1977 · Commodore · US · computer
Commodore PET 2001
One of 1977's founding computers, chiclet keyboard and all.
Mixed Trivial to run Needs a keyboard ▶ Watch on YouTube ↗
Image: Rama & Musée Bolo · CC BY-SA 2.0 fr
One of 1977's founding trio of personal computers, alongside the Apple II and TRS-80 — an all-in-one with monitor, cassette deck and a notorious flat chiclet keyboard. It went into schools and small offices and taught a generation to program in BASIC.
Its games were terse character-graphics affairs: a homemade Space Invaders, chess, an early port of Rogue.
What it cost
about a month of an average wage in 1977 · about $4,115 today
| US launch list price ($795 for PET 2001 with 4KB RAM) |
$795 (1977)
The 1977 Trinity pioneer: integrated blue/white CRT display, chiclet keyboard, and cassette deck. |
|---|---|
| Typical street price | — No verified mass-market street price recorded yet. |
| Units sold | ≈1,000,000 estimate Estimated 1 million units across all PET models in education and business. |
Why it mattered
One of the three machines that opened the personal-computer era in 1977, the PET put computing into schools and small businesses and set Commodore on the path to the VIC-20 and C64.
Emulating it today
| Emulators | VICE (xpet), MAME |
|---|---|
| Setup effort | Trivial to run (1 on this site's scale) |
| Controls | This is a computer-like platform: games may use a joystick or pad, but launching and configuring software often needs a keyboard. |
| Runs on a handheld | Yes |
The emulator names above are starting points, not a promise that every title or accessory behaves identically. Computer platforms usually add model selection, disk handling and keyboard setup even when CPU emulation itself is mature.
Firmware
This system needs no firmware file. Install an emulator, open a game, and it runs.
How many files you need: none to go and find. No separate firmware file is needed for an ordinary setup.
Firmware details checked 2026-08. Emulator requirements change — see Libretro documentation for the current list.
Where the software is
TOSEC catalogues computer disks and tapes broadly, including many revisions. It is useful for preservation, while a smaller curated selection is usually easier to play.
Copyright: Commercial software remains copyrighted unless its owner explicitly released or relicensed it. Homebrew, public-domain programs and current reissues should be treated separately from abandoned commercial titles.
This site names preservation projects and explains what they are. It does not link to ROM downloads.
Where to start
- Microchess 1978 strategy
- PET Space Invaders 1979 shooter
A character-graphics Invaders that spread across every early PET.
- Rogue 1980 RPG
The verdict
A foundational machine to explore for its place in history; its games are primitive.
The library is terse character-graphics fare — come for the history, not for an evening's play.
- Worth it if
- Players curious about commodore 8-bit home computers and willing to learn how the original machine worked.
- Not for
- Anyone who wants a large, instantly accessible library and no model, firmware or control decisions.
Scored 3/5 for fun today and 3/5 for historical importance. Those two scores decide the label at the top — a machine can matter enormously and still be no fun.
Read more & watch
This page is 50% complete against the facts we try to record for every system. Gaps are shown as gaps.