Bringing Back Old School
Remember the Commodore 64? Most of us feel very fond and nostalgic towards it. If the Commodore was reborn in 2010, it will probably look like Commodore USA’s Phoenix. The Commodore Phoenix looks like how a Commodore should: a thick PC-in-a-keyboard, not that it isn’t attractive.
I deeply desire it.
The keyboard all-in-one form factor has been missing from the market for some time and Commodore USA is a nice throwback to the brand. No, this isn’t the same company that made the Commodore back in the day. They’re licensing the Commodore name from Commodore Gaming, but as far as we’re concerned, the spirit lives on.
Their entry level model will run $695 with an E7500 2.93GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB or RAM, a 160 GB hard drive and Ubuntu, though you can just pop in a Windows disk and get that installed.
Then, there’s the Asus Eee Keyboard. Much sleeker than the Phoenix, it’s more of a spiritual throwback, but a throwback nonetheless. It’s got all the present-day amenities, sporting a 5-inch 800×480 capacitive multitouch display, HDMI-out, WiFi, and UWB (Ultra Wideband) to stream content to your television set via the included receiver. You’re getting the more netbook-grade specs with an Atom processor, 1 GB or RAM and a 16 GB SSD, but for what it does and it’s boyishly good looks more than justify its existence.
You can pick up one of these babies for $600. Check out the official promotional video to see the Eee Keyboard in action.