C128D
A "Real" Commodore C128D - as Originally Designed at Least

The C128D was designed to be released at the same time as the C128. As you might expect, this was my preffered version over the barndoorstop version.

c128D-Full.png

 

c128-Rear.png

 

Last I heard, CBM delayed the release of the C128D for a couple of years which makes no sense .  By that I mean why put resources into a system years after it's release when the Amiga should be the reigning computer.

C128D-1_0.png

I have heard the "later" C128D's referred to as "the Metal C128D" or "the Plastic C128D".  I assume the plastic one looks like this model, but thats a guess.

C128D-Bottom.png

 C128D-Keyboard-unclipped.png

   

C128D-RearSN.png

C128-Drive-SN.png

Amiga theft was so high in tyhe office that I labled it so they wouldn't grab it before they realized what the had stolen.

 

C128D-Top.png

C128-Inside.png

 

The last shot shows the infamaous "second hole" in use.  When we layed out the the PCB we support both cases, however that required 2 holes, one right in critical section jokiingly called the "data river' in both English and Japanese.


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bilherd's picture

Heh, I like the notation, "Not an Amiga." Looks like it needs some cleaning up, but at least, it's not as yellowed as mine. :) I'm always scared to carry the machine by the plastic handle on the side; I'm afraid it might break off!

Happy Thanksgiving!
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org

Yeah my equipment is in a "as last seen in my office 28 years ago" state.  It also says "Watch yer ass" on the floppy, I must not have been happy with something about it.  Thats sharpie on it (yes we had Sharpie 28 years ago) but I would bet it can be rubbed off.
The handle is great, I dont worry about that after my initial "consumer tests" back then usually after we came back from the bar.  (worked for the TED Joystick)  We talked briefly when I was in the Tokyo office about making the handle try and center the weight so the computer doesnt bang your shins when carrying it.
What I am afraiod of however, is breaking the two cable holders off the back, I try and be real careful whenevr I stand it up, to work on it, usually on the side opposite the side with the power switch.
I have a random C128D keyboard that is bright yellow.  This case may be a soft tool.
Bil
 

Bil wrote:

> What I am afraid of however, is breaking the two cable holders off the back...

Very true. I have a TOGA friend who has a plastic C128D with one of the cable holders broken in the back. Perhaps he can epoxy it back on. He also replaced the European internal power supply with North American components so he could run the machine here in the U.S..

Happy Thanksgiving!
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
The Other Group of Amigoids
http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
Southern California Commodore & Amiga Network
http://www.sccaners.org

I heard the plastic 128D came out in europe in 1985, but it wasn't until the metal 128D (128DCR) that it was released in the USA. The reason I heard was that the plastic 128D didn't have good enough shielding to pass FCC. I don't know how true any of that is.

This is probably where I read it. http://oldcomputers.net/c128d.html (again not sure the accuracy of the information, but that if it's wrong then finding out the source of the misinformation and getting it corrected would seem a good idea).

We passed FCC scanning before I left, though they (management) might not have turned in the paperwork, the shielding for the main board is the same as the flat model, the disk board was problematic as it didn't have a close coupled shield.  We were able to test without an external drive as we made the point that it was self-contained.
I have heard that noise on the video output was pretty bad on the metal version, sounded like ground loop, etc. 
 
Bil

Hello Bil,
 
At least the non-prototype European models did have metal shielding on the foppy board. You can see one of my 128-D opened up on my page
 
http://scacom.bplaced.net/Collection/128d/128d.php
 
There you can also see the differences to the later CR-models.
 
greetings

I have one of these lovely beasties, in great condition. Like the8250LP disk drive, they were a great piece of industrial design, and functionally well thought out. 
I saw a lot of them in Melbourne, Australia in use running pharmacies - a local business must have written a POS/pharmacy management application for them, so they were quite prevalent, up till about 12 years ago.  You'll have to prise mine from my cold, dead hands.
 
Callan
 

/BGM

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