Commodore SX-64
The SX-64 , also known as the Executive 64 , was a portable version of the C64 . It contained a built-in 5 ″ (127 mm) color screen and a 5 1 ⁄ 4 ″ floppy disk drive compatible with the VC1541 . The computer did not contain a battery , but was operated on the normal power supply, weighed 10.5 kg and, according to the advertising text, had space under an airplane seat.
history
The SX-64 was sold from December 1983 at a price of US $ 995, in Germany the device was offered from the spring of 1984 for just under DM 3,000. The device was only sold between the spring of 1984 and 1986. Assuming that consecutive serial numbers were assigned, more than 49,000 copies have been produced worldwide: In the SN database on sx64.net there is an SX-64 with the ending number 049807.
Originally, Commodore planned a double floppy disk drive for the device, so at the Summer CES ( Consumer Electronics Show ) 1983 in Las Vegas a correspondingly equipped prototype was presented. The name Commodore Double Drive Executive 64 was initially chosen as the DX-64. Apart from this prototype, there has been no evidence of any salable product.
At the Winter CES, a prototype that was almost ready for series production was presented, which only had a floppy disk drive and was given the correspondingly changed name SX-64 (Single Drive Executive 64). The second drive, which probably fell victim to the red pen for cost reasons, should, however, be optionally available for order. Another prototype was presented, the SX-100, a largely identical device, only equipped with a black and white tube monitor. But this did not get beyond the prototype stage.
The DX-64 is occasionally mentioned in the enclosed manual, and a description of the device also shows a drawing of a computer with a double drive, but a "real" production model of the DX-64 is still not documented, so the Double Drive Executive 64 does probably never brought to market, only self-made ones can be found on the Internet, easy to recognize by the fact that the upper drive on the front panel has the designation STORAGE.
Areas of application
In fact, the SX-64 was used as a " representative laptop" at the time . Thanks to the color monitor, the days of displaying single-color text were over; you could now give the sales representative more complex graphics. Programs such as Multidata64, CalcResult64, Adress64, Member Management64 and Text64 were aimed at office applications , warehouse management and similar uses in companies. There were so many professional uses for the device. The traffic light system company SILA used the SX-64 to control and program their mobile traffic lights on construction sites. The company CIL Microsystems from Sussex / England offered a modified SX-64 as a measurement and control computer for the technical-scientific area, whereby the shaft above the drive was replaced by a measurement data interface (ADS interface), which has four analog inputs, two analog outputs, four digital TTL and four relay outputs. The company Tesa sent their sales representatives with specially converted devices called "Tesa label printer 6240" to the customers. The monitor was exchanged for a green monitor, the SID, which is responsible for the sound in the SX-64, has been removed, as have the controls for volume, brightness, contrast and color. The ROM contained special Tesa software.
technology
The keyboard of the SX-64 was detachable, had 66 keys in a QWERTY arrangement and also served as the cover of the computer case. It was connected via a cable with two 25-pin, D-Sub -like plugs.
Since the floppy disk drive was firmly planned for the device, the engineers omitted the data cassette port. The command routines for the tape control in the ROM that are no longer required were also omitted. However, this brought technical problems with it: External peripherals, such as the in-house parallel Centronics printer interface, which used this port as a power supply, could not be used here. Some programs also refused to work because they interpreted the missing datassette routines in the kernal as a computer error. The power supply posed another problem. In early versions of the SX-64, it was designed so tightly that Commodore's own RAM Expansion Unit (REU) refused to work because it was not getting enough power from the power supply. The weak power supply is also the probable reason why the second drive of the originally presented Double Drive Executive 64 was no longer available: The power supply would collapse if both drives were addressed at the same time. However, the power supply problem was corrected in the first device revisions. Just like the C64, the SX-64 had 64 KB of RAM . The standard font colors have been changed to blue on a white background to improve legibility on the small monitor.
design
The SX-64 bears a striking resemblance to the Osborne 1 , released two years earlier, and yet won an award for the industrial form. The term “portable computer” first manifested itself through such devices. Even if the batteryless computers are not considered portable in today's sense, they were the first mobile computers.
Differences to the C64
- Portable version
- Built-in 1541 floppy
- Changed Kernal ROM without data set routine
- Built-in monitor unit including speakers
- No connection for the Datassette
- No RF output for TV
- Built-in power supply
- Module bay above
Technical specifications
- Construction time: 1983 to 1986
- Processor 6510 , 8 bit
- Clock frequency: 0.99 MHz (PAL version, 1.02 MHz NTSC version)
- RAM: 64 KB (expandable up to 512 KB)
- ROM: 20 KB
- Operating system: Basic 2.0 (in ROM)
- Screen resolution: graphics 320 × 200, 160 × 200, text: 40 × 25
- Colors: 16
- Sound: 3-channel, mono
- Interfaces: 1 serial round ( CBM bus ), 1 video / audio, 1 user port, 2 joystick or mouse, 1 module slot
- Keyboard: 66 keys
- Built-in drives: Floppy 5 1 ⁄ 4 ″, compatible with VC1541
- Special features: built-in 5 ″ color screen , built-in power supply unit, no battery operation
Web links
- Schematics (English)
- Repair article from Ray Carlsen (English)
- More information and pictures of the SX-64 (English)
- Video of the presentation of the SX-64 in the WDR computer club in 1984
- Photos and information about the SX-64 at 8-bit Nirvana
Individual evidence
- ^ SN Database. February 17, 2010, accessed July 11, 2020 .
- ↑ SX64 Tesa labels. In: Commodore. October 6, 2018, accessed on July 11, 2020 (German).
