"Split" Two-Part Commodore 64?

[Snickers11001001]

6 hours ago, Perifractic said:

That makes some sense... it was a way to turn the back of the C64 around to face you for convenient unplugging of carts. Thing is... I've been a C64 fan for decades and never saw this before. I just would have imagined a product that was publicly released to have been seen. Any chance you can find said advert?

I've scanned a number of 'collections' on archive.org this morning.    You know what's amazing?    After decades, I still recognized some of the 'cover' images on many of those magazines, especially the ones I looked at most often.   I  couldn't find the advert so far.    What I seem recall is that the image in the advert was one of those illustrations where it looks like someone put tracing paper over a photograph and traced the image below by hand.

I'll keep looking when I've got some downtime and will message you if I find anything.   Looking forward to the video either way.   

[Strider]

I was up until 4:00AM doing a Google "deep dive", looking anywhere and everywhere for any pictures or mentions of anything like that C64, and I haven't found anything more.

However, in the process, like Snickers said, I am seeing things I haven't seen in decades, or never knew about to begin with!

Sometimes, the journey is just as rewarding, if not more so, than the destination. ?

[BruceMcF]

21 hours ago, x16tial said:

Wouldn't this have been cool: (sorry for crudeness, I drew it in about 10 minutes in MSPaint)



A "C64D" but with a separate, stackable, drive unit, containing a 1541(II) and a 1581.

I dunno ... older twenties me would have wanted that keyboard unit with the side 1581 drive, so it may be whomever came up with that particular vaporware knew their market.

I mean, I already HAD a 1571 and a 1581, and I just wouldn't have wanted to pay for a second 5.25" drive.

 

[x16tial]

12 hours ago, BruceMcF said:

I dunno ... older twenties me would have wanted that keyboard unit with the side 1581 drive, so it may be whomever came up with that particular vaporware knew their market.



I mean, I already HAD a 1571 and a 1581, and I just wouldn't have wanted to pay for a second 5.25" drive.



 

A 1571 would actually make more sense instead of a 1541-II in this prototype thing I sketched.

But that's a fair point, and if Commodore ever actually did consider a C64D there were many factors why it would have been scrubbed. Not least of which this was a very dated platform at the time.

If this ever would have launched, I think they would have had to count on people selling off their separate components to swap in the integrated unit.

Lots of fun to think about for sure: what could have been. But I am inclined to think this was a kit for separating the keyboard and mainboard into 2 units.  The keyboard of course gets the worst of it, but I guess that's the price to pay for the convenience.

[Scott Robison]

I've had another thought that makes more sense to me personally. I just posted it on the YouTube video but wanted to bring it up here.

Another idea: What if Commodore wanted to make a cost reduced console game system at some point. Maybe they'd call it the C64GS. Oh, that really happened? #haha

Omission of a keyboard would certainly fit the bill, and replacing it with a keyboard free shell that could be painted or have a large sticker applied to it or some such would not be a bad idea. Having it retain the notches for all the ports would be simple if it were derived by modifying the keyboard half of the shell. Presto! Price reduced C64.

The slots in the top of the shell could have been for potential future expansion (mating points for an optional keyboard) or an "expansion chassis that included a floppy drive, or just a place to put a monitor as has been demonstrated.

After using it to do proof of concept work, they eventually went with the alternative case for the actual C64GS that was shipped.

The fact that the top shell on the lower half happens to be usable as the bottom of a stock keyboard seems a "happy accident" that allowed prototypes to be used for some other purpose. The width of the slots at the back of the shell seem to correspond to earlier breadbin models that had different size tabs for the keyboard part of the shell. This would indicate it was an earlier experiment from closer to 1982 than the late 90s for a C64D.

Given that the notch that fits above the joystick ports doesn't quite match with the bottom half, it would be interesting to take it and compare it to an earlier breadbin model and see if it was a closer fit to that case, as the different breadbins evolved slightly over time as shown in an 8 bit show and tell video.

[Scott Robison]

This seems even more possible given that by the time of C64D rumors, the breadbin style cases were gone, replaced with C64C cases. I doubt this would have fit the newer cases from the late 80s.

[Cyber]

By the way here is Perifractic's video on the subject.

 

[Strider]

@Perifractic

That was an excellent video as always!

I too am stuck between prototype or "industrial" use, though your "it's so clean" comment makes a lot of sense. Though it is possible it was covered with some sort of pliable plastic guard, or the environmental hazard was not so much "dirt" as maybe temperature or moisture. Still, you would expect SOME sort of degradation if it was a non-computer friendly environment to necessitate such a design. Having done this work in the past, I have still never seen anything like this.

The 8+1 Bit Guy's 3rd party idea suggesting it was a failed or commercial only product also makes sense.

Still... the fact the case is injection molded, and the wood, and you can't find anything on it ANYWHERE ... sure does scream prototype of some sort. 

My long winded way of saying... I am still just as lost as I was when I first seen it. I'm just glad it's being explored!

I am really hoping  someone will see your video and recognize it. ?

Edit: Reading through the videos comments I see someone saying they had seen something very similar before, in a dirty shop. If the industrial idea is the right path, and there was more than one .. who made it? *pulls hair out*

[TomXP411]

Watching the video and working through the logic, I'm pretty sure what it's not:

1. 
   It doesn't seem like a "64D" prototype. The "D" would theoretically have come out during the age of the 64C, and so if anything, any sort of "D" enclosure would be designed for a 64C case. Since the 64C case is already as slim as it's likely to get, the kit would more likely be a full enclosure for the motherboard, rather than two half-enclosures. 
   


2. 
   It could be a commercial prototype. Even though injection molds are expensive, it's possible that the company built a few units for testing, before realizing that this thing makes no sense. Like at all. 
   


3. 
   I doubt it's anything that came from CBM. It's just too much of a piece of junk, and the plastic isn't even the same color as the C64. If it was made by CBM, it would have the same formulation as the computer's case, and we should expect a similar discoloration over time. The fact that this case is a lighter color strongly suggests that the plastic is made at a different plant using a different formulation than the C64 plastic.
   

The only use I could see for a case like this would maybe be an environment where a disk drive or other peripherals need to be contained inside of a safe enclosure, for security or hardware safety. (ie:  a place with dust, dirt, or liquids). The keyboard module could then sit outside the "secure" area. But even then, it seems to make more sense to extend an IEC cable rather than make a special "split" enclosure. 

This enclosure was obviously made for the C64, and the design obviously show it's being used as intended... but other than a vanity project or something some executive pushed through against the advice of his marketing team, I can't see this ever being sold in stores... which is probably obvious, in hindsight, since no one can find any details about this ever actually coming to market.

 

 

[Perifractic]

Good points. The only point I’d politely pick a hole in is about the plastics colouring. Commodore were renowned for wildly varying colour mixes and had more than one factory. That’s why there has never been a defacto established commodore 64 bread bin colourcode. But you make some good points for all the rest of it. It seems like it could just be an expensive third party fail. Now if I could just find an advert from before it flopped…