Megalextoria

I’m not sure exactly when this commercial is from but it probably would have been from around Christmas of 1987 or sometime in 1988. Pictured in this commercial is the Commodore 64C which was introduced in 1987. It was primarily a cosmetic upgrade to make it match the style of the newer Commodore 128. Functionally, it was identical to the original Commodore 64 (though you will get some argument from purists about slightly different sounding SID chips). It also had some internal changes to make it cheaper to produce, more efficient and more reliable (reduced chip count, lower voltage, etc.). This model would be produced for the rest of Commodore’s life.

The disk drive for the Commodore 64 was a separate 5.25″ unit connected via a kind of serial cable. It had its own built in DOS that you interacted with indirectly via the Commodore 64’s built in BASIC with commands like ‘LOAD”*”,8,1’. You could have multiple disk drives attached (at least four). The disk drive usually cost slightly more than the Commodore 64 itself which is why cassettes were a popular form of storage in many places. The disk drive also received a cosmetic upgrade to match the color and styling of the C64C and was known as the 1541C. The standard disk drive would get one more substantive upgrade pretty quickly after the 1541C was introduced in the form of the 1541-II which moved the power supply outside the unit into a separate power brick which helped make the drive much smaller. It also reduced heat build-up which improved reliability.

There were a couple of other floppy drives available including the 1571 and the 1581 as well as various 3rd party clones of the 1541. The 1571 was designed for the Commodore 128, was faster and double sided (no disk flipping necessary). It could also operate with the Commodore 64 and in 1541 mode. The 1581 was a 3.5″ 720K disk drive that could be used with either the Commodore 64 or Commodore 128. There wasn’t much in the way of commercial software released for it but it was useful for storing data and potentially useful for BBS operators as well.

Commodore introduced the revamped C64C in what was possibly the peak year for the Commodore 64. Virtually every computer game made was available on the Commodore 64 if not developed there first. And while games were certainly where the Commodore 64 was strongest, tons of applications were available too and even an online service made just for the Commodore 64. Quantum Link would later become AOL. However, Commodore 64 support dropped of very rapidly after that. There were a couple more pretty strong years but by 1990 things had pretty much fallen off a cliff in terms of support for the Commodore 64. At least in the U.S. In Europe the C64 would remain strong for a few more years. The Commodore 64C would stay in production until liquidation forced by Commodore’s bankruptcy happened in 1994. It outlived many supposed successors including the Commodore 128, Commodore 16/Plus 4 and to some extent, even the Amiga never really completely replaced the Commodore 64…at least not during Commodore’s life.