Video Guides
A somewhat slow, but decent, troubleshooting/disassembly guide for the Commodore SX-64.
Background and Identification
The Commodore PC compatible systems are a line of IBM personal computers introduced in 1984 by Commodore Business Machines, a home computer manufacturer. Commodore PC systems are incompatible with Commodore’s prior Commodore 64 and Amiga architectures. Commodore PC systems are generally considered good, serviceable, but unspectacular workhorse PCs.
Commodore signed a deal with Intel in 1984 to second-source manufacture the Intel 8088 CPU, which is also used in the IBM PC, in addition to a license to manufacture a computer based on the Dynalogic Hyperion. In 1987, the first Commodore desktop model, the PC-10, was introduced and sold for USD $559 without the monitor (equivalent to USD $1258 in 2019). The PC-10 was sold alongside Commodore’s Amiga and Commodore 64c/128 series of home and graphics computers. The PC-10 was comparable in the desktop computer market to the Blue Chip PC, Leading Edge Model D, and Tandy 1000 line of PC compatibles.
The Commodore PC compatible systems include the PC-I (or PC1), PC-5, PC-10, PC-20, Colt, PC-30, PC-40, PC-50, and PC-60 models. The PC-I is a small-form-factor low-end non-expandable system with a 4.77 MHz 8088 processor, Hercules/CGA graphics, and one 5.25-inch floppy disk drive. The PC-5 is a full-size PC/XT-clone with a monochrome text card and 512k of memory; this model is expandable with up to five 8-bit ISA cards. The PC-10 is a full AT-sized model with an 8088 processor and Hercules/CGA/Plantronics Colorplus graphics provided by an ATI Graphics Solution card. The PC-20 is a PC-10 with a 20 MB hard disk. The Colt is a rebranded PC-10-III. The PC-30 is a PC-AT compatible system with a 12 MHZ 80286 CPU and a 20 MB hard disk. The PC-40 is a 12 MHz PC-AT system with 1 MB of RAM, onboard VGA/EGA/CGA and Hercules video graphics, and hard disk options between 20 and 80 MB. The PC-50 is based on the 386SX model running at 16 MHz that includes a 40 MB to 100 MB hard disk. The PC-60 is a 25 MHz 386 system with FPU that came in a tower case with a 60 MB to 200 MB hard disk.