The Commodore PET 2001
By James Grahame
The MOS 6502-based Commodore PET was introduced in 1977 with a meager 4K of memory. This model earns a special place in my heart as the machine I learned to write spaghetti BASIC on.
It offered a stunning level of integration with the computer, keyboard, monitor and tape drive all sharing a single 'stylish' case. The PET also had its share of quirks -- while later PETs had keyboards designed for Earthlings, early versions used something akin to a cash register keypad. But -- since I didn't know any better -- I thought it was fabulous.
The first series of PETs offered white phosphor monitors, but at some point these were exchanged for trendy green-on-black 'Matrix' displays. All Commodore models featured a secondary set of "graphic icon" characters that could be displayed instead of letters and numbers. This enabled simple graphic displays without requiring a bit-mapped graphic controller (where each pixel could be addressed independently).
I've had a recent hankering to find a dead PET and replace its innards with something a tad more modern. It'd be worth it, just to see people do a double-take.
The Commodore PET 2001 (Old Computer Museum)