The C128 and Z80 CPU ...or Intel 8088?

[RobertB]

What if noticing that, CBM had instead made the C128 with an Intel 8088 (or preferrably an 8086) instead of the Zilog Z80 CPU?

CBM did make the desktops, like the Commodore Colt, PC-10, PC-20, PC-30, (and more), and 286, 386, and 486 laptops.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

[RobertB]

I guess you could clarify with Bill or Dave but I understand that one of the doorstops donated it's CPU when they were designing the C128.

I've never heard that story from either Bil or Dave.

No Idea if any of the CPUs from the thousands of TS1000s they had were recycled for use in productions C128s or if they just used brand new chips.

Since 4 to 5 million C128's were produced, having a few thousand chips from TS1000's would not fulfill production needs.  Anyways, nothing has been said about how many TS1000's were exactly turned in.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

[RobertB]

...no one bought a C128 to run a non-graphical OS.

There were those who bought the C128 so that they could run the graphical OS, GEOS, in 80-column mode.

Instead of the 40-column C64 GEOS,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

[RobertB]

I believe a C65 would have been better.

FYI, C128 development began in 1984 with the release of the C128 in 1985.  C65 development began and stopped in 1989-1990, due to the fact that 8-bit development was a dead-end in those later years.

The C64 lasting in production until 1992,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm

[RobertB]

From On The Edge:

To fix the problem, Herd required the C128 to start at memory address zero, but the 8502 started elsewhere. "One night, everybody left and it was broken," says Herd. "During the night, I said, 'I have no way to fix this, unless we startup by not starting at that address.' I said, 'Hey, Von. The Z80 chip starts from zero, doesn't it?' He said, 'Yup.' I said, 'Cool. I need somebody wire wrapping tonight.'"
The hour was too late to purchase a Z80 chip, so Herd looked elsewhere. "Everybody had doorstops that were actually Sinclairs," he recalls. "I went and tore open my doorstop because we didn't own a Z80 chip in the place."

Heh, I will reconfirm with Bil.  As Bil and Leonard Tramiel said at CommVEx, the Brian Bagnall book(s) is/are not entirely accurate.

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://www.dickestel.com/fcug.htm