Portability has been a goal of a sizable section of the computing world for many decades now. While the obvious products of this are laptops, there are a number of “luggable” PCs that pack more power while ostensibly maintaining their portability. Going back in time past things like the LAN party era of the 90s and 00s takes us to the early era of luggables, with the Commodore SX-64 being one such machine of this era. Its portability is on display in this video where [saveitforparts] is using it to access the Internet over satellite.
The project uses a Glocom Inmarsat modem and antenna to access the internet through a geostationary satellite, but since this computer is about four decades old now this takes a little bit more effort than a modern computer. A Teensy microcontroller is used to emulate a modem so that the Ethernet connection from the satellite modem can be understood by the Commodore. There was a significant amount of setup and troubleshooting required as well, especially regarding IP addresses and networking but eventually [saveitforparts] got the system up and running well enough to chat on a BBS and browse Wikipedia.
One thing he found that might make a system like this relevant for a modern user is that the text-only mode of the Commodore significantly limited data use. For a normal Internet connection this might be a problem, but on a geostationary satellite network where the data is orders of magnitude more expensive, this can be surprisingly helpful. We might not recommend an SX-64 system specifically, but one inspired by similar computers like this text-only cyberdeck might do the trick with the right networking connections.
Interesting. So this is the satellite equivalent to hooking up a 2G mobile phone to a notebook in the 90s.
Back then, cell phones had a 9600 Baud data/fax modem for, say, CompuServe/E-Mail access on the go (both used low bandwidth, CServe used HMI protocol for its CIMs.)
The SX-64 was a cute little portable, I think.
If not best use case for a C64 of them all – small CRT+low resolution graphics fit rather well.
Too bad it didn’t have a built-in datasette drive, as well, in addition to that floppy drive.
Here in poor and backwards Europe of the 80s the lack of it must have been sort of a possible show stopper. ;)
Considering that so many C64 software was released on music cassette.
In inferior versions, even. Intro animations from original floppy versions of games had been dropped in their tape versions.
Not only did it not have a built in datasette, you cannot even connect one. the connector physically is missing, and the relevant sections of code for accessing the datasette are not in the bios rom.
I have one of these machines and at one point thought it would be fun to put one of those automotive style cassette mechanisms in the front. There’s absolutely nothing stopping someone from swapping the rom for one from a regular breadbin or C64c and hooking one up,; it’s just way too much work.
At nearly 28Lbs, it’s a heavy machine. I’ve taken it out of the house once; for the specific purpose of getting a great picture at a starbucks – the contrast between the older machine sitting there on IRC, and the newer Macs and PCs was fun.
One instance where I would recommend an SX-64 over a C-64 is for someone who has not a lot of space, but still wants to get into the retro hardware scene on real hardware. It’s far more easy to pack away in the closet than a full setup.