The Commodore name licensed again for a line of keyboard PCs
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted March 16th 2010 6:29PM
posted March 16th 2010 6:29PM
We've always had a soft spot for Commodore computers. Compact, economical, and robust for their day, they were ubiquitous throughout the 1980s. Unfortunately, the machine's glory days are long behind it, with little more than some gaming rigs and the tireless work of Ben Heck to keep the flag flying. But all that could change if Barry Altman has his way. As President and CEO of the newly minted Commodore USA, he's spent the better part of a year crawling through the arcane red tape necessary to get the rights to the Commodore name. And now? With any luck, later this year the company's monumental advertising campaign will have had its effect ("something like you've never seen in your life," as Altman described it to us on the phone this afternoon) and you'll be able to have your very own keyboard computer with the Commodore logo slapped on for good measure. Presumably based on the Cybernet ZPC-GX31, the exact configurations and pricing will all be spelled out soon enough. In the meantime, hit the source link to see for yourself. And please, guys -- make us a beige one, will ya?
holy %^$#
want
@BrianH why do u even want a computer? its so rediculous? years from now there willl be no personalized computers. it will all be connected to the same thing everyone will have the same processor. there wont even be plugs or cords. there wont be reasons to make lame crapgadgets like this aka bulky looking keyboards. all keyboards will be flat or chiklet, and thin. that is if you would like a chiclet style VS the air wave.
@BrianH
Like legion! hellz yeah
@emopoops dude...in the future food will be directly ingested into the bloodstream at 4 hour intervals so negative sarcastic little shits like you may as well stop eating today.
@emopoops Dude this form factor is 2L2Q, if your dying to get your hands on it now though, just buy a laptop with a broken screen $profit.
@emopoops It isn't as bad as it looks in the picture. It is only 1.5" thick, which isn't much more then some laptops.
The downside? It has a 2.5" HDD in there.
Of course, without the need for a battery, you think they could apply some more laptop technology, and make it no thicker then a standard PS2 keyboard. And then install a little touchscreen display in it... oh, wait, Asus already did that.
So basically what we see here is an attempt to sell a 2 year old failed design by slapping a name on it that makes us old farts whip out the credit card? How is this news?
@emopoops That sounds extrememly exciting but what about the now?
@BrianH Commodore's keyboard pc isn't out yet and the EEE Keyboard already pwns it.
@Drago except for the fact that the website boasts C2D or Quad core processor. I mean that 1.6GHz atom does pwn though.
@BrianH I want 1 too... it'd be cool.
@tbtregenza
It has been done, bro. It's called TPN - Total parenteral nutrition. I will give to my patients daily on the surgical floor.
@RLBurkes
I really don't understand this form factor at all - are peoples offices now really that small that there is no room for a real computer or laptop?
@BrianH
Same here. Well, for my dad at least.
High-end PC's for me.
@ScottishDan
And my wrists do go that high.
Gee. Do you think the comments on this device would be any different if it had an apple logo on it instead of commodore?
Does it include a 8580r5 SID Chip?
@RenegadeRunner
I actually have an 8580r5 chip sitting right here on my laptop
and a 6581 mfrd in week 22 of 1984.
wanna see?
very cool!!! I want one for every room.
Looks almost identical to a computer that system 76 used to make if i recall correctly. I love the idea and design but the website seems very sketchy. Anybody else notice that the store page had nothing and the contact page had the CEO's phone number? really the CEO gives out his number online for just anybody? I think ill just tape my zotac ion system to the bottom of my keyboard and call it a day.
@tomssss
here it is for sale by another company, Cybernet,
http://www.cybernetman.com/en/products/zero-footprint-pc/
Big deal! Its a Laptop without a screen...
C2Q is still pretty nice, but intel X3100 gpu, really? That thing was pretty bad even when it was new. At least they could go with the intel 4500HD, which at least has full flash and video HD support(My Vaio TT has this gpu and it perfectly fine for my needs and playing every video I have thrown at it).
I had a laptop with a defective screen. Ripped it off, covered the wires with duct tape, and bam, I had a keyboard PC.
Seriously?
Bring back the Commodore Pet. Looked like something Darth Vader would use.
@edf Chicklet keyboard FTW!
Is it x64 compatible..?
Load "*",8,1
@Vol
POKE 53280, 0
POKE 53281, 0
@Vol
SYS64738
@User Formerly Known as Dave
LDA #$00
STA $D020
STA $D021
@Vol
Oh, memories of having a BASIC prompt a quarter second after switching it on. Booting is for suckers.
lol nostalgia.
SYS 7
that hangs the poor thing also.
my favourite line(s) to perform on a display machine back in the day:
10 POKE 53280,0 : POKE 53281,0
20 PRINT CHR$(147);
30 PRINT "WELCOME TO GRACE BROS BURWOOD"
40 PRINT : PRINT
50 PRINT "ENTER PASSWORD: _";
60 SYS 7
... tee hee...
10 PRINT "LOOK AROUND YOU ";
20 GOTO 10
RUN
@Vol
PRESS PLAY ON TAPE
Whom do I give my credit card number to?
@2late2die Me
Don't even care what the specs are like, I'm buying one.
Great. Shamelessly milk the remaining $20 dollars out of a rapidly declining fanbase. Commodore Snuggies are next.
I checked the specs... DDR2 RAM, wifi G... and the placement of the DVD drive is ackward. Seems like they want it to be as useful as a vintage C64 would be today.
The best part? It syncs with your VIC-20 smartphone.
@psycros Another great idea! I'd have to get it with the 3K RAM expansion cartridge, though.
What's the point of calling this a commodore? It at least needs a dual boot with some perfect commodore os so the fans can actually use it.
looking back at the comments on the 2008 keyboard computer article, engadget commenters were WRONG WRONG WRONG. "so. it's a laptop without a screen?" lol. I wonder how many of those guys are now eagerly awaiting the ASUS EE keyboard?
What they have delivered does not interest me, they seem to have failed on every level.
What I would have preferred, Arm Snapdragon processor, Tegra 2 GPU, 8 GB internal flash memory, I SD card port, slot loading DVD drive on the "right" side. Built in wireless and Bluetooth, 1 ethernet port. Optical mouse instead of a touchpad, no number pad. And instead of DVI out, 2 USB ports, 1 eSATA, 1 HDMI port, standard video/audio out ports, you know so it actually works with a modern television.
@Dinochicken you forgot the cassette tape drive.
This thing has gotta have a cassette tape drive.
Does anyone else realize that the computer pictured is NOT the new commodore?
@Cam wait. Yes it is.
feel free to downrank me now...
Good news. Man its been a while.
CoOl hook it up to your iPad.