I recently bought another Commodore 128 on eBay. According to the auction’s description, this is an unused system. I have no way of knowing if that’s true or not, but anyway it’s in quite clean shape!
I bought this one because, even though it is less compatible, I wanted to switch back to NTSC, as I had used when I was a teenager. There are three reasons I wanted to go NTSC.
First, in subtle ways, it is more nostalgic. For example, the loading sequence when I start up Karateka is the way I remember it from my teens. Music also sometimes matches the speed of playback that I used to hear it.
Second, NTSC displays at 60Hz, which I feel leads to a much crisper picture. I don’t suspect you can tell by a still photo, and the second image is neither NTSC nor PAL, but anyway the picture looks great!
Third, with NTSC, depending on the game, it uses more of the available screen real estate. Borders are smaller. For example, in my favorite Commodore 64 game, Alternate Reality,: The Dungeon, the title screen goes nearly to the very top and bottom of the screen.
As I mentioned, I don’t know if it is truly unused or not, but the keyboard feels really smooth to the press and is easy to type on. I noticed a small amount of dirt here and there, so it really might have been used, but I knew that possibility when I bought it, and I am most satisfied with it.
May I ask ? Without a monitor – How can you use a PAL machine ? Sorry I have a lot of questions…..
Ah, that kind of depends. You have a few options. There are PAL converters for a wide variety of connections. Some 2010-era LCD TVs (not all!) also support PAL natively. But the most cost-effective option may be to get a Sony PVM from Yahoo Auctions. They support both PAL and NTSC. If you find one that supports S-video, you can get a really beautiful picture. When the time comes, you can ask me and I can recommend something.
Thank you for your help !!