In a move sure
to please almost everyone,
Commodore 128D
Commodore has quietly replaced the 128 with the 128D—a machine that is an enhancement of
Clifton Karnes, Assistant Editor
The first thing you'll notice about
128D has an expansive 64K. With
the 128D is its new look. The com
this extra RAM, spectacular 640 X
puter's improved external design
200, high-resolution graphics can
boasts a detachable keyboard and a slim metal case that houses the sys tem hardware, the power supply,
be created.
the 128 while remaining
completely compatible with the previous model's existing
software and peripherals. wide selection of software and peri pherals—including the new 1581 3Vi-inch disk drive—and all have performed flawlessly in 64 mode,
Another improvement is found
128 mode, with the new CP/M 3.0,
in the 128D's internal 1571. It
ensemble has a reserved, profes
grade ROMs, correcting some bugs
sional look, but there are some im
and with GEOS and GEOS128. (It should be noted, however, that GEOS for the 64 does not yet sup
in earlier versions. And the 128D
port the new 1581.)
portant practical advantages to Commodore's new design, too. The 128D's detachable key board is identical in layout to the 128's, but it is more responsive and has a lighter action for high-speed touch typing. The metal case has benefits, too. It protects the hardware from
sports an enhanced version of
Are there any negatives with the 128D? Not many, and the few
and a 1571 disk drive. The whole
the outside world and provides an
excellent RF shield. It also serves as a handy monitor stand, making a 128D system take much less desk
space than an equivalent 128 sys tem with a 1571 and monitor.
Biggest Improvement: Video RAM Although the external design of the 128D is significant in itself, the
128D's enhancements don't stop there. The biggest improvement is in 80-column video memory. The 128's 8563 chip has 16K of dedicat
ed video RAM available, but the 16
COMPUTE!'s Gaielia
April 1988
comes with Commodore's new up
CP/M 3.0 that fully supports Com modore's new 1581 drive and in
that there are center around the in
available in that operating system's early releases.
ternal drive. Having the drive inte grated with the system has benefits, but it also has a few drawbacks.
Compatibility
drive, it is more expensive than its
cludes many enhancements not
Since the 128D includes a 1571
Functionally, the 128D works just like the 128. It has three modes—
predecessor. With the 128, a 64 user
64 mode,
1541 drive with the system.
128 mode, and CP/M
mode—and it runs both GEOS and
could buy the 128 and use his or her
GEO5128 operating systems. All the
There's another problem with internal drives: If the drive needs to
128's ports are represented on the
go to the shop, the computer goes,
128D, though because of the new design, some are located in differ ent places. Included are two ports
for joysticks or a mouse, a serial porl for disk drives and printers, a port for RAM expansion modules, a cassette port, and a user port for a
modem or RS-232 interface. The 128D also has one of the 128's nic est features: a reset switch.
We've used the 128D with a
too. Also, the internal 1571 is miss ing the external DIP switches found on the stand-alone 1571s that make changing device numbers so easy. But these are minor inconveniences found in most similarly configured' systems.
The 128D looks like a real win ner to us. It's nicely designed and is
fully compatible with the 128, and offers significant enhancements, o