I was approached by a company back in 2010 to help develop a portable computer in the spirit of the Commodore 65. While I wish the experience had been more positive, I ultimately left the team and took my design with me. Now, over 10 years later, I finally have the 3D modelling skills to more fully flush out some of my old designs. The 65-LT is a love letter to the Commodore 64C design era.
As this is a design from over 10 years ago some of the modern port standards are a little out of date.
I always loved my Commodore 64C. I grew up with the breadbin like most kids, but I liked the refresh even if it wasn’t much of a value proposition. Ultimately for me, it was a last hurrah for the mighty machine. The design sensibilities also lent themselves to a cool laptop aesthetic.
Keyboard is the hybrid of all the Commodore keyboards of the era and beyond.
I looked at all the keyboards Commodore developed from the C64-C era onward, including the PC laptops Commodore released. I feel the layout represents the best balance between legacy and function.
Right side ports.
Left side ports.
65-LT - Case closed.
I would love to continue to develop this one. Nowadays it would be pretty easy to create an authentic yet modern C64/65 experience with a Raspberry Pi or a MiSTer board. Plastic injection molds are not exactly cheap but it sure would be cool to have a modern and fully portable machine dedicated to the experience.
Gaming in the home office.
Would you be interested in one of these machines? If there is anyone out there in a position to discuss further development on this machine I am interested in hearing from you. In any case, I am very excited that I was finally able to show of the design in full. Please let me know what you think in the comments below!