My friend had a Commodore 64 growing up. My mom knew I wanted a computer and bought me TRS80 color 2 . It came with a book on how to program and make your own games. I was hooked on learning how to program. I came upon your videos by accident, and now I am forever hooked. It takes me back in time.
This is exactly the kind of information I was looking for to start my journey on owning a C64. Thank you so much to you both for doing this! (and to puppyfractic too!)
I recently bought a Commodore 128 (twice the 64 in one package haha) advertised as not working for parts. Bought a new power supply and turned it on and it works!
its a gamble but from what I had Learned the C64 is Easy too Repair if you have knowledge Experience with a solder iron , if you Lucky it has the Sockets .. there is many websites in how too Repair a C64 or C128 as the the Most Common problem is the PLA Chip I took a chance on a Untested Atari 400 and a Untested Atari 800 both from 1982 and they Both WORK! got them Real Cheap ..36 Dollars for a Complete Set minus the Disk Drive .. I had taken a Chance also... on a two . untested . TI99/4a computers one was Dead the other a Video problem ( CAPS ) ..
Nice score! I used a C-128 from the mid-80s through the early 90s. Definitely had fun with it but I don't know if I'd call it "twice the 64" - it's more like "the 64 plus a bunch of stuff you probably won't use much". 64 mode is where most of the games are, and most of the added features of the 128 (extra keys, extra RAM, fast mode, 80 column mode, etc.) can't be used in 64 mode. Looking back I mostly feel like getting the 128 was a poor choice, though it did serve me well. That's great that the machine you bought worked out for you, though. Have fun with it!
Your wife is beautiful! You’re so lucky to have a woman that embraces your computer enthusiasm for C-64’s and retrocomputing . Kudos to the both of you!
I was supposed to be going to bed, and then I stumbled across this channel. Now I've been up all night watching. Absolutely love it! Keep up the good work!
I have pre-ordered the TheC64 that will be out by the end of this year, and I am so excited for that one! I know the innards are totally different, but I will be just another C64 user (as I have been, all my life, basically) :). I love the C64, and always have, since I was a little kid. I may not be able to swap physical disks with the new model, and I do see that a lot of people look down on it, but still, I love this community, and I enjoy it greatly! But no matter what, I love watching videos about the original hardware!
So you program that one?, if so ( after the basic guides perhaps ) you might be interesting in these, 6502.org/ www.ajordison.co.uk/ www.zimmers.net/cbmpics/cbm/c64/vic-ii.txt skilldrick.github.io/easy6502/ books.google.be/books/about/What_s_Really_Inside_the_Commodore_64.html?id=ETfdtgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y www.c64-wiki.com/wiki/Commodore_64_Programmer's_Reference_Guide I remember having to go back to these things for some SNES stuff I was playing with after the Amiga, yes I prefer 68k asm hands down.
This was the first video of yours that I've seen. I'm glad RU-vid recommended it! I've never used a C64, but I've been fascinated with them since watching The 8-Bit Guy for the last couple of years. At some point, I'd love to give the C64 a try. Thanks for a lovely video. You have a new subscriber!
I love how the "bad" editing mimics videos from the 80s when we couldn't edit frame-by-frame. This video is brilliant on so many levels. I love the bad sound. It's obvious they know exactly what they're doing. This is so meta, really good, and fun, made my day
Just wanted to say I find the videos you three make very soothing. After needing to defrag my mind after doing heavy work projects, these are just the ticket.
@@RetroRecipes Not at all. One of your videos popped up in my recommendeds, it looked interesting, and it turns out it's exactly what I needed. All the best with the channel, I'm really enjoying it.
Brilliant! This came out fantastically. I'm so glad you pointed out the SD2IEC's relative ubiquity and compatibility as well; definitely a great choice for a first foray into modern storage. I do wish there was a mention of a modern joystick for C64s (and others that share it's joystick port).
Glad you liked it! I intentionally left out modern joysticks as there are none that are both available (in stock) or considered anywhere near as good as originals. Trust me I tried. I might add a note about that too the description. If you know of one that people like and is in stock, I'm open to that though! 👍🕹️
I had a ntsc 64 and I had about 500 games that ran just fine. Never had a problem with programs not working. I still have it and it's works great. I remember my dad buying it for me. I use it to get my retro fixes in these days.
Right what I needed: well, I've got already my old setup refurbished and fixed, but thanks to your vids and my game room my girlfriend, who missed most part of the 8bit era because her parents had her skip the 80s and start with MS-DOS in early nineties will catch up. She already gave me copies of old ads from her collection of kid magazines from the 80s (in that age, she read diligently the cultural parts, I got my old man Xerox the ads and searched bits and pieces for my room. Some of them surviving to show her, some bought anew in this age to show her) So, thank you for making this hobby enjoyable to laymen and everyone We, the fan and the usual customers, won't stick around forever We need to spread our passion out and you can do this better than anyone else :) PS: my doggie didn't recap anything lately. But he stole the antistatic bag of my Fastload and refused to give it back. That's a start :)
Great & helpful Commodore Fans Channel 👍😎 As a commodore users since 1980 , just bought a 64C ( have my original Vic-20 , 2 C-64s and an Amiga , all fully functional ) . Keep up the good work guys and stay safe .
for what it's worth, I buy them in not working and release them working back on to eBay, the last two I bought on eBay in "untested" condition actually worked. I do agree with you that it most cases they probably don't but buying a 30+ computer is a risk even if it works when the seller tested it but may not when you get it. anyway, enjoy the videos, keep up the good work.
I love the husband and wife videos! I've even got my lovely non-geek wife to watch a couple with me and she would never considering watching any other retro videos with me! 👍
I stumbled upon your channel and was blown away by the professional content and execution. In full disclosure, I’m a guitar player who surfs in my free time for great videos to further explore my guitar passion. I gotta say I am not sure how I got hear, but I am happy I did. Learning a lot and think you guys are great. Cheers!
Thanks so much for uploading this wonderful guide! Since I finally got to buy one myself recently, and get into it more, all this information is super helpful! Keep up the great work, and greetings to all of you three from Germany! :)
Just some additional tips for video: - If you live near a thrift store, some of them will carry LCD monitors/tvs from the 2000s to 2010. They will generally have S Video and Composite. Allowing you to connect your C64 to both connection types and crisp pictures as with the upscaler :) - Cables are available online for both connection types. My preference would be the LCA/SVideo if you have that.
Am amazed at how vibrant and advanced the C64 scene is in this day and age. Am even more amazed the Speed Kind is STILL available used! My fave joystick of all time.
I watched just to see the dynamics in the family, I'm impressed she has watched your videos. That either shows great support or that she is just very curious about your other woman.
That's true, this (very kind) guy reacts to nearly every comment if it's possible - even if you criticize his puns ;-) - regards from Germany (we take fun very seriously here, it's not a laughing matter! Oh no, now I'm doing it, too...) PS: I put a FPGA Mist in a old c64 shell, which is quite convenient and is as near as you can get to a real one with avoiding the known problems)
I never owned a C64 but my brother had one. When he was in high school they were using C64's. They used graph paper to design sprites. I made some Battlestar Galactica Vipers. Wish I could recreate them. Another enjoyable video!
Some of the later C64 with "made in West Germany" can be either PAL or NTSC. The reason is simple: ALL C64 from the later area were produced in Germany. From 1987 or so on Commodore didn't produced C64 or C128 machines anymore in the states - they switched over to Amiga and Commodore IBM compatibles. Meanwhile, the C64 was still huge in Europe, while the Amiga didn't had a big run and the PCs lost heavily against the Amstrad ones. So they produced the C64 for the whole world, in NTSC and PAL, and C128, completely in Germany. That's also the reason, why a GERMAN company (ESCOM) bought Commodore in the end: They wanted the production facilities of CBM to build their own computers. They just went bankrupt too fast for doing it.
Great video as always. Ladyfractic put this one over the top. Emulating is a good way to experience a C64 but does not compare to having one especially if you have an old working monitor. Yes there is a big difference between a CRT and something more modern. The CRT displays things as they were intended while a modern display although looks sharp and clean does not quite display things as they were intended. While most will not notice the difference its definitely there. Similarly the SID chip sound is quite unique so having a real SID chip running vs a modern replacement or emulated SID there is a difference in the sound quality although when your old like me just being able to hear anything is a good thing so yea I can't tell the difference easily.
I use S-Video on my LCD and CRT and notice one thing more than picture quality and that is lag, I notice it on the cursor when I type.. Just looks normal on the CRT. The only time I use it on my LCD is so I can use my audio devise connected to the LCD TV.. both screens look good with my Commodore 64.
There are some really advanced emulators that will nicely emulate how a CRT works. For instance, today "RetroVirtualMachine" got another new update, and the way it emulates the screen includes all kinds of interesting bits. Like ghosting. Mask details. Screen curvature. Vsync out of perfect alignments, amplitude, flicker, type of screen, interlace blending, overscan, noises, random offset, sharpness/softness, vignette, beam (looks like filming a screen), --- all these knobs it has just for making the screen go wild. It's so fun to play with these! :) I had an Amstrad CPC as a child, and this has been one of my favourite ways to "go back" to it, for a while now. :)
Having only started watching your channel in the beginning of 2023, going back & watching older videos is a bit of a shock. The lighting is a bit much. Still enjoyed it. 👍
This video and the links provided are an amazing resource for newbies to the C64 , like myself. I just purchased both a C64 and 128 a few days ago and the information you shared gives me so much more confidence to tackle the restorations. I’m stoked to be getting into the retro computing hobby because people like yourself have helped to make it accessible for the rest of us. Thank you!
I loved your channel before but the addition of more frequent visits with Lady Fractic makes it 500% better. If she had her own channel, I would totally sub.She just seems like a genuine great person.
NTSC is also used in Japan, so it's not exclusively a USA thing, plus NTSC is used all though out north america. On the other hand, PAL isn't exclusive to the UK, it's most of Europe.
26:22 Quickshot II turbo! Wow there's a blast from the past. I had one of those in 1988 or thereabouts. We are fortunate in Australia that our C64s are all PAL. I must get around to buying a replacement for that old machine I sold to buy an Amiga 500 back in the day
I did the exact same thing.. Sold my entire C64 setup in 1987 to fund the A500. I couldn't go on with my life like that as long as you have though and bought another C64 in 1989-90 ish
Excuse me, Serbian language. Croatian and Serbian are the same except some minor dialects. For example, Croatian says: "na primjer", Bosnian (another republic before - it's federation now) says "na primijer", Serbs says "na primer". 😎
For people who like to do lots of recapping, it might be worthwhile to get an ESR(equivalent series resistance) meter (or a multimeter which can do ESR). That way you can test a cap while it is still in circuit. If the ESR is way high, then you know the cap needs to be replaced without having to bother to pull it from the board to test the capacitance.
IIII think it works pretty well.. i mean it's pretty easy to tell when a cap has popped, the values are gonna be pretty wrong. only doesn't work if the caps are directly in parallel. it is said: don't fix what's not broken
C64 my first real computer that i ever owned. My dad won the illigal lotto and bought me a Commodore 64, good memories of years of gameplay and programming. Great duo by the way ;)
Excellent video guys! I just got into retro computing after decades separating the days when I grew up with 8 bit computers. This video also doubles as a relaxing ASMR adventure 😉✌🏻
Your videos are so fantastic and Ladyfractics are soooo cute. I like the "iku iku" screwdriver sound from her so much. Please more from this. Greetings from Germany! :)
I gambled on an untested Atari 800xl. Got super lucky. It works great. And 4 other untested systems that were broken. So they aren't _all_ broken, but do assume you'll need to do repairs.
Woh!! The QS2 I liked but kept snapping them and pulling the suckers off the the table. Loved my Konix was something else, made only a few miles from me in Ebbw Vale, even when you managed to pull the steel shaft out of the case, you could still thrust it back into the socket and carry on.
I just managed to get hold of a C46 Light Fantastic addition. Boxed and seems to be in great condition. Never had a C64 growing up, I was a Spectrum person. Looking forward to dabbling in this system.
I'd love to see an updated version of this video, or a part two. There's a lot of options and accessories like the ultimate 64 board or wifi64 card that you just stumble across in the community. Could also be a chance to cover your evolving opinion on original hardware vs modern substitutes for the new buyer. Thanks as always!
Yes, I think that modern substitutes are the greatest solution if it is for everyday use and not for a personal museum-collection. After playing with emulation for months I decided to preorder a Mega 65. It is expensive but eliminates the need for a separate storage-drive and a video-upscaler.
If you installed JiffyDOS, Commodore would finally be keeping up with you. Think about all of the saved minutes from loading games it would solve... :)
Never thought I would regret selling my original C64(prob about 1989 for beer tokens) so much after watching this perfect you tube presentation..Im hooked.Keep up the fantastic work your presentation skills are so up my street ;-)
The whole 'Fractic' family all in one amazing video. You have out done yourself on this video mate. Great job on all the links and help for those of us who are wanting to get back into Commodore 64 computing for the first time since we were kids! ❤️
I purchased a breadbin C64 on eBay in great condition for more than I like to admit, and I also got the newest Ultimate64 FPGA full implementation board direct from the maker. Now I have a spare original C64 board to refurbish, recap, add chip sockets, etc. The Ulitimate64 allows you use the original SID chip from the C64, so my original C64 board will end up SID-less. I’m inclined to hold onto the original board. It’s a work of art.
I’ll be in the market for an Atari 800 compatible soon, and would love to see a similar guide for that, since the Atari 8-bit is where I got started in coding. There are so many varieties of this architecture it is hard to choose.
For video, I just split open a sacrificial RCA cable, and (for 8-pin) jam the ground into pin 2 and the signal into pin 4. Works great, as long as everything stays right where it is.
PUPPY DEX is already lying down, browsing the net for a c64, using MY NEW TABLET!! lol! I had a Vic20 when they were at the top, though i passed on the 64, and went for the 128, which i had for a long time, hm..maybe..just maybe... thankyou all for the entertaining video!! and PUPPY FRACTIC on top of things!! - Dex&Levi in sweden enjoyed!
I would consider myself a Spec-Chum first and foremost, but that doesn't mean that i downvote videos not about the Speccy; in fact i got myself a C128DCR earlier this year, so i now have a foot in the 'Commode' camp as well... i even hope i can get my grubby mittens on an Amstrad CPC at some point, too. _ALL_ retro computers deserve love IMO :D
As a kid I had the C64C and the power supply broke in a couple of years. My dad bought a new one made by Novotrade (the Hungarian distributor company). It was about the twice the size of the original but was much more reliable. It had more space inside the box and a significant metal heatsink on the back. I still have one of these somewhere.
One thing that was not mentioned is that if you are brave enough to chance one of those broken C64's going cheap, or you just have an old broken one in the attic, there is a replacement C64 motherboard on the market that you can just plug the main chips from the C64 into called the C64 Reloaded by Individual Computers. This could be a good alternative if you need to re-cap the motherboard and have no ability to solder. Another good thing about this board is it lets you use modern power supplies (including 12 volt ones) rather than the older Commodore ones which are now quite flakey due to age.
I love how this is still a thing . My dad still has our original c64 from back in the 80's , complete with tape deck , disk drive and even a commodore monitor . As a kid I played so many hours on that computer , great times :-)
Incredible to see the prices the old C64 fetch today. I had 4 or 5 at one point, all working, along with early consoles like Atari 500's, Philips Videopacs', early pc's like the Apricot, Dragon, lots of Sinclair gear, like the Spectrum but ancillaries like printers & micro-drives etc, the Oric & Oric Atmos. Ton's of stuff, all, or at least mostly working too. Lost the lot when the wife ran off with her boss, she didn't even sell them, (apparently) just took the lot to the tip....i was more sad about that than losing her....
If it is listed as untested or as is: -if it looks pristine on the outside, it is definitely broken and tampered with. -if it is dirty, the seller probably doesn't really care (to test it). I found multiple perfectly working pieces this way.
Love your channel, even when i did not live the commodores era, just the IBM computers 90`s, love to wake up and put your porgramtion. great revies, recipies and more. Love your team georgeous partnet girl...!! In case to vacations time or travel to rest we wait for you here in Costa Rica, best place in the world to aproach to nature. Pura Vida keep doing what your love!
