Introduce Yourself: What's your User Name based on?

[mathom]

mathom is based on my first name but is also a word JRR Tolkien revived from middle English. In his books Hobbits use it to refer to something which has no value but which they are unwilling to get rid of. It fits so much of the stuff I keep around me.

[Brad]

Hi!

The Vic was my first computer. I got it in Christmas 1981 I think. I blew the first one up whilst making a reset switch for it so I got another one the following christmas! This was the only computer I had until I got a Plus 4 and soon after an Amiga 500. My username is my actual name

[joshuadenmark]

Welcome nice to have you here.

[jasonsbeer]

Greetings

I joined up because I've recently purchased 2 VIC20 computers. The first one is a cost reduced version with a Eurostyle keyboard. One of the keyboard plungers is broken and I'm hoping to track down a new one. The case was splattered with paint that I was able to clean up. The case is a cream/yellow color, which I didn't know was a thing. The board looks good, but I haven't powered it on yet. The second one is the first version with the 9VAC only power supply. That should be arriving soon with a few cartridges.

My 10 year old became interested in playing old video games. I picked up a couple C=64's as well, but VIC20's can still be found in better condition at a better price. I grew up on C=64's and have never used a VIC20. I'm excited to learn more about them and get mine up and running.

I'll probably have a lot of questions around RAM expansion, troubleshooting, and making my own cartridges. I look forward to our discussions.

[desiv]

I suppose I should have done this when I first got on here. (Wasn't that long ago, but still..)
There is a really interesting story about my username, desiv...
...
OK, No there isn't. My first name is Desi. Last name starts with a V.
So much for intrigue.
Anyway, like a lot of you, my first computer was a Vic-20 back in the day.
I remember us getting lucky because we didn't have a lot of money, and my parents were preparing to get me a Vic-20. The C64 had come out, but we were nowhere near being able to afford that.
So my parents knew what it was called and supposed to cost, and they went out to get it for my birthday (I think).
When they came back, they were worried they got me the wrong thing.
It was a Vic-20, but apparently Commodore had just had (another) price drop and it cost a lot less than it did just a bit before. So my parents thought maybe they got something wrong.
Good news for me is that when they found out, they later went back out and got me a tape drive.
The Vic-20 and tape drive together still costs less than we thought the Vic-20 was going to cost.
I then went C64, SX64, Amiga 500, Amiga 1200 (and PC also for some side work I was starting to pick up).

Today, I am in I.T.
So apparently William Shatner was right after all.

I was glad about the tape drive, because we couldn't afford carts and I didn't have any friends with Vic-20s. So most everything I had was self-written (badly in BASIC) or typed in from magazines.

I currently have 2 Vic-20s (both older 9VAC 2 wire models).
I do have a C2N datasette.
I have a breadboarded, but working Pi1541 (pi0 powered) waiting for me to finish it and print/put it in a case and the parts for a Tapuino and Userport WiFi modem that I will also need to put together at some time.
And I did get a Dorktronic RAM expansion, which is nice. Back in the day, it was just the unexpanded Vic.

[orion70]

Hi, and welcome! Wow, you had a SX64.. do you still have it? Sort of Graal for Commodore collectors

[desiv]

Hi, and welcome! Wow, you had a SX64.. do you still have it? Sort of Grail for Commodore collectors

I wish kind of... I sold it to help pay for my Amiga 500, monitor and external floppy.
I was using the SX in college, and word processing and Pascal on the C64 were just not all that great.
Did work tho. Fleet System 2 Word Processor and I don't remember what the Pascal package was called.
I loved that beast, but I couldn't afford to keep it AND get an Amiga... <sigh>
I have been looking to re-acquire one of those, but as you know, they aren't cheap and usually some level of broken.
Maybe one day.

[Paolopepper]

Hi all, Paolo here. Good to finally register here and hopefully help out if possible. Got a Vic 20 in about 1982 and still have it (here in my office with boxes of other old computers and games!) although I think a chip may be on the blink (will test when I finally get the Penultimate cartridge)

So I'm a VICE user and also tinker with the computer when time allows. At the moment I'm trying to catalogue games in VICE and Excel in order to list by manufacturer and but as you can imagine, it takes ages!

Unfortunately my parents gave away a few of my old Vic bits by accident (including my Orange label double cassette case version of Football Manager!!! Irreplaceable!) so I'm just trying to get a few things off Ebay to make up for it. Love the fact that there's a few people still trying to make the Vic relevant in 2020

My name is based on my old stage name when I was a heavy metal guitarist back in the 90s which is now banished to the past.

Keep up the good work everyone and hopefully speak to some of you in the future

[obermotz]

Hi, I am Peter AKA obermotz, which basically means the end of level boss in German (I am Hungarian by the way). My first computer was a ZX81, then a Commodore 16 and finally an Atari ST before I joined the dark side and bought my first PC. Started to collect vintage computer stuff in the mid 90s and although my significant other kindly asked me to reduce my collection to a mere shadow of its former glory I still have my favorites including the VIC20 around. Have recently purchased the Penultimate+ for it (also have an SD2IEC device) and am seriously contemplating starting to develop stuff for the VIC20 - hopefully will find enough time. Some of the recent games are simply amazing - never would have thought that this platform is capable of producing these technically advanced programs. See you around!

[joshuadenmark]

Welcome

[cTrix]

Commodore Tricks Well, it was back when I was still twiddling with the SID anyway. But very quickly moved to a bunch of other platforms making music including for NES, DMG01, Atari2600, Megadrive, SNES, Lynx, GP2X and a metric ton of tunes for the Amiga (a platform I've always used for music). Commodore 64 was my first computer as a kid, but I remember seeing a Vic20 very very early on in life -- the colors on the boot screen always stayed with me; and so a few decades later I picked one at our local commodore users group to have a play. No matter the oldskool machines I come across in life, I always get brought back to the Commodore machines for their quirks and oddities. Nothing like a machine with character!

[Victragic]

Welcome cTrix!

Yes, the Vic certainly has a ton of 'character'.. quirky bordering on eccentric. Which is partly what makes it so darn endearing..

[pazuzu72]

Hello everybody . I'm new here, the Vic-20 was my first computer but I've only recently enjoyed it.

[orion70]

Hello there, welcome to Denial! Another Italian... we're very well represented here . How long have you been in sleeping mode without a VIC? Hoh did you come to enjoy it again? Have fun with your old friend!

Edit: oh, I see you're the seller of the Final Expansion Alpha, which attracted my attention some day ago. Are you the board creator, or only a re-seller? How did you decide to sell it? Why without an SD-card device like in the original board? Thanks for satisfying my curiosity .

[ramidavis]

My name is Rami Davis.
I have the following Commodore systems:
SX64, C64, Amiga 500
I also have TI-99/4A
Never owned a Vic, just getting into this system.
Soon to be owner of a THEC64 Maxi console .
I mainly run Ubuntu linux now days, but also still have a Windows8 installation on the other partition of my PC.

I am also into board games, especially games from ancient times like Royal Game of Ur.