Why a choice, I love both. The Vic 20 has a special place as my first "real" computer after my mate got one while I had a ZX81. The sound and color was amazing after dealing with the lack of both on the ZX81.
The wizard and the Princess and Choplifter were a couple of the first games I played and they blew me away at the time.
Why VIC-20 and not C64?
- eslapion
- ultimate expander
- Posts: 5458
- Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:50 pm
- Location: Canada
- Occupation: 8bit addict
I took my time before posting anything in this thread other than the comment about typing code with a jackhammer.
That's because I really love both the 64 and the VIC but the VIC... well, it always had a very special place in my heart.
That's because on the 64, I really copied a lot of software, learned a bit of machine code and played a lot of games but I truly never learned nearly as much stuff as I did on the VIC.
That's because the VIC is, IMHO so much easier to program than the 64 and its a lot easier than the 64 to do impressive hardware hacks with.
I remember typing a software from some magasine that allowed making beautiful sounds using features of the 6522 so these sounds actually came from the user port.
I also remember doing things with darlington transistors when I was only 14years old so I could control 12 volts lights from the user port to make powerful light shows. I sold my plans to the owner of a roller skating discotheque. At the time, the VIC-20 could still be purchased at Canadian Tire but was considered obsolete and cheap.
I also remember having two 8k RAM expansions (VIC-1110) that I "joined" using about 40 soldered wires to make a single 16k expansion. That was a ugly hack but worked perfectly well. I would never have dared to do anything like that on the 64.
I really learned electronics and hardware on the VIC. On the 64 I should have learned programming to be able to keep up but I just didn't have the talent for it so I never got as far to understanding the inner workings of that machine, especially the software part.
That's because I really love both the 64 and the VIC but the VIC... well, it always had a very special place in my heart.
That's because on the 64, I really copied a lot of software, learned a bit of machine code and played a lot of games but I truly never learned nearly as much stuff as I did on the VIC.
That's because the VIC is, IMHO so much easier to program than the 64 and its a lot easier than the 64 to do impressive hardware hacks with.
I remember typing a software from some magasine that allowed making beautiful sounds using features of the 6522 so these sounds actually came from the user port.
I also remember doing things with darlington transistors when I was only 14years old so I could control 12 volts lights from the user port to make powerful light shows. I sold my plans to the owner of a roller skating discotheque. At the time, the VIC-20 could still be purchased at Canadian Tire but was considered obsolete and cheap.
I also remember having two 8k RAM expansions (VIC-1110) that I "joined" using about 40 soldered wires to make a single 16k expansion. That was a ugly hack but worked perfectly well. I would never have dared to do anything like that on the 64.
I really learned electronics and hardware on the VIC. On the 64 I should have learned programming to be able to keep up but I just didn't have the talent for it so I never got as far to understanding the inner workings of that machine, especially the software part.
Be normal.
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- Vic 20 Hobbyist
- Posts: 129
- Joined: Sun Dec 26, 2010 1:51 pm
Ya, I'm currently finishing up some 'leftover' projects from when I was 12. The vic being easier to program than the 64 reminds me of my favorite saying about motorcycles: It's much more fun to ride a slow bike fast, than to ride a fast bike slow. The 64 has so much capability, that anything I could create for it would use such a small portion of its capabilities that it would be utterly unnoticeable ... the vic on the other hand, whether true or not, at least gives me the *feeling* that I could do great things on it that use a great deal of its capabilityeslapion wrote:I took my time before posting anything in this thread other than the comment about typing code with a jackhammer.
...
That's because the VIC is, IMHO so much easier to program than the 64 and its a lot easier than the 64 to do impressive hardware hacks with.
Hey! My mom was a teacher in Ontario and would borrow the school's PET on weekends as well! Where was your friend located?darkatx wrote:I live in a state of Arrested Development.
The Vic-20 was my first computer after fawning over my friend's Pet that his dad would borrow from the school on weekends. I never owned a 64 went from the Vic to the C-128. Over time I realized there was a distinct difference! To me - its limitations are part of its charm. I don't see it for what it couldn't do but more for what it can.
Such an optimistic perspective for a machine I can't quite describe?
Yes...for me a very similar experience. The VIC was my first home computer, and also, there are many things about it that remind me more of the PET than a C64 did - white case, PET style font on the VIC's badge and PET keyboards on the earliest VIC-20s. The first VIC-20 white datasette was made from exactly the same plastic mould as the PETs black one was. The on-screen font was pixel for pixel the same as the PET.
As the years went by I was happy to say goodbye to the VIC to upgrade to a C64, then an Amiga, but now I'm back to liking the VIC the most - for the reasons stated above and also because it's an underdog.
Music I've made with 1980s electronics, synths and other retro-instruments: http://theovoids.bandcamp.com