MAX Machine

MAX Machine
Type	Console / Home computer
Release date	1982; 44 years ago
Introductory price	200
Discontinued	1982
Operating system	MAX BASIC (Cartridge)
CPU	MOS Technology 6510 @ 1.02 MHz
Memory	2.0 KB, 0.5 KB color RAM
Graphics	VIC-II 6566 (320 x 200, 16 colors, sprites, raster interrupt)
Sound	SID 6581 (3x Osc, 4x Wave, Filter, ADSR, Ring)
Predecessor	Commodore VIC-20
Successor	Commodore 64

The Commodore MAX Machine, also known as Ultimax in the United States and Canada and VC-10 in Germany, is a home computer made by Commodore International. It came out in Japan in early 1982 as the Commodore 64's predecessor. Commodore may have wanted to sell it outside of Japan, as its name was in the Commodore 64 manual. It was first shown in Tokyo, and as Commodore VICKEY. It is rare, selling much less than the Commodore 64 and being discontinued in the same year.

Hardware

Software came on ROM cartridges. It has a membrane keyboard, 2 KiB of RAM and 0.5 KiB of color RAM (1024 × 4 bits). A television is used as a display. The Commodore 64 has the same chipset, 6510 CPU and SID sound chip, and has a compatibility mode, which was often used for "freezer" cartridges, such as the Action Replay, to easily allow control of the running program. Tape drives (for storage) worked, but not disk drives, printers or modems due to not having the right serial and user ports.

Business

It was going to cost about 200 USD. It had better graphics and sound, but Commodore's own VIC-20 was much more popular. It was costing about the same and with much more expandability and software titles. It also had a better keyboard.

Related pages

References

↑ "OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum". www.old-computers.com. Archived from the original on 2021-08-19. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
↑ "The Ultimax/Max Machine, The 64GS, The 64CGS". The Secret Weapons of Commodore. 2018-01-21. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
1 2 "Commodore MAX - Computer - Computing History". www.computinghistory.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2021-06-23. Retrieved 2022-01-22.

Other websites

Commodore MAX Machine / Ultimax at the Wayback Machine (archived 6 November 2014)
The UltiMax machine (a.k.a. VIC-10)
The MAX Machine, the odd one out

[1] "OLD-COMPUTERS.COM : The Museum". www.old-computers.com. Archived from the original on 2021-08-19. Retrieved 2022-01-22.

[2] "The Ultimax/Max Machine, The 64GS, The 64CGS". The Secret Weapons of Commodore. 2018-01-21. Retrieved 2019-01-12.

[:0-3] 1 2 "Commodore MAX - Computer - Computing History". www.computinghistory.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2021-06-23. Retrieved 2022-01-22.