Commodore User (May 1984)

Source: Commodore User – Issue Number 8 – May 1984

Commodore User is a magazine that was published in the U.K. and dedicated to Commodore computers. It had a print run of 77 issues over nearly a 7 year stretch. It mainly featured the Commodore 64 but also covered other Commodore computers such as the VIC-20, Plus/4 and Commodore 16 and later on the Amiga. The May 1984 issue includes:

A Basic Weekend – Review of a weekend getaway to learn BASIC on the Commodore 64 including a two night hotel stay.

DIY Extendiboard for the Vic – A do-it-yourself RAM expansion board for the VIC-20 with 3K onboard and sockets for more.

Vic-Graf – Review of a VIC-20 cartridge that allows you to create graphs for any user defined function.

A page for Forth – Part 2 of a detailed review of Vic-Forth, a Forth language implementation on the VIC-20 that comes in cartridge format.

Victuals – A type-in Word Search program for the VIC-20, a Tape Index program for the VIC-20 that allows you to save up to 9 programs to a tape and access them via a menu, and an type-in program for the Commodore 64 that gives you an on-screen clock, a Jargon Generator for the Commodore 64, and more.

Screen Scene for Vic – Reviews of VIC-20 games, including Antimatter Splatter, Catcha Troopa, Chocabloc, Countdown, Exterminator, Fly Snatcher, Jogger, Meter Mania, Vixplode, and The Golden Apples of Zeus.

Take-away 64 – the SX-64 reviewed – A review of the Commodore SX-64, a portable Commodore 64. With a built-in color screen, this machine was absolutely amazing for the time but it wasn’t cheap.

Multiplan – the ultimate 64 spreadsheet? – Spreadsheet software was one of the early killer apps for personal computers. This is a review of one of the better ones available for the Commodore 64 in its early days.

64 Screen scene – disk game special – Commodore 64 game reviews including Aztec Challenge, Forbidden Forest (an early survival horror game), Frantic Freddy, Laser Strike, Slinky, and Zeppelin Rescue.

Butterfield on 64 video – part 5 – The fifth part in an ongoing tutorial on the Commodore 64’s video capabilities. Previous parts included technical details on the 6566 (VIC) chip and this part includes a demo.

Show preview – A preview of the 5th annual Commodore Computer Show which was actually two shows, one for three days in London and the other for three days in Leeds.

Tommy’s Tips – Questions from readers answered about software on disk for the Commodore 64, printing hi-res graphics, BASIC program loading, combining VIC-20 graphics expansions, using disk drives with the VIC-20, repairing the VIC-20 keyboard, and more.