Commodore PET-II

P 500

And now we come to the one and only member of the PET-II line, the P500. Part of the 1982-83 line of CBM-II ('B') machines (featuring the B5XX-B7XX computers), this was designed to be the 'P'ersonal version of their 'B'usiness computers. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the P500 never made it out of the starting gate due to a perceived market conflict with the already popular Commodore 64. Also, they were also reportedly recalled due to mismanagement by Commodore distributors and retailers.

As a computer, it resembles the low profile CBM-IIs in appearance, as well as in basic design and capabilities. The biggest difference is the existence of the VIC-II video chip (the same one in the Commodore 64) and a pair of joystick ports. A great collectors find, and I dearly hope to find time to study this machine more closely in the future.
And Speaking of those ports, here they are. From left->right, RS232, Video DIN, cassette, expansion (cartridge), Ground, Audio, Power, IEEE-488, Joystick X 2.

On the left, you'll see the three 8K ROM chips, just below ye olde power supply. That's not the original power supply, of course, but a 120V I "borrowed" from a spare B500. To the right, you'll see the IO chips, memory, and other fun stuff.

Inside, the motherboard resembles the CBM-II line very closely:

Statistics and features:

CPU	CSG 6509 1 Mhz
RAM	128 kilobytes, expandable to 720k
ROM	24 kilobytes P500 Kernal CBM/PET Basic 4.0
Video	CSG 6569 "VIC-II" 320 x 200 Hi-Resolution 40 columns text Palette of 16 colors
Sound	CSG 6581 "SID" 3 voice stereo synthesizer/digital sound capabilities Three octaves.
Ports	CSG 6551/6522 2 Joystick/Mouse ports Male edge-connector IEEE-488 port Male edge-connector CBM Datasette port Female RS232 port Round DIN CBM Monitor port Female edge-connector CBM-II/PET-II expansion port 1 RCA audio port Power and reset switches
Kyboard	Full-sized 102 key QWERTY 19 key numeric keypad! 4 direction cursor-pad

Personal Note:This machine came from the fabled George Page collection. Previously I kept a converted PAL P500, but this one is American through and through, so I decided to keep it instead.