<s>
The	O
Commodore	B-Device
65	I-Device
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
C64DX	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
prototype	B-Application
computer	O
created	O
at	O
Commodore	O
Business	O
Machines	O
in	O
1990	O
–	O
1991	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
an	O
improved	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
Commodore	O
64	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
was	O
meant	O
to	O
be	O
backwards-compatible	O
with	O
the	O
older	O
computer	O
,	O
while	O
still	O
providing	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
advanced	O
features	O
close	O
to	O
those	O
of	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Noting	O
that	O
Apple	O
had	O
developed	O
the	O
IIGS	B-Device
to	O
extend	O
the	O
life	O
of	O
its	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
series	I-Device
,	O
the	O
magazine	O
asked	O
"	O
Will	O
Commodore	O
take	O
the	O
same	O
tack	O
?	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
next	O
issue	O
reported	O
that	O
"	O
the	O
latest	O
rumor	O
is	O
that	O
such	O
a	O
machine	O
will	O
never	O
see	O
the	O
light	O
of	O
day	O
"	O
,	O
Fred	O
Bowen	O
and	O
others	O
at	O
Commodore	O
in	O
1990	O
–	O
1991	O
developed	O
the	O
Commodore	B-Device
65	I-Device
(	O
C65	O
)	O
as	O
a	O
successor	O
to	O
the	O
C64	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Commodore	O
International	O
was	O
liquidated	O
in	O
1994	O
,	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
prototypes	B-Application
were	O
sold	O
on	O
the	O
open	O
market	O
,	O
and	O
thus	O
a	O
few	O
people	O
actually	O
own	O
a	O
Commodore	B-Device
65	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
C65	O
project	O
was	O
cancelled	O
,	O
the	O
final	O
8-bit	O
offering	O
from	O
CBM	O
remained	O
the	O
triple-mode	O
,	O
1	O
–	O
2	O
MHz	O
,	O
128	O
KB	O
(	O
expandable	O
)	O
,	O
C64-compatible	O
Commodore	B-Device
128	I-Device
of	O
1985	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
new	O
VIC-III	O
graphics	B-General_Concept
chip	I-General_Concept
named	O
CSG	B-Architecture
4567	O
R5	O
,	O
capable	O
of	O
producing	O
256	O
colors	O
from	O
a	O
palette	O
of	O
4096	O
colors	O
;	O
available	O
modes	O
include	O
320×200×256	O
(	O
8	O
)	O
,	O
640×200×16	O
(	O
4	O
)	O
,	O
640×400×16	O
(	O
4	O
)	O
,	O
1280×200×4	O
(	O
2	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
1280×400×	O
4(2 )	O
(	O
X×Y×color	O
depth	O
,	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
Heavily	O
improved	O
BASIC	O
:	O
Commodore	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
10.0	I-Language
(	O
the	O
C64	O
has	O
the	O
relatively	O
feature-weak	O
BASIC	B-Language
2.0	I-Language
,	O
which	O
was	O
almost	O
10	O
years	O
old	O
by	O
this	O
time	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
custom	O
chips	O
of	O
the	O
C65	O
were	O
not	O
meant	O
to	O
have	O
names	O
like	O
the	O
custom	O
chips	O
in	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
main	O
memory	O
of	O
the	O
C65	O
is	O
shared	O
between	O
the	O
graphics	O
subsystem	O
and	O
the	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
further	O
increase	O
the	O
bandwidth	O
of	O
the	O
graphics	O
subsystem	O
,	O
the	O
memory	O
is	O
divided	O
into	O
2×	O
8-bit	O
wide	O
banks	O
of	O
64	O
Kbyte	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
accessed	O
by	O
the	O
CSG-4567	O
simultaneously	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
provides	O
an	O
effective	O
video-DMA	O
bandwidth	O
of	O
7.2	O
Mbytes/second	O
which	O
is	O
the	O
same	O
specification	O
as	O
the	O
original	O
16-bit	O
Commodore	B-Device
Amiga	I-Device
chipset	O
(	O
OCS/ECS	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
can	O
use	O
up	O
to	O
half	O
the	O
available	O
bandwidth	O
,	O
since	O
it	O
can	O
only	O
access	O
a	O
single	O
8-bit	O
bank	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
higher	O
demanding	O
video	O
modes	O
,	O
the	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
is	O
slowed	O
down	O
due	O
to	O
increased	O
cycle	O
stealing	O
from	O
the	O
video	O
controller	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
having	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
C64	O
video	O
modes	O
,	O
the	O
CSG-4567	O
also	O
supports	O
several	O
new	O
character	O
attributes	O
such	O
as	O
"	O
blink	O
"	O
or	O
"	O
bold	O
"	O
and	O
can	O
display	O
any	O
of	O
the	O
new	O
or	O
old	O
video	O
modes	O
in	O
80	O
column	O
or	O
640	O
horizontal	O
pixel	O
format	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
older	O
40	O
column	O
320	O
pixel	O
format	O
 [ 6 ] 	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
enhanced	O
"	O
VIC-II	O
"	O
modes	O
take	O
up	O
to	O
16	O
KB	O
of	O
system	O
RAM	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CSG-4567	O
can	O
also	O
time-multiplex	O
the	O
bitplanes	O
to	O
give	O
a	O
true	O
four-color	O
1280	O
pixel	O
picture	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
VIC-III	O
bitplane	O
modes	O
take	O
up	O
to	O
64	O
KB	O
of	O
system	O
RAM	B-Architecture
in	O
non-interlaced	O
or	O
128KB	O
RAM	B-Architecture
in	O
interlaced	O
(	O
400	O
line	O
)	O
modes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
the	O
C65	O
is	O
equipped	O
with	O
only	O
128	O
KB	O
in	O
its	O
basic	O
configuration	O
,	O
these	O
modes	O
would	O
consume	O
the	O
entire	O
RAM	B-Architecture
,	O
and	O
are	O
therefore	O
only	O
useful	O
in	O
a	O
RAM	B-Architecture
expanded	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
a	O
basic	O
system	O
,	O
it	O
would	O
probably	O
have	O
made	O
more	O
sense	O
to	O
write	O
software	O
which	O
uses	O
less	O
demanding	O
resolutions	O
with	O
fewer	O
bitplanes	O
-	O
partly	O
because	O
this	O
would	O
consume	O
less	O
of	O
the	O
confined	O
RAM	B-Architecture
space	O
,	O
but	O
also	O
because	O
more	O
bitplanes	O
would	O
demand	O
a	O
higher	O
video	O
DMA	B-General_Concept
bandwidth	O
and	O
consequently	O
slow	O
down	O
the	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
as	O
a	O
result	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
on	O
the	O
Commodore	B-Device
Amiga	I-Device
,	O
which	O
organizes	O
the	O
bitplanes	O
as	O
straight	O
rows	O
of	O
pixels	O
:	O
On	O
the	O
C65	O
,	O
the	O
bytes	O
within	O
the	O
bitplanes	O
are	O
organized	O
as	O
25	O
rows	O
of	O
40	O
or	O
80	O
stacks	O
of	O
8	O
sequential	O
bytes	O
,	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
320×200	O
VIC	O
modes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
contrast	O
to	O
previous	O
8-bit	O
computers	O
from	O
Commodore	O
,	O
the	O
C65	O
has	O
a	O
complete	O
DOS	O
through	O
which	O
the	O
built-in	O
3.5-inch	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
can	O
be	O
controlled	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
this	O
format	O
was	O
uncommon	O
for	O
the	O
former	O
C64	O
owners	O
,	O
the	O
C65	O
retains	O
the	O
serial	B-Protocol
IEC	I-Protocol
port	O
for	O
external	O
Commodore	O
disk	O
drives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
's	O
possible	O
to	O
use	O
a	O
1541	B-Device
,	O
1571	B-Device
,	O
1581	O
,	O
or	O
other	O
similar	O
model	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
DOS	O
itself	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Commodore	O
PET	O
IEEE	O
8250	B-Device
drive	O
DOS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
it	O
can	O
only	O
deal	O
with	O
two	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drives	I-Device
,	O
including	O
the	O
internal	O
,	O
only	O
one	O
external	O
drive	O
may	O
be	O
connected	O
to	O
the	O
internal	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
controller	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
earlier	O
systems	O
,	O
up	O
to	O
4	O
drives	O
can	O
be	O
daisy-chained	B-Application
on	O
the	O
IEC	B-Protocol
port	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
there	O
is	O
a	O
DMA	B-General_Concept
port	O
for	O
memory	O
expansion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
latter	O
is	O
attached	O
just	O
like	O
on	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
500	I-Device
via	O
a	O
flap	O
in	O
the	O
bottom	O
of	O
the	O
board	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
built-in	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
is	O
connected	O
in	O
parallel	O
,	O
serial	O
Commodore	O
drives	O
can	O
be	O
connected	O
via	O
the	O
usual	O
IEC	B-Protocol
port	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Only	O
the	O
port	O
for	O
the	O
C64	O
datasette	B-Device
is	O
no	O
longer	O
available	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
user	O
port	O
missing	O
—	O
like	O
the	O
Aldi	O
C64	O
—	O
the	O
9	O
volt	O
AC	O
line	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
expansion	O
port	O
differs	O
significantly	O
from	O
all	O
prior	O
C64	O
variants	O
and	O
rather	O
resembles	O
that	O
of	O
C16	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2009	O
,	O
a	O
working	O
C65	O
on	O
the	O
online	O
auction	O
site	O
eBay	B-Application
achieved	O
a	O
sales	O
price	O
of	O
€	O
6,060	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2013	O
an	O
eBay	B-Application
auction	O
reached	O
a	O
price	O
of	O
17,827	O
EUR	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2015	O
an	O
eBay	B-Application
auction	O
closed	O
at	O
20,050	O
EUR	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
eBay	B-Application
auction	O
in	O
November	O
2016	O
reached	O
15,605	O
EUR	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
September	O
7	O
,	O
2017	O
a	O
non-functional	O
C65	O
missing	O
a	O
VIC-III	O
chip	O
,	O
sold	O
via	O
eBay	B-Application
auction	O
for	O
US$	O
18,350	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
2017	O
,	O
a	O
C65	O
prototype	B-Application
with	O
RAM	B-Architecture
expansion	O
board	O
were	O
sold	O
for	O
81,450	O
€	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
December	O
30	O
,	O
2017	O
,	O
a	O
non-functioning	O
C65	O
motherboard	O
without	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
chips	O
was	O
sold	O
on	O
Ebay	B-Application
for	O
US$790	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
May	O
18	O
,	O
2019	O
,	O
a	O
functional	O
C65	O
was	O
sold	O
on	O
eBay	B-Application
at	O
20,550	O
EUR	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
April	O
24	O
,	O
2022	O
,	O
a	O
working	O
C65	O
was	O
sold	O
on	O
eBay	B-Application
for	O
47,105	O
EUR	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
this	O
computer	O
was	O
only	O
a	O
prototype	B-Application
,	O
not	O
many	O
units	O
were	O
made	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
one	O
appears	O
on	O
eBay	B-Application
,	O
it	O
may	O
sell	O
for	O
around	O
$	O
20,000	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
backwards	O
compatible	O
with	O
the	O
Commodore	O
64	O
,	O
the	O
MEGA65	B-Device
features	O
Commodore	B-Device
65	I-Device
compatible	O
hardware	O
recreated	O
in	O
FPGA	B-Architecture
and	O
is	O
compatible	O
with	O
newer	O
technologies	O
such	O
as	O
HDMI	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MEGA	O
initially	O
aimed	O
to	O
release	O
their	O
recreation	O
of	O
the	O
Commodore	B-Device
65	I-Device
computer	O
for	O
the	O
third	O
quarter	O
of	O
2016	O
,	O
as	O
of	O
September	O
2020	O
,	O
the	O
pre-release	O
dev-kit	O
(	O
r3	O
)	O
has	O
been	O
sold	O
out	O
and	O
the	O
in	O
total	O
100	O
Dev-kits	O
were	O
delivered	O
in	O
Q4	O
2020	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
per	O
30	O
September	O
2021	O
,	O
the	O
final	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
MEGA65	B-Device
with	O
recreated	O
C65	O
case	O
,	O
was	O
available	O
for	O
pre-order	O
.	O
</s>
