PET 2001
The Commodore PET 2001 was one of the first all-in-one personal computers, released in 1977 as part of the “1977 Trinity” alongside the Apple II and TRS-80. The PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) featured a built-in monochrome display, keyboard, and cassette drive, making it a fully integrated system out of the box.
The original PET 2001 shipped with 4 KB of RAM and used the MOS 6502 processor, running a version of Microsoft BASIC in ROM. It was popular in schools, labs, and businesses due to its reliability and compact form factor, and later models improved on its design with better keyboards and expanded memory.
💡 Did You Know?
- The “chiclet” keyboard of the early PETs was so disliked that many users replaced it with full-travel keyboards.
- The PET’s metal case earned it a reputation as one of the most rugged micros of its time.
- Microsoft’s early BASIC interpreter was bundled with the PET, helping to establish their role in the emerging PC market.