The Australian Commodore 64 | Hacker News Reader

The Australian Commodore 64

linuxjedi.co.uk

74 pointstodsacerdoti29 comments

Interesting, this case does indeed look to be a new variant - something in between the original 64 and the 64c.

I would say (without knowing for sure) that the original was surely released in Australia as well. The original C 64 was definitely released in New Zealand (I owned one), and I cannot imagine Commodore releasing in NZ only and not Australia given the 4-5x population advantage Australia has.

Both the C64 and C64C were released in Australia. Here’s my original C64C from the mid 80s for reference: https://imgur.com/a/5J9lSgK

Still works perfectly.

Ah! Thank you, I was unsure if the C64C hit Australian shores. That definitely helps, I'll tweak my post accordingly.

For what it's worth, here's one of the Australian C64 commercials of the era, clearly featuring the C64C. The original C64 breadbins were also very common in Australia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OALMEpfWswM

The guy in that ad (John Laws) was a very famous talkback radio personality at the time - nowadays he'd probably be likened to a Fox News personality like Tucker Carlson. He was featured on the packaging art for the Australian C64 Family Pack, as seen near the end of the commercial. He was known to begin every episode of his radio show with the phrase "Hello World".

Note that Commodore bundled the Family Pack with a random book (mostly pictures?) about Australia. For some inexplicable reason there are an awful lot of secondhand copies of that Presenting Australia book available on eBay to this day.

Never seen one of these Slimline C64 Replacement Cases before. Intriguing!

If it has the heavy power-supply, consider replacing or repairing it. It fails over time by increasing the 5V rail until some chip or other fries in the C64.

Ah cool, I’ve replaced so many of these in the past!! If I recall, RetroKit and a few other stores sell more reliable modern PSUs.

Do any of your cassettes from that era still load?

If they don't, you can just record them again from the internet.

It is an original C64 but a company in Australian made an after market case for it to make it look more like the C64C without having to buy an entirely new computer.

That makes sense.

Note that he mentions the case is aftermarket (from Micro Accessories). I suppose the original case was just thrown out, which kind of makes me want to cry.

Unfortunately I only received this machine as is. Not even a power brick. So it is likely that the original case was indeed thrown out.

In the UK, does "bread-bin" (as an adjective) mean "ordinary", or perhaps "stock"?

I think it means breadbox, which describes the shape of the original commodore 64, whereas this particular one has a different (compact?) shape, but apparently internals that would be expected in the original shape.

The original C64 case (thick, with rounded edges, same but for color as the VIC-20 case) was said to resemble a bread bin.

The other case variant is the Commodore 64C, which has a slimmer and more Amiga-like profile.

OK, I got ya. I was thinking stock components, but since the original case was like a "bread-bin", the original components were stock.

Thanks everyone; that was really stumping me. Now I'm still laughing.

No, it's a container to put bread into. Usually with a sliding roller door type contraption like you might see on a garage door. They were often curved in a bullnose fashion, like the front of the origin C64. Which I guess is why they draw the comparison.

Sorry, I forgot that doesn't translate well outside the UK. It is a literal box for putting your bread in to keep it fresh and is a similar shape to the original C64. So the original C64 is nicked-named the "bread-bin" in the UK.

Thanks!

Still puzzled about the hole in the bottom - I wonder if it was being used in a business for some special purpose?

I am puzzled by that too, it is roughly where the VIC II is and it doesn't appear that anything was soldered to it to tap it. My other guess was that this sat on top of something and the hole was needed so it would sit properly?

At least here in Germany 'breadbin' is quite wellknown. We call it 'Brotkasten', which means literally the same.

In the U.S., "bread bin," or more commonly "bread box," is also known. I have one.

I think it might be a generational lapse, rather than a geographic quirk, as bread boxes don't seem common in younger households.

Modern store-bought bread has so many preservatives that you don't need a breadbox. I wonder if the brief fad of people taking up baking during COVID-19 lockdowns will/has cause(d) an increase in breadbox sales.

No, it means a bread bin. A kitchen countertop box that you keep bread in.

Example: https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/magasin-bread-bin-66914300/

The Pictorial C64 Fault Guide has a similar screen capture in the broken U7 (6510 CPU) section: https://www.pictorial64.com/fault.htm?id=u7_4

Yea, I was erring on the side of that being OK. U27 was also a suspect so I tried that first. Update here: https://linuxjedi.co.uk/2022/08/23/australian-commodore-64-m...

What benefit would creating a new housing provide? Very strange.

People like slimline cases for some reason. Like more recently, the PS3 was released in a newer slim case after the initial larger case.

It's not that it doesn't look completely non-kangoroosih. I could see it nicknamed "the kangaroo case" easily. Specially since we already have the "bread bin."

The hole in the bottom and shielding was obviously because they were having problems getting a WiFi signal...

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