C128

Specification

Commodore 128D (original, not 128DCR) Commodore 1901 color PAL/RGBI monitor

Origin

Acquired in 2010 for €50. It was the exact same model I had in 1986 including the monitor.

Condition

Perfect working condition. Clean, hardly yellow.

Original Specimen

I still have the original one which was the second computer I used. It was bought by my older brother in 1986.

Condition

Generally working, but...

The drive seems to have problems reading the highest tracks (33,34,35).

Paddle port 1 seems broken, it always reads 255. Ports 2,3 and 4 work fine.

I've completely dis/reassembled it, cleaning every part.

Case and keyboard shows signs of extensive use and is colored yellow.

It is not impossible that the original box for the computer and monitor still exists (need to search for it).

Monitor

The original 1901 monitor was broken long time ago and I trowed it away.

Ever since I've used a green PAL monitor with a special handmade cabling to get both 40 and 80 colomns screen. The 80 coloumns RGBI port has a monochrome pin (7) for this purpose.

Ofcourse for colour 40 coloms I can connect a TV.

But the 80 coloms colors remained lost. Until now, I learned that the 128 RGBI is actually CGA compatible! I do have an EGA monitor. Connecting this to the 128 works except that all low-intensity colors are garbled (white stripes). Using the RGBI cable from the 1901 monitor which doesn't have pin 7 connected solves this problem.