[net.micro.cbm] new commodore computers: plus/4 and model 16

calway@ecsvax.UUCP (06/09/84)

Commodore has retitled its previously announced Model 264 as "Plus/4" and has
changed it slightly. The main change is that all machines will contain the same four built-in pieces of software:
word processor, spreadsheet, database and I forget the fourth.
60K of the machine's 64K is available to BASIC, which has been upgraded from the C-64's BASIC 2.0 to 3.5. It includes hi-res graphics commands such as LINE and CIRCLE, as well as disk commands such as DLOAD, DIRECTORY, etc. Video is 40 columns, alas, but
the number of colors has been upped to 128 from the C-64's 16.
A new parallel-interface disk drive will be made available that runs 5 times faster than the 1541 and is not compatible with the C-64. The Plus/4 is compatible with the C-64 only in that it runs an upgraded version of the same BASIC. Screen matrix locati
n and some machine calls are different. Also, Plus/4 can run most of the old C-64 peripherals.
The Plus/4 has no sprites or synthesizer.

The computer will cost about $300 and will go on sale in the fall, if we are to believe Commodore.

The model 16 looks like a C-64 but is really a stripped-down Plus/4, with 16K and no software, priced between the C-64 and the VIC-20.
The new 1542 disk drive is simply a 1541 with a black box instead of a beige one and with a slightly more durable motor. The Commodore engineer I spoke with hadno idea whether the @0: save-replace bug had been fixed. He did confirm that most of the engin
ers who developed the C-64 are no longer with the company. Sounds like business as usual.

James Calloway
The News and Observer
Raleigh, N.C.
(919) 829-4570

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