Commodore PET/CBM

The PET/CBM was a line of computers started by Commodore in 1977. Due to a trademark claim on the name PET by Philips in Europe, the machines were known as the CBM in Europe. In the early years of its run, the PET was heavily promoted as a computer for schools in North America, before being supplanted by the Apple II as the dominant educational computer.

As with many other 8-bit machines through the mid-1980s, the PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) line was based on the MOS 6502. Graphically, the standard PET had an integrated monochrome display and could only display characters from a fixed character set rather than a fully addressable bitmap display, which resulted in many PET games being text adventures or other game formats that did not require dynamic raster graphics. Sounds were limited to a simple speaker reminiscent of the limited capabilities of the original IBM PCs.

The popularity of the PET, particularly of the "personal" (or home) computer line, began to fall as it competed with Commodore's own VIC-20 beginning in 1980. The cheaper machine, with a better video card and the ability to be connected to a standard television proved to be much more popular than the PET which Commodore would ultimately discontinue in 1982.