It all kicked off with Asus' EeePC. Tiny, reasonably priced laptops have become big business over the last couple of years. These small, cheap, yet relatively powerful, computers can be seen all over the place these days and it seems everyone is trying to get in on the act including blast from the past, Commodore.In recent times we've seen many of the big manufacturers attempt to steal some of Asus' thunder. Now the makers of every 1980's teenage bedroom geek's home computer, Commodore, are set to enter the market. 80's nostalgists will, no doubt, be split in their opinions of this compact, cream coloured mini laptop. It is available in other colours but the cream brings back memories of the old C64 with the "Chickenhead" logo displayed proudly on the lid. Unfortunately, barring the installation of a C64 emulator, that's where the similarity ends.
The specifications of what they've unimaginatively named Commodore UMMD 8010/F are passable if not spectacular. It has a 10 inch screen, 1GB of memory, an 80GB hard drive and the usual wireless connectivity etc - hardly stats to get excited about though. And, unlike the EeePC there will not be an option of shipping with a Linux operating system.
Commodore may have missed a trick by not using the C64 or even Amiga in its marketing. Even after years in their position in the market, Apple do not have anyone credible competing with them for the title of coolest laptop. Tapping into the reminiscences of days wasted in bedrooms traversing the universe in Elite or shooting up bad guys in Commando could be just the kick start this hardware needs.
Released later this month for a reported £325 the Commodore (who's going to call it UMMD8010/F?) is not bad value at roughly the same price as the Commodore 64 in the 1980s. Sadly, there are better small laptops available already and if they're not going to push the Commodore reputation for marketing purposes, it may be doomed to be forgotten by next month.
Perhaps the time is right for Sir Clive Sinclair to step out of the shadows and show everyone how to build a computer properly.
