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Commodore
The Commodore PET is a line of home/personal computers produced starting in 1977 by Commodore International. The system combined a MOS 6502 microprocessor, Commodore BASIC in read only memory (ROM), a keyboard, a computer monitor and (in early models) a cassette deck for data and program storage in a single all-in-one case.
Development of the system began in 1976 and a prototype was demonstrated in January 1977 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). A series of problems meant that production versions did not begin to arrive until December 1977, by which time the TRS-80 and Apple II had already begun deliveries. The close release dates of the three machines led Byte to refer to them collectively as the "1977 trinity".
The original PET design underwent a series of significant updates, adding more memory, a better keyboard, larger screens and other modifications. The systems were a top-seller in the Canadian and United States educational markets, as well as European business uses. The PET formed the basis for Commodore's entire 8-bit product line, including the Commodore 64.
The Commodore CBM-II series is a short-lived range of 8-bit personal computers from Commodore Business Machines (CBM), released in 1982 and intended as a follow-on to the Commodore PET series.
The VIC-20 (in Germany, VC-20, in Japan, VIC-1001) is an 8-bit home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the PET.
The VIC-20 was intended to be more economical than the PET computer. It was equipped with 5 KB of static RAM and used the same MOS 6502 CPU as the PET. The VIC-20's video chip, the MOS Technology VIC, was a general-purpose color video chip designed by Al Charpentier in 1977 and intended for use in inexpensive display terminals and game consoles, but Commodore could not find a market for the chip.