The C64 G is the last model of the famous micro, and as well as having a much lighter case, it returns to the bread bin shape of the original, abandoning the revised angled shape of the C64 C.

It seems that around 1989 Commodore were just using up all the spare parts they had, so the C64 G had a large amount of different external variations. It is possible to find them with lighter keys such as those on the C64 C, or the darker keys of the older style. Other differences could be the LED power light, that could be green or red. The name badge was now an embossed sticker rather than the metal plate of the original.

Internally it is drastically different to the other models, with far fewer ICs, and parts left over from the disastrous 64GS games console. It has often been reported that the SID sound chip is integrated with this model, but it is not the case, it is largely a C64 C motherboard, but with some major differences, there are now only two RAM chips instead of eight, and the Kernal and Basic chips were now on one 16kb ROM.

Probably the most unhelpful change was the 9V line being missing from the user port, which made it incompatible with some peripherals.

Despite all the changes, the machine is almost completely compatible with the C64 software library. 

The Commodore 64 was one of the most successful home computers in the world selling around 11-17 million units between 1982 to 1993. There were several versions of the C64 from the original "Bull Nosed" style through to the later re-styled version and even versions produced specifically for the education market. The C64 features 64 kilobytes of RAM with sound and graphics performance that were superior to IBM-compatible computers of that time. During the Commodore 64's lifetime (between 1982 and 1994), sales totalled around 17 million units. Part of its success was due to the fact that it was sold in retail stores instead of electronics stores, and that Commodore produced many of its parts in-house to control supplies and cost.

Approximately 10,000 commercial software titles were made for the Commodore 64 including development tools, office applications, and games. The machine is also credited with popularizing the computer demo scene. The Commodore 64 is still used today by some computer hobbyists, and emulators allow anyone with a modern computer to run these programs on their desktop PC.

Manufacturer: Commodore
Date: 1989

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH59106. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.

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