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  • Commodore CBM Model 3008

    Commodore CBM Model 3008

    https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/183816612916/commodore-cbm-model-3008

    Most people familiar with Commodore know them from the Commodore 64, or perhaps the Amiga or VIC-20. However, Commodore’s first widely available computers were the PET line. There were a number of models depending on the region and time period. The first PETs were released in 1977 with the PET 2001. In Europe, or at least in Germany, the PET name was already taken so a slightly revised version of the original PET was released as the CBM 3008 (pictured above). I don’t believe the CBM 3008 was available in North America but other very similar PETs were.

    The CBM 3008 was actually short-lived. It included the same BASIC as the Commodore 64 and VIC-20 so BASIC only programs are mostly compatible between those machines. The 3008 model was quickly replaced with the 3016 and 3032 models with 16K and 32K of RAM respectively. As you can probably guess, the 3008 only had 8K of RAM.

    The CBM 3008 included a 1 MHZ 6502 processor, 8 KB RAM, built-in BASIC and a built-in green monochrome 9-inch screen. They were probably most commonly used with cassette storage though disk drives were available as well. The graphics and sound capabilities were identical to the PET 4000 line though they aren’t much to speak of. Graphics were limited to 40×25 monochrome text and there was no sound. Despite the graphical and sound limitations of the PET/CBM series, there were still a variety of games as you can see from the screen shot above. The PET (and CBM) line were marketed to both home and business markets (at least at first). The peak of their popularity came during the 1979-1980 time period.