Rubenerd

I previewed this machine in my latest Commodore 64 post, but I forgot that I only mentioned receiving it on Mastodon, and didn’t blog about it.

What colour was the Commodore 64?

Below is my new (to me), genuine, bonafide “Aldi” Commodore 64 that arrived in the post a couple of weeks ago under several layers of foam, wrapping paper, and tape. I’ve had new computers shipped with less care than this treasure, which is saying something.

I’d wanted one of these very specific machines since my childhood, because it represents such a fasinating point in 8-bit retrocomputing history. I’ll get to why in a moment, but first an explanation of where the machine came from.

Where this machine slots in

The Commodore 64 was introduced in 1982, and had several variants over its astonishing decade in production. It started as a groundbreaking device with better sound, sprites, and graphics than its competitors, before finding a niche later in life as a capable budget machine. I’m boring, so I’m most interested in the personal productivity, factory automation, and business tools people managed to run on the hardware! That’s a story for another post.

But back to this specific machine. Having been on the market for half a decade at that point, in 1987 the Aldi supermarket chain began selling a version of the machine in Germany. Jan Beta has talked about how his father picked one up on a whim, which ended up being his personal system. Aldi’s “centre isle” always has random curiosities, so I can absolutely believe this sitting there waiting for an impulse purchase!

Jan Beta’s YouTube channel

Compared to other C64s

This “Aldi” C64 bears superficial resemblence to the original Commodore 64, but it differed in several key ways.

• The keyboard. The double-shot keycaps are beige instead of chocolate brown. This would be retained in early versions of the sleek 64C, before being replaced with cheaper printed keycaps.

• The motherboard. It included the first cost-reduced “shortboard” with consolidated ICs, though it retained separate colour memory from the SuperPLA.

• The case. This production run tended towards grey rather than brown, as I discussed in that post I linked to above. This is distinct from the later 64G, which had a beige breadbin case and a cheaper printed label.

• Where it was made. Despite being sold in Europe, these 64s were made in the US, as evidenced by its manufacturing label. It also had a second serial number sticker on the right.

It’s this unique set of features that make it such a curiosity to me, and why it’s among the more interesting 8-bit machines from the time period. It represented a turning point in how these machines were manufacturered and released.

A confession

The title of this post gave it away, but this is where I admit that my Aldi 64 here is… empty! It has the original case, keyboard, and port cover, but it doesn’t have a functional motherboard.

I already have a “daily driver” Commodore 128 with 64 mode, and a Commodore 64C to play with period-correct hardware, so my plan is to use this case as a way to test parts through elimination, and experiment with modern reproductions.

Adrian’s Digital Basement
The C64 250407 replica by bwack
The SixtyClone Commodore 64 replica by Bob’s Bits

Adrian Black from Adrian’s Digital Basement has his “ZIF64” which he uses to test old and new components, so I’m thinking it’d be fun to populate a reproduction board with zero-insertion force sockets. Wunderbar!