Get Your Retro Kicks with this Commodore 64 Cyberdeck
This cyberdeck, dubbed the "CBM X64+," is Crookedmouth1971's interpretation of what a portable Commodore 64 could have been.
In the UK, the king of early personal computers in the 8-bit era was the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. But in the US, the president of the same era was the Commodore 64. Like the ZX Spectrum, it was a computer for the masses. It was affordable, widely available, relatively powerful, and had a massive software/game catalog. For those reasons, the Commodore 64 was the first computer of many Americans and nostalgia is strong. Combining that nostalgia with the modern cyberdeck movement, Crookedmouth1971 created this custom Commodore 64 cyberdeck.
This cyberdeck, dubbed the "CBM X64+," is Crookedmouth1971's interpretation of what a portable Commodore 64 could have been. Yes, there was a "portable" Commodore 64 called the SX-64. But that was a big, heavy luggable computer with a small CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube) screen. The CBM X64+ is better in pretty much every way. It gives the user a full mechanical keyboard, but also two sets of arcade controls. Those let two gamers play at the same time without needing to connect external gamepads or joysticks. A generous 8" full-color LCD screen provides plenty of real estate for those beautiful Commodore game graphics, and a beefy 26,800mAh Anker PowerCore battery pack allows for true portability and 12+ hours of use.
The CBM X64+'s brain is a Raspberry Pi 3 Model A+ single-board computer. It runs the BMC64 emulator, which runs on bare metal for excellent performance and great audio/video accuracy. In addition to the Commodore 64, the BMC64 can also emulate the C128, Vic20, Plus/4, and PET. While almost every game released on those platforms was also released on the Commodore 64, there are some exclusives and some titles that play differently on the other systems.
Unlike most cyberdecks that are 3D-printed, Crookedmouth1971 constructed the CBM X64+'s enclosure by hand using wood. You wouldn't guess that, because the outer appearance after paint looks like metal or injection-molded plastic. A handle mounted to the side of the enclosure helps with carry. The original Commodore 64 keyboard was pretty decent by the standards of the time, but the CBM X64+'s mechanical keyboard with Gateron brown switches blows that out of the water.
It is hard to imagine a better build for retro gaming enthusiasts who want to take advantage of the extensive Commodore 64 catalog.