CDTV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Commodore Amiga CDTV | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Manufacturer | Commodore |
| Type | Home multimedia entertainment / Video game console / Personal computer |
| Generation | 16-bit era |
| First available | March 1991 |
| CPU | Motorola 68000 |
| Media | CD-ROM |
The CDTV (for Commodore Dynamic Total Vision) was one of the first computers to come with a CD-ROM drive as standard.
CDTV was made by Commodore International and launched in March 1991. Designed and marketed as a set-top box to go along with your VCR and be used as a CD-player and games console, it was created as a direct competitor to CD-i, with neither having any real commercial success.
The CDTV was essentially an Amiga 500 with a single-speed CD-ROM drive. But unlike its progenitor, CDTV was intended as a media appliance, rather than a personal computer. As such, its housing had dimensions and styling compatible with most stereo components, and came only with an infrared remote control. Similarly, the lack of a keyboard, mouse, and floppy drive as standard peripherals (which could be added separately) was a conscious marketing decision. Commodore chose Amiga enthusiast magazines as its chief advertising channel, but the Amiga community on the whole avoided the CDTV in the expectation of an add-on CD-ROM drive for the Amiga, which eventually came in the form of the A570.
The CDTV was a commercial failure and was eventually replaced by the Amiga CD32. One possible reason for its failure was that it used the already-obsolete AmigaOS 1.3, rather than the much more advanced 2.0.
[edit] Specifications
- CPU: Motorola 68000 @ 7.16 MHz 7.09 MHz (PAL)
- Memory: 1 Meg Chip RAM.
- Chipset: Original Chip Set. (OCS)
- OS: AmigaOS 1.3 + CDTV module.
- Debuted: March 1991 (At CES, Las Vegas)
- Launch price: £499 (CDTV, Joypad & 2 titles)
[edit] Versions
- CDTV: CDTV unit & joypad.
- Pro pack: keyboard, mouse & diskdrive, along with Almathera CDPD Public Domain software compilation on CD-ROM
| List of Commodore microcomputers |
 |
|---|---|
| MOS Technology 6502-based (8-bit): MOS/CBM KIM-1 • PET/CBM • CBM-II (aka B/P series) • VIC-20/VC-20 • C64 • SX-64 • C16 & 116 • Plus/4 • C128 M68K-based (16/32-bit): Amiga 1000 • Amiga 500 • Amiga 2000 • Amiga 2500 • Amiga 1500 • Amiga CDTV • Amiga 3000, UX, T • Amiga 500+ • Amiga 600 • Amiga 1200 • Amiga 4000 • Amiga 4000T |
