Commodore 8296

Commodore 8296

[Vin10]

The Commodore 8296, released in 1983, was the final and most advanced model in the PET line, notable for its expanded 128K RAM, integrated dual floppy drives in the 8296-D variant, and a modernized case with a detachable keyboard and swivel monitor. Its claim to fame was serving as a powerful business microcomputer, bundling office software and offering significant memory and storage upgrades over earlier PETs, though it remained fundamentally similar in architecture to the original 1977 PET. While the 8296 was only produced in small numbers and mainly sold in Europe, the PET series as a whole was hugely influential-especially in Canadian education-reflecting Commodore’s roots as a company founded in Toronto, Ontario, by Jack Tramiel.

• Manufacturer: Commodore
• Type: Personal Computer
• Release Date: 1983
• Cost at release: $2,500 (~$7,000 adjusted for inflation)
• MIPS: 0.145 – 0.5 (145 – 500 KIPS)

Hardware Specifications

• CPU: MOS 6502 CPU running at 1 MHz. Optional Zilog Z80 co-processor board for CP/M compatibility.
• RAM: 160K (32k standard)
• ROM: 24 Kilobytes CBM 8296 ROMs
• Display: MOS Technology 6545 CRTC, 12″ Monochrome displays, 80 columns x 25 rows
• Storage: Dual internal 5.25″ floppy drives (1 MB total capacity) in the 8296-D model
• Sound: Piezo electronic speaker. One square wave voice. Three octaves.
• Ports: 
  
  MOS 6520 PIA, MOS 6522 VIA
  
  IEEE-488 Port
  
  Commodore Datasette port
  
  Male edge-connector ‘EXPANSION’ port
  
  Male edge-connector CBM parallel programmable “User” port
• Keyboard: Full 73 key QWERTY, 11 key numeric keypad! 4 direction 2-key cursor-pad

Operating System & Programming Languages 

• Operating System: CP/M
• Supported Languages:
  • Commodore BASIC 4.0 (built-in)
  • 6502 machine language (via monitor and SYS command)
  • CP/M and languages like COBOL, FORTRAN, and Pascal (with optional Z80 co-processor)

    

Notables

• The 8296 was the final and most advanced model of the iconic Commodore PET line, released in 1983 and only produced in small numbers, mainly for the European market
• Its case design, with rounded lines, a swivel monitor, and detachable keyboard, was considered unusually stylish for the era and is sometimes compared in aesthetics to later Apple iMacs
• The 8296-D variant featured dual high-density 5.25″ floppy drives integrated into the case-an advanced feature for its time
• Some models included a special ExecuDesk ROM chip to launch bundled business software, though most applications still required disk loading
• The PET series, including the 8296, was especially influential in Canadian and US schools, cementing Commodore’s early reputation in educational computing
• Nicknames and internal references included “SK” (for “separate keyboard”) and “CBM” (Commodore Business Machines); the PET line itself stood for “Personal Electronic Transactor”

Donated by: Dr. Arlen Michaels