saw one in the stores I went to back then.

[@RonHelton]

Carrying around the SX-64 helped to condition and tone my muscles for carrying an M-60 which also weighs 23 pounds. 👍👍👍👍👍👍🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@AmigaLove]

Hah! I obviously have more SX-64 lifting to do.