Commodore 128
Shares rank 10 of 16 home computers by recommenders
Many people recall learning assembler and BBS use on it; critics find the system limited, with poor C64-mode BASIC and no simultaneous 8502 and Z80 use.
Many people recall learning assembler and BBS use on it; critics find the system limited, with poor C64-mode BASIC and no simultaneous 8502 and Z80 use.
12 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fond memories of learning to program
“I too ended up spending a lot of time working around the limitations of the system, and I too would say that I owe my career to that.”
Comment from 16 Sep 2026 in “λ Snap – An inviting programming language for kids and adults for CS study” “when I was 10 to 11 years old hacking my way into the world of assembler programming on C128.”
Comment from 9 Jun 2026 in “The beauty and simplicity of the good old C-style void* in C++” Hacking and BBS use in youth
“when I was 10 to 11 years old hacking my way into the world of assembler programming on C128.”
Comment from 9 Jun 2026 in “The beauty and simplicity of the good old C-style void* in C++” “the BBS thing for a while which was really fascinating at 12 or so”
Comment from 17 Jul 2026 in “I Owe My Life to the Commodore 64”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Disappointing lack of new capabilities
“neither is very exciting for bringing new capabilities to the line”
Comment from 17 May 2026 in “Playing Atari ST Music on the Amiga with Zero CPU” “Both disappointed me because they could be so much more.”
Comment from 17 May 2026 in “Playing Atari ST Music on the Amiga with Zero CPU” Could not use both CPUs
“I too ended up spending a lot of time working around the limitations of the system, and I too would say that I owe my career to that.”
Comment from 16 Sep 2026 in “λ Snap – An inviting programming language for kids and adults for CS study” “One of the biggest disappointments of the 8-bit era was the Commodore 128 not being able to use both the 8502 and Z80 CPUs”
Comment from 5 Nov 2025 in “The Microsoft SoftCard for the Apple II: Getting two processors to share memory”
Other home computers people recommend
The four most recommended other home computers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commodore 64 | 121 | 18 | 87% | 12 | 41 yrs18 owners | Approved |
| Commodore Amiga | 60 | 14 | 81% | 11 | — | Approved |
| ZX Spectrum | 31 | 8 | 79% | 10 | — | Approved |
| TI-99/4A | 26 | 8 | 76% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Commodore 128This page | 9 | 3 | 75% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
12 of the 13 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I too ended up spending a lot of time working around the limitations of the system, and I too would say that I owe my career to that.”
“a trash can of disjointed parts put together from failed projects leftovers”
“I was taken aback by how poor its BASIC was in C64 mode”
“It was fun, but primitive”
“the BBS thing for a while which was really fascinating at 12 or so”
“when I was 10 to 11 years old hacking my way into the world of assembler programming on C128.”
“so I had an old C128D to play the Ultimas”
“neither is very exciting for bringing new capabilities to the line”
“Both disappointed me because they could be so much more.”
“They finally got it right in the C128 though!”
“Main lesson was dont do it ever again.”
“One of the biggest disappointments of the 8-bit era was the Commodore 128 not being able to use both the 8502 and Z80 CPUs”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.