The Commodore VIC-20, released in 1980, was a home computer that was widely popular in the early days of the personal computer revolution. The VIC-20 was the first computer to sell one million units and was widely considered to be the first computer for the masses.
In terms of performance, the VIC-20 was limited compared to its contemporaries. It featured a 1.02 MHz 6502 processor and just 5KB of RAM, which made it less powerful than many other home computers on the market. However, it was still capable of running basic games and programs, and could even be used for basic home productivity tasks such as word processing and spreadsheet management.
One of the most popular uses for the VIC-20 was as a gaming console. The VIC-20 was home to a wide variety of games, many of which were ports of popular arcade games. Titles like “Pac-Man” and “Donkey Kong” were popular on the system, and many other games were developed specifically for the VIC-20.
The VIC-20 also had a strong following among hobbyists and developers. The computer featured a built-in BASIC programming language, which made it easy for users to create their own programs and games. Many users also took advantage of the VIC-20’s expansion capabilities, adding additional memory and peripherals to the system to enhance its capabilities.
The back and side of the Commodore VIC-20 had the following connections.
- Game I/O to connect a joystick, lightpen, mouse or a pair of paddles
- Expansion port to connect cartridges
- Audio and Video to connect a monitor, or to a television with an RF modulator.
- Serial I/O to connect a disk drive like the VIC-1540 or a printer like the MPS-801
- Cassette to connect a cassette recorder
- User port to connect cartridges, reset buttons or modems
I remember having the Pac-man and the 16k memory cartridge but there must have been others as I bought a big upgrade later on.
I don’t know what made me get this computer as the Commodore 64 was a better system, with the original price of around £300 is was very expensive for me but the price did start to drop, around 1982/83 it dropped to around £150 and below as shown in these magazine adverts.
With a price of around £140 I think I must have purchased it at this low price, I used this computer almost daily but I’m not sure what for, I remember running programs and playing the games off the cartridges.
Later I got the VC 1020 expansion case that used the rear port to expand the connections up to five extra slots, I could now connect the 16K memory cartridge and a game cartridge, and I remember buying a few.
The Commodore VC 1020 expansion case was a large metal enclosure that allowed me to use multiple cartridges simultaneously, or to use a variety of peripherals without having to disconnect and reconnect them.
The VC 1020 also had other features that made it a good purchase, the lid was on a hinge for easy access to the slots and cable tidy but mostly for me the thick steel that would hold the 16″ television I used.
I don’t know what happened to this setup, I probably ended up opening it up to see how it worked and breaking it.
I wish I still had it as I know the VC 1020 is a relatively rare accessory now