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The Amazing Commodore PET 2001
The First Computer to be Announced That was More Than a Circuit Board

The PET prototype shown at the January 1977 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas had a chassis made of wood and painted yellow so they would look like metal.  The monitors were stripped from Zenith TV's bought at a local retailer on sale for US$89.95 each.  The original Commodore 2001 'chicklet' keyboard  PET was advertised and sold by mail order (with an up to six month delay) for US$495, which was quickly increased to US$595.  These 4K models were discouraged, and Commodore pushed the US$795 8K models.  When Commodore moved into the European market, Jack doubled that price and found that Commodore still could not keep up with demand.

Popular Science 1977 - Commodore PET 2001 This is a very famous picture of the first PET Prototype. If you look closely you can see that the keyboard does not quite fit. The chassis was made of WOOD!	Popular Science 1977 - Commodore PET 2001 Commodore Pet 2001 Radio Shack TRS 80 Heath H8 H-8	Popular Science 1977 - Commodore PET 2001 Altair 8800 Southwest Technical 6800 IMSAI 8048 Processor Technology SOL	Popular Science 1977 - Commodore PET 2001 Technical Design Labs Z80 Xitan CompuColor Digital Group Cromoco Z2	Popular Science 1977 - Commodore PET 2001 Poly 88 Vector Graphic Vector 1+ OSI Challenger System EPA 6800