The Commodore 16 was a home computer made by Commodore with a 6502-compatible 7501 CPU, released in 1984. It was intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20 and it often sold for US$99. A cost-reduced version, the Commodore 116, was sold only in Europe. The home computer is a consumer-friendly word for the second generation of microcomputers (the technical term that was previously used), entering the market in 1977 and becoming common during the 1980s. ... Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore International, a West Chester, Pennsylvania based electronics company who was a vital player in the home/personal computer field in the 1980s. ... The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by MOS Technology in 1975. ... Intel 80486DX2 microprocessor in a ceramic PGA package A central processing unit (CPU), or sometimes simply processor, is the component in a digital computer that interprets and executes instructions and data contained in software. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... VIC-20 with accessories. ... USD redirects here. ... A satellite composite image of Europe // Etymology Picture of Europa, carried away by bull-shaped Zeus. ...

A Commodore 16 home computer, shown with matching 1531 cassette tape recorder.

Image File history File links C16. ... Image File history File links C16. ... The Commodore 1531 was Commodores computer cassette recorder for its C16 and Plus/4 computers. ...

The C16's raison d'être

The C16 was intended to compete with other sub-$100 computers from Timex Corporation, Mattel, and Texas Instruments (TI). Timex's and Mattel's computers were less expensive than the VIC, and although the VIC offered better expandability, a full-travel keyboard, and in some cases more memory, the C16 offered a chance to improve upon those advantages. The TI-99/4A was priced in-between Commodore's VIC-20 and C64, and was somewhat between them in capability, but TI was lowering its prices. On paper, the C16 was a closer match for the TI-99/4A than the aging VIC-20. Timex Corporation is the best-known American watch manufacturer, famous for half a century for durable low-cost timepieces. ... Mattel Inc. ... Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), better known in the electronics industry as TI, is a company based in Dallas, Texas, renowned for developing and commercializing semiconductor and computer technology. ... The Texas Instruments TI-99/4A was an early home computer, released in June 1981, originally at a price of $525 USD. The TI-99/4A was an enhanced version of the TI-99/4 model released in late 1979 at a price of $1,150. ... Commodore 64 (1982) The Commodore 64 (C64, CBM 64/CBM64, C=64) is a home computer with 64 kilobytes of RAM that was popular in the 1980s. ...

Additionally, Commodore president Jack Tramiel feared that one or more Japanese companies would introduce a consumer-oriented computer and undercut everyone's prices. The VIC-20 was Commodore's first pre-emptive strike; the C16 was the second. Although the Japanese would soon dominate the U.S. video game console market, the feared dominance of the home computer field never materialized. Additionally, Timex, Mattel, and TI departed the market before the C16 was released. Jack Tramiel (born 1928) is a businessman, famous for founding Commodore International, manufacturer of the Commodore 64 and Commodore Amiga home computers. ... The Nintendo GameCube is an example of a current generation video game console. ...

Description

Outwardly the C16 resembled the VIC-20 and the C64, but with a black case and white/light gray keys. Performance-wise located between the VIC and 64, it had 16 Kilobytes of RAM with 12K available to its built-in BASIC interpreter, and a new sound and video chipset offering a palette of 128 colors (in reality 121, since all gradients of black were rendered as black), the TED (better than the VIC used in the VIC-20, but lacking the sprite capability of the VIC-II and advanced sound capabilities of the SID, both used in the C64). The ROM resident BASIC 3.5, however, was more powerful than the VIC-20's and C64's BASIC 2.0, in that it had commands for sound and bitmapped graphics (320×200 pixels), as well as simple program tracing/debugging. A kilobyte (derived from the SI prefix kilo-) is a unit of information or computer storage equal to either 1024 or 1000 bytes. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A chipset is a group of integrated circuits (chips) that are designed to work together, and are usually marketed as a single product. ... The 7360 Text Editing Device (TED) was an integrated circuit made by MOS Technology. ... The VIC (Video Interface Chip), specifically known as the MOS Technology 6560 (NTSC version) / 6561 (PAL version), is the integrated circuit chip responsible for generating video graphics and sound in the Commodore VIC-20 home computer. ... The VIC-II (Video Interface Chip II), specifically known as the MOS Technology 6567/8562/8564 (NTSC versions), 6569/8565/8566 (PAL), is the integrated circuit chip tasked with generating composite video graphics and DRAM refresh signals in the Commodore 64 and C128 home computers. ... MOS Technology SIDs: The right image shows a 6581 from MOS Technology, at the time they were known as the Commodore Semiconductor Group (CSG) and the left image shows an 8580 from MOS Technology. ... Read-only memory (ROM) is used as a storage medium in computers. ... Commodore BASIC is the dialect of BASIC used in Commodore Internationals 8-bit home computer line, stretching from the PET of 1977 to the C128 of 1985. ... A pixel (pix, 1932 abbreviation of pictures, coined by Variety headline writers + element) is one of the many tiny dots that make up the representation of a picture in a computers memory. ...

From a practical user's point of view, three tangible features the C16 lacked were a modem port and VIC/C64-compatible Datassette and game ports. Commodore sold a C16 family-specific cassette player (the Commodore 1531) and joysticks, but third-party converters to allow the use of the abundant, and hence much less expensive, VIC/C64-type units soon appeared. The official reason for changing the joystick ports was to reduce RF interference. The C16's serial port (Commodore's proprietary "serial IEEE-488 bus", no relation to RS-232 and the like) was the same as that of the VIC and C64, which meant that printers and disk drives, at least, were interchangeable with the older machines. A modem (a portmanteau word constructed from modulator and demodulator) is a device that modulates a carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. ... The Commodore 1530* (C2N) Datassette (a portmanteau of data + cassette), was Commodores dedicated computer tape recorder. ... The Commodore 1531 was Commodores computer cassette recorder for its C16 and Plus/4 computers. ... For other uses, see Joystick (disambiguation). ... Rough plot of Earths atmospheric transmittance (or opacity) to various wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, including radio waves. ... The Hewlett-Packard Instrument Bus (HP-IB), is a short-range digital communications cable standard developed by Hewlett-Packard (HP) in the 1970s for connecting electronic test and measurement devices (e. ...

The Commodore 16 was one of three computers in its family. The even less successful Commodore 116 was functionally and technically similar but shipped in a smaller case with a rubber chiclet keyboard and was only available in Europe. The family's flagship, the Commodore Plus/4, shipped in a smaller case but had a 59-key full-travel keyboard (with a specifically advertised "cursor key diamond" of four keys, contrasted with the C64's two + shift key scheme), 64K of RAM, a modem port, and built-in entry-level office suite software. A chiclet keyboard is slang for a computer keyboard built with an array of small, flat rectangular or lozenge-shaped rubber or plastic keys that look like erasers or pieces of chewing gum. ... Commodore Plus/4. ... In computing, an office suite, sometimes called an office application suite, productivity suite, offimatic suite or integrated offimatic program, is a software suite intended to be used by typical clerical and knowledge workers. ...

Market performance

Since the problem the C16 was designed to solve disappeared before its release, and given the lack of commercial software for the machine, the C16 sold poorly in the United States, where it was quickly discontinued and the C64 repositioned as the entry-level machine. However, it enjoyed some popularity in Europe as a cheap games machine, with an array of games released in 1531 cassette format.

External links

• Commodore 16 information at Old-Computers.Com

List of Commodore microcomputers

MOS Technology 6502-based (8-bit):   MOS/CBM KIM-1 | PET/CBM | CBM-II (aka B/P series) | VIC-20/VC-20 | C64 | SX-64 | C16 & 116 | Plus/4 | C128 Image File history File links CBM_Logo. ... Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore International, a West Chester, Pennsylvania based electronics company who was a vital player in the home/personal computer field in the 1980s. ... The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by MOS Technology in 1975. ... 8-bit refers to the number of bits used in the data bus of a computer. ... The KIM-1, short for Keyboard Input Monitor, was a small 6502-based microcomputer kit developed and produced by MOS Technology, Inc. ... The PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) was a home-/personal computer produced by Commodore starting in the late 1970s. ... The Commodore CBM-II series was a short-lived series of personal computers from Commodore International, intended as a follow-on to the Commodore PET series, released in 1982. ... VIC-20 with accessories. ... Commodore 64 (1982) The Commodore 64 (C64, CBM 64/CBM64, C=64) is a home computer with 64 kilobytes of RAM that was popular in the 1980s. ... The Commodore SX-64, also known as the Executive 64, was a portable, briefcase/suitcase-size luggable version of the popular Commodore 64 home computer and holds the distinction of being the first full-color portable computer. ... Commodore Plus/4. ... The Commodore 128 is a home/personal computer, also known as the C128. ... M68K-based (16/32-bit):   Amiga 1000 | Amiga 500 | Amiga 2000 | Amiga 500+ | Amiga 2500 | Amiga 3000, UX, T | Amiga 600 | Amiga 1200 | Amiga 4000 The Motorola 68000 is a CISC microprocessor, the first member of a successful family of microprocessors from Motorola, which were all mostly software compatible. ... In computer science, 16-bit is an adjective used to describe integers that are at most two bytes wide, or to describe CPU architectures based on registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. ... 32-bit is a term applied to processors, and computer architectures which manipulate the address and data in 32-bit chunks. ... Jay Miners signature from the top cover of a Commodore Amiga 1000 computer. ... The A500, also known as the Amiga 500, was the first low-end Commodore Amiga 16-bit multimedia home/personal computer model. ... The A2000, also known as the Commodore Amiga 2000, was the high-end Amiga personal computer that was released in 1987 at the same time as the low-end high-volume model A500. ... The Commodore Amiga 500 Plus, (A500+) is a enhanced version of the original Amiga 500. ... The Amiga 2500, also known as the A2500, was an enhanced version of the Commodore Amiga 2000. ... The A3000, also known as the Commodore Amiga 3000, was a much more serious proposition to build a professional multimedia computer than the previous A2000 effort. ... The A3000UX is a model of the Amiga computer family that was released with Commodore Amiga Unix installed instead of AmigaOS, a full port of AT&T Unix System V Release 4. ... The Amiga 3000T is the tower version of the Commodore Amiga 3000. ... The A600, also known as the Amiga 600 (codenamed June Bug after a B-52s song), was an Amiga personal computer launched in March 1992. ... The Amiga 1200, or A1200, was Commodore Internationals third-generation Amiga computer, aimed at the home market. ... The A4000, or Commodore Amiga 4000, was the successor of the A2000 and A3000 computers. ...