About two dozen people have sent me the following link, so I suppose it’s time I comment on it:

In case you missed it: Commodore 64 Revived

Quick summary: A new company (“Commodore USA”) has licensed the rights to the Commodore name and has begun pre-selling new computers in new cases designed to look like the old Commodore 64.

Commodore USA already sells two computers, the VIC-Pro and the VIC-Slim (VIC being the Commodore line of computers before they released the C64). Neither of these machines look anything like an old VIC-20 computer. In fact, Commodore USA doesn’t even build these machines; they buy off-the-shelf computers, slap their logo on them, and re-sell them. If you don’t see the silliness in this, it would be as if Ford purchased the rights to the Lamborghini name, slapped a new logo on a Ford Fiesta, and began selling them as the new Econo-Lamborghini. Ridiculous.

At least Commodore USA’s new “Commodore 64” is a new product. It’s biggest selling point is that it actually looks like a vintage Commodore 64. The outside of the machine, from the case to the keys, looks very much like an original Commodore 64. Under the hood, the guts have been updated with an Intel Atom D525 1.8GHz Dual Core CPU (all models share the same CPU). Commodore USA is offering their new Commodore 64x in four different configurations. The C64x Basic, which sells for $595, gets you the computer with 2Gb of RAM and a 160Gb Hard Drive. For another $100 you get the C64x, which adds WiFi, a DVD drive, and a 250Gb Hard Drive. Another $100 gets you the C64x Deluxe model, which bumps the machine up to 4Gb of RAM and a 500Gb drive. The C64x Ultimate (we’re up to $895 now) swaps the DVD-Drive for a BluRay one and gets you a 1Tb drive.

Finally, for those of you wishing to build your own, Commodore USA will be selling empty cases for $250.

And therein lies the problem. Last year, for a few dollars more than the price of one of those empty cases, I bought a computer with a ton more processing power than even the top of the line Commodore 64x. For around $400 last year I bought a refurbished Acer Aspire desktop with a a quad-core processor, 6 Gigs of RAM, and a 1Tb drive.

What makes this new Commodore 64x even more laughable is the fine print:

Play all your favorite 8-bit era games within seconds of turning the Commodore 64 on, by either selecting the C64 icon from the boot menu to run a C64 emulator directly, or from a media center program within our own Commodore Operating System.

Note: Commodore OS 1.0, along with emulation functionality and classic game package, will be mailed to purchasers when available. In the meantime, units come with the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS operating system on CD ready to install.

Translation: We plan on putting some cool features in our new Commodore Operating System, but it doesn’t exist yet. Instead, this computer ships with a free Operating System that you will need to install yourself.

To play old Commodore games on this thing, you will need an emulator like Vice. The thing is, Vice is free. You’ll also need some D64 disk images containing games. Those are also free. Suddenly this thing isn’t starting to sound so wonderful.

Years ago at a thrift store, I bought a broken calculator simply because it had the Commodore logo on it. (Before making computers, Commodore made lots of other things including calculators.) I’m a huge Commodork and would buy almost anything with the Commodore logo on it. The difference is, that calculator was $1. The Commodore 64x, from what I see, is way, way overpriced. The original Commodore 64 was a low cost computer that introduced many of the world’s current IT departments to the wonders of home computers three decades ago. I don’t see the Commodore 64x appealing to that demographic today.

I feel like, if anybody, I should be the guy standing in line to buy one of these … but $895 is an expensive trip down retro-lane.

Link: Commodore USA