Who wants a Commodore 128 D?

[Doppie1200]

My C128Dcr was a real bargain compaired to this lot. Sadly my keyboard is a bit yellowed. Anyway, I got my C128Dcr along with an extra 1571 for a crate of beer! The problem I have with these machines is....I have no use for them  :-?

[Doppie1200]

Also not that the 128Dcr has som annoyances.

1st The SID is the 8580 rather then the 6581. I think it sounds awfull.

2nd The VIC has some interferance with the 1Mhz Bus. It produces veticle culomns all over the screen. If you want a solid picture stay clear of the Dcr.

On the other hand the ROM is debugged. I recall a nice bug in the 128(D) Rom where the caps lock did not work for one key.....forgot which (beleive it was 'q').

And the DCR case is smaller then the D in terms of height. And it is solid as a tank! (MIL SPEC no doubt)
Sadly the keyboard bay was dropped and so was the carrying handle and the fan. The latter being an advantage IMHO.

[Doppie1200]

boing wrote:

If the 8580 is truly inferior (as opposed to just one bad unit) is it pin comaptible so that a SID chip can be installed in place of the 8580?

The 6581 requires a higher voltage. I don't know about pincompatibility. Inferior, no. Different, yes. The filters are different and 'digitized' sound is not possible. It whispers 'ghostbusters' rather than saying it like the 6581 does.

But aren't all North American 128D's in fact the DCR model?  Is there a fix for this problem?

I have not found a fix yet. Three Dcr's I've come about had/have this problem. They where PAL Dcr's. It should be fixable with the right decoupling.

There's no keyboard bay and no handle on the 128Dcr?!?  I've seen them at Montgomery Wards or Sears with handle and keyboard garage!

The Dcr has no handle or garage. This is unique to the D model.