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This is a fully functional Commodore 64 laptop using actual hardware, specifically the C64C motherboard which was one of the last and smallest revisions. It uses a Gamecube power supply in place of the original power brick.

It's much greener than using the original configuration because you:

a) don't need a CRT
b) don't need a slow, power-wasting disk drive
c) everything is powered by a single power supply.

Also this is one less Commodore 64 that will end up in a landfill, wasting away to nothingness after once being the greatest 8-bit computer of all time, 2nd only to possibly the Atari 800!

Plus all of the ribbon cabling was recycled from old computers - it's cheap, if not free, and doesn't goto waste.
 
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Step 1: Initial Hacking

c64_1.jpg
As mentioned before this started with a C64C motherboard. Its smaller than most, but I needed it to be even smaller. I chopped off the power input/joystick end and also shaved off the cassette port tabs. I ditched everything about the original case design except the size - I wanted to keep the whole thing at 153 x 10.53, which is about the smallest it can get with the 153 LCD
screen involved.

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mbittle says: Feb 1, 2013. 5:20 PM
i found this cool, however I found by the makers of the commodore 64 this sweet but expensive new version of the c64
the Commodore64x
http://www.commodoreusa.net/cusa_c64.aspx
radznjason2011 says: Sep 16, 2012. 5:54 PM
All hail Ben!.
wanna beco says: Sep 13, 2012. 8:41 PM
Whip that puppy out at a starbucks and there will be a "hipster-gasm". I miss my c64 more than I miss my high school friends!
Mads Hougesen says: Sep 8, 2012. 1:10 PM
You should make a Commodore 128 version of this
MahavishnuMan says: May 5, 2009. 4:56 PM
For all the sad people out there who don't understand why the C64 is still so important to so many, I've written a BASIC program for you:<br/><br/>10 REM * FOLLOW THESE STEPS AND YOU'LL SOON SEE *<br/>20 REM * WHY THE C64 WAS THE BEST SELLING *<br/>30 REM * COMPUTER OF ALL TIME *<br/>40 INPUT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.computerbrains.com/ccs64/">WEB$</a>:GET CCS64<br/>50 INPUT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.c64.ch/demos/realdetail.php?id=790">DEMO$</a><br/>60 LOAD "*",8,1<br/>70 PRINT "NOW I GET IT! A 1 MHZ PROCESSOR AND 64 KB RAM"<br/>80 PRINT "IS CAPABLE OF REAL-TIME 3D RENDERING,"<br/>90 PRINT "TEXTURE MAPPING, AND AMAZING SOUND!"<br/>100 PRINT "AND ALL THIS, FROM A MACHINE FIRST MANUFACTURED"<br/>110 PRINT "IN 1982 THAT SOLD UNTIL 1994."<br/>120 IF PCUSER$<>"SPEECHLESS" THEN END:REM * THERE IS NO HOPE FOR YOU, PAL *<br/>
sschoemann in reply to MahavishnuManJun 20, 2012. 8:05 PM
whats sad is we could actually read that code logically and literally... why did monkey soft abandon Basic, the best way to introduce newcomers to programming?
mediasmith in reply to MahavishnuManJan 9, 2011. 12:40 PM
A person who understands!
I LOVE it!
msholden says: Apr 17, 2009. 5:43 AM
Blast from the past. The Commodore 64 was great but I cut my teeth on a VIC-20 with 4K of available ram. After programming with the Commodores with very limited program memory you learned how to conserve memory and tricks. You could reach out and Peek and Poke to the 6502 registers. I built a speech synthesizer which worked with Allophones. Plugged it into the expansion port and had my 64 talking to me. I love your article which has peeked my interest. Unfortunately this showcases our age. Thanks!
sschoemann in reply to msholdenJun 20, 2012. 8:01 PM
Age is irrelevant we still can kick the butts of these young hackers, as soon as we find out where they hid our canes....
BillBiker in reply to msholdenJan 24, 2011. 5:34 AM
Wow , the memories come flowing back! Cobol, fortran, and Pascal were once words to my ear (still are). Thanks for the blast through time!
msholden in reply to BillBikerJan 25, 2011. 8:48 AM
Your welcome,

Lets not forget the ELF, which was in electronic magazines way before the VIC-20. It programmed in Hex. Not to friendly but one of the forerunners as well. It was a hobby toy and I do not remember any thing else.

Does any one else?
mediasmith in reply to msholdenJan 9, 2011. 12:38 PM
No it doesn't. We haven't mentioned Sinclair-Timex yet. ;o)
Otherwise, Good on ya, msholden! You got it right. Mind if I add a few thought of my own?

Point #1 "Radar Rat Race" for the VIC-20 was about the only game I ever got hooked on. When it moved to the C-64, I thought it lost a lot of charm and lost interest. I still miss it.

Point #2 Tight is right! GEOS and GEM operating systems were incredible. They essentially duplicated the features and capabilities of Windows 2.0 several years earlier. They ran faster on slower processors and did much more with less memory. Either would fit on a 170K floppy disk (complete with your application) and crashing had to wait until Windows before it became understood in our language. Crashes just did not happen on Commodores.

Point #3 The VIC-20, C-64, TRS-80, Atari 400 and TI-99 paved the way for home desktop computers. If today's computers and software were relatively as fast and efficient as these old timers you would never need to turn one on. Your task would be complete before the BIOS splash made it to the screen.
I ran a clone of Ventura Publisher (an early GEM based competitor to Pagemaker) on a C-64 to produce a 24 page newspaper for several years. Speed was not really a problem.

Laughing at these gray haired computer seems a lot like a gangsta with a 9mm Glock poking fun at Bill Cody's Single Action Army Colt.... not too smart.
ProjectZro in reply to msholdenMay 25, 2009. 1:51 AM
HAY im only 20 but i did start on basic retro gear. i learned on the BASIC language (i hate C+,ok with C++) and programming on PIC chips with only 2K mem available. i made it sing Merry had a little lamb and light 2 LEDs. wow i miss high school.
JohnNNJ says: Jun 20, 2012. 10:29 AM
Doogie Howser called. He needs his laptop back.
Krayzi99 says: Jun 18, 2012. 4:28 PM
I must say, I cant join any of you. I'm only 13, not born into the era of c64... sad, but not. Yet, I want to make this. make this, and use it like I have before... Yes, cake is deserved by thee, ben heck. thou deserveth cake indeed.
Krayzi99 in reply to Krayzi99Jun 19, 2012. 9:03 AM
lol. I don't really talk like that, of course.
jolsavicky says: Jun 17, 2012. 10:18 AM
My first one was a Vic 20. The hours I spent typing in the machine language programs to get a word processor. Loved that machine.
sqeeek says: Jul 19, 2010. 10:38 AM
AMEN to them having awesome keyboards. I need to find an old C64 and make a keyboard for my desktop... What happened to us? Now everyone likes sqooshy, cheap, rattly keyboards.
SuperPIXEL in reply to sqeeekMay 20, 2012. 8:26 AM
i use a bigger-type keyboard just because pressing those buttons have better feedback :D

THE KEYS

THEY
ARE
JUMPING
UNDER
MAH
FINGURZ

yes, epic.
thingy says: Nov 22, 2011. 3:34 AM
500000000 internet points. The C64 was my second computer(had a vic 20 before this) and had a-lot of fun with BASIC back in the day.
FlipVans1966 says: Oct 20, 2011. 1:54 PM
awesome, never played the thing but been listening to commodore 64 music a lot recently, check out Slay Radio.
MRedu says: Oct 19, 2011. 12:49 PM
Old is Gold...

Ahh.. c64.. I miss those days...
doomsdayltd says: Aug 3, 2011. 11:22 PM
im thinking of this project now since i have my hands on a commodore 64, but what i'll do is add a MSSIAH cartridge to it for music :D
ledartist says: Jul 17, 2011. 11:05 AM

Wow! I love the way it looks!
Somehow it looks more futuristic than today's high-tech gadget.

Anomn_Feck says: Jun 1, 2011. 12:56 AM
I absolutely love your work and have been following your projects for some time, you bring DIY to the next level and everything you do is awesome!!
MRHint says: May 31, 2011. 12:10 AM
Ben Heck, this is awesome! I can't wait to see your next project.
silvermane says: May 17, 2011. 2:26 PM
This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! Now can we get one made from an Atari 130XE or XE GS?
CanfieldsFarm says: Feb 23, 2011. 4:50 PM
FREAKING AMAZING!
i loved my C64
Wolf Seril says: Feb 4, 2011. 3:39 PM
Woo now I have something to play Zorg on!
hobbyman says: Oct 3, 2010. 10:16 PM
your case design is so cool. What is it made of? how did you produce it?
looks like it came from a 3d printer but illustrator can not give a 3d output.
then how?

congrats anyway, beeing an ancient zx spectrum owner ( i still own 3 ZX48k and a ZX 81)
and a c64 admirer I see and understand the value of these projects. Well done.
Nastan in reply to hobbymanDec 13, 2010. 9:54 PM
He imported the Illustrator files into a different program for a CNC router to cut it out.
grenadier in reply to hobbymanDec 9, 2010. 6:19 AM
That ^^

What is it made of? how did you produce it?
boothby171 says: Jul 18, 2010. 9:08 AM
Face it, fellas--when real computer aficionados get together, they don't talk about "Oh, I'm liquid cooling my latest eight-core Xeon..." (wait..maybe they do), thet talk about their first Commodore, or Osborne, or how they had to re-order their FORTRAN deck when it spilled in the hallway
sqeeek in reply to boothby171Jul 19, 2010. 10:46 AM
Lol I know a place out here in Utah that's been around for 50 years and never changed, called Central Utah Electronics. They still sell Vacuum tubes and original Kaypro Portable's for original list price o.O
Astinsan in reply to sqeeekSep 24, 2010. 2:46 AM
They will be sitting on that kaypro for a while. 1800$ for a luggable 35lb computer... It better come with a dolly. hehe..

I remember the commodore and the atari. I didn't like the atari that much. They keyboard was the bubble key version. The commodore had its issues. It would overheat sometimes and would need to be re-soldered (never turned it) I still have my modem for the commodore 64 think its 75 baud. blazing fast! :)
kyle brinkerhoff says: Sep 11, 2010. 6:03 PM
COOOL! but useless:] still i admire the fact you stuck so close to the original board
Atarimark says: Jul 21, 2010. 10:08 AM
Well as an Atari man myself, I have to say that this build is spectacular. Back in high school we had one guy from our group who had a C64 and we never let him live it down. He would be proud of your work and so should you.
jamesvertigo2 says: Jul 20, 2010. 3:17 AM
wow these are olds
vader0ne says: Jul 19, 2010. 9:45 PM
Man all this talk about the commadore 64 is making me thinking of digging out my old vic 20 and my 128 also have a 64 in my closet along with my big box full of loadstar mags and suitcases of floppies, and modified disk drives. I learned basic programing on these and learned how to hack programs...GREAT MACHINES BACK IN THEIR DAY.
luvit says: Jul 19, 2010. 5:58 PM
OH! OMG. THANKS!.. my floppy disk drive is the source of my high electric bills.
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