Commodore Amiga CDTV History and Restoration (T2T Pt1)
The Commodore Amiga CDTV, or Commodore CDTV as it was originally known is a bit of retro tech that I've wanted to research and restore for decades. This new Trash to Treasure ™ series does just that. This old computer sounds odd at first, appearing like a hifi music system it wouldn't look out of place sat on a VCR in your living room. But inside it's a full-blown Commodore Amiga 500 with extra bells and whistles. Designed to compete with similar devices such as the Philips CDi, the CDTV was championed by Atari VCS and Atari founder Nolan Bushnell and released in 1991. Dive into some more computer history and vintage computer restoration with me for the start of a new T2T series.
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●Chapters
0:00 - What is the Commodore Amiga CDTV?
2:38 - Who are PCBWay?
3:27 - Commodore CDTV History
7:53 - Nolan Bushnell interview
9:10 - Gail Wellington interview
13:45 - Commodore CDTV unboxing
19:26 - Commodore CDTV fault finding
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CDTV welcome tour : • Commodore Amiga CDTV W... - Geek with Social Skills
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#CommodoreAmiga #CDTVResoration #TrashtoTreasure
That interview with Gail Wellington was great - there are so many people behind the scenes who created things that countless people enjoyed (or dreamed about) throughout history, and there are already too many who aren't with us anymore. They deserve the recognition and some time to share their experiences and memories. Heart-warming, inspiring and nostalgic, all at once.
And to see the magic in her eyes when she's telling the story!
Very cool! Enjoyed the Gail Wellington interview!
Wasn't she amazing
@@MetaVIRTUAL Yes =D
Great Interview... what a great person :)
I was just thinking the same. So good of her to take the time to talk about this stuff, but then again who could say no to Neil?
Great insight for the pre release window too
Nice to see that Gail Wellington is still around. Our dear Mother of Amiga :)
Total respect for Gail Wellington....a Legend and an Iconic woman in the story of the CDTV Such an intimate inside take on the CDTV history...its inception, its launch, the marvel it was and, the ultimate failure it become.. Great Video Neil.
The woman shown demoing a “Thinking Game” on the CDTV at CES was Laura Buddine of Tiger Media. Tiger developed two games for the CDTV. The one shown is The Case of the Cautious Condor. The other was Murder Makes Strange Deadfellows. Several years later, Laura became my mentor, employer, friend, and ultimately my business partner. We were in the process of recreating The Case of the Cautious Condor with new, more modern art for modern devices when she sadly passed away. I haven’t had the heart to continue that project. If she hadn’t died, she would have had a LOT of stories to tell you about CDTV and working with them. I’m glad you are documenting these things before everyone who worked on them passes. I’m ashamed to admit that when we cleaned out her house after she died, we threw out an old CDTV dev kit. I didn’t work on it, so I don’t know what was different. I do remember the funky remote control. This was before all the retro mania was obvious to us.
Thanks for sharing this insight!
Thank you for sharing Brian!
I’d like to see that finished remake
gail wellington bless her heart still remembers past events,i just love these developer interviews it sheds light on the item we love created by them.
wow!! gail wellington.. incredible.. bet she had some amazing stories..
These people were/are geniuses. I credit the Amiga with a large part of my childhood education and beyond. Sad to hear and see and her age. Bless her for participating in this series.
@@studiomwg its amazing hearing her perspective especially the part about how the Philip's people reacted. It's clear age has taken its toll, but she's as sharp as a nail inside.
I've been watching this channel for a few years, but I'm now doing the decent thing and signing up as a paetreon. Thank you Neil for another amazing video.
What a great interview segment with Gail!
Thanks Martin, some more insights coming in part 2
The caps inside the power supply as well as the caps on the CD-drive board do often leak (no bulging). You should take a look at them. Another possible fault might be the disc detection microswitch on the drive board - they can still be bought from mouser, digikey etc, so replacing them is simple. (Model is Panasonic ESE-11SH1C)
Upvoting to improve the chance of Neil seeing the comment.
Thank you, all tips very much appreciated. I'll be looking at repairs first thing tomorrow
Ah ha! That'll be why I have to give mine a light tap on the top to get the disc spinning.
My parents bought it for me when I was a kid. They were not affluent so it's amazing they actually did. Such memories
Gail is amazing still today. On the extra video she wouldn't have a bad word said about Irving Gould, which is a testament to her loyalty when you think in 1990 he took more salary than the company made in that year. Probably whilst she was able to interact with him directly.
Looks so classy! I adore 90's design of electronics.
What a truly amazing story, and that you managed to get an interview with a key person: incredible! This is why your channel is well worth subscribing to and watching. So much invaluable information and some truly wonderful people!
Thanks Carl, more interviews coming up in part 2
@@RMCRetro I CAN wait, even though I can't! You have sprung so many surprises on us and this was a gem!
@@RMCRetro this comment to the moon and back. your dedication is appreciated and you're a mighty good conduit for good and knowledge. thank you.
Hi Neil, I am one of those strange people that bought one of these back in 1992. I wanted it badly when I first saw it in Dixons coupled to a black keyboard, black mouse, black floppy and black SCSI hard drive (a huge 40Mb as I recall). So I bought the whole lot in one go at an outrageous price (my brain has repressed the memory of the price, but it was under £1000). After over 20 years in a cupboard, I connected it all together last year to see if it still worked and amazingly... ... it did! Even the hard drive burst into life - amazing. Good luck with your latest project; I look forward to part 2. And you are right, the SCSI card goes in the back expansion port. -Steve
Those black HD boxes are not common. Wise investment, it's amazing what people will pay for original Abs plastic.
@@PATTHECATMCD It would appear that the black keyboard is now worth a ridiculous amount as well. Very odd.
@@stevenpurvey3775 Very useful if you want a "stealth black" paint job.
@@stevenpurvey3775 Because one thing still holds up about this system today: it looks badass.
@@memitim171 Hell Yeah!!
I had no idea the CDTV looked that good, I never saw one in the flesh and always just heard how awful it was. It's got that high end 90s HiFi separate look down perfectly.
Graham here, a pleasure hooking you up mate, fantastic video and so pleased it has found a good home 😊
Great to hear directly from Gale, nice work Neil. I remember drooling over these in the high street store as a teenager. Really looking forward to the rest of this one 👍
Had one of these. Sold it, never regretted it until I saw current prices.
Hahaha! The only reason anyone would hold onto one to be fair!
The interview was especially awesome! What an incredible gift to be able to get that level of detail on the CDTV! I can't tell you how excited I am for the next video!
Great to hear from Gail and hear her memories from the frontline of the multimedia battles. Can't wait for the next installment! I'm feeling very guilty about my CDTV being on the shelf gathering dust for so long.
T2T are my favourite videos you produce, really great stuff. Can I also say how much I appreciate that you are sponsored by something relevant to your content instead of shilling a dubious mobile phone game like some channels. Keep it up mate
Thank you! I get those damn emails every day asking!
Ooh a cliffhanger. And it was a treat hearing from Gail. I've heard her a few times and she seems like a fascinating person.
I remember seeing demonstrations of the CDTV at a Commodore trade show (I believe this was in NY state). Even as a teenager, I was wondering who the target market was, regardless of price. I saw a few people from the trade show walking out with brand new CDTVs and I just shook my head. The real importance of this machine is the work Commodore did to cost reduce CD drives, which affected the whole industry. People tend to forget just how expensive data CD drives were in those days, especially the SCSI variety, which could fetch up to $1,000 USD.
A Mysterious Piece of Treasure... I really liked how Amiga CDTV was going to be a entertainment computer or maybe a game console before Amiga CD32 existed.
I had one of these. I remember being so impressed with Groliers encyclopaedia. No one else could see my fascination. Thanks Gail for producing this wonderful product. It was a product both before it's time and past its time.
I love my CDTV and it is wonderful to see you looking after one and from a box!!! I am lucky to have CDTV keyboard and mouse with mine. SCSI was a good addition, but the SCSI2SD adapter was strange. I recieved a newer model and this would not boot, however upon trying an older version of the SCSI2SD it did work and now boots happily, giving me a full Amiga experience!! Finally the memory upgrade and extended ROM sets were also added! Loving the video and informationyou have found, especially the Gail Wellington interview.
That Trinitron you used was my parent's first second TV. My dad got it back in 1989 from John Lewis and I remember us setting it up for my mum as her birthday present. What was great about it was that in 1993 when I got a USA import SNES it handled 60hz RGB SCART signals. Wonderful set :)
Did you have a CDTV back in the day? Did you buy one at full price or pick one up in the bargain bins? Maybe you got an A570 for your Amiga 500 like I did? I'd love to hear your CDTV stories! Neil - RMC
I sold my A500 for a CD32 and regretted it immediately. I never actually had a CDTV but I don't think anything was ever as good as my A500
Didn't have a CDTV but a CDTV keyboard for my CD32. Does that count?
The CDTV is awesome! I've been piecing my unit together since 2011 and in 2020 I finally tracked down the black keyboard for mine. Looking forward to your next videos on the CDTV! P.S. Thank you for the link and video shout out for the Welcome Video Tour.
I bought one from Dixon's or Currys, one of them. I got the full Amiga CDTV kit with black keyboard, mouse, and floppy drive. It cost way too much and I had it on finance. There were bits and bobs of decent software, but it was very rare. I used it mainly as a basic Amiga. But I gave it away to be sold on a car boot sale. I wish I'd just put it in a box somewhere now I see how rare they are, but it was still very expensive and disappointing.
I got one of these in the 90's when a shop in Leeds were selling one (new) for £200. It was in a massive cube box compared to the one in this video. I already had an A1200 and wanted a CD drive for it. I made up a ParNet cable to network the two machines together so I could browse all the AmiNet CDs on the A1200. Happy days. I still have it and all the accessories. I wouldn't even contemplate getting rid of it.
The original idea behind a caddy was that people bought a whole load of them to put every CD in them they had.
That trackball remote is very cool, love how packed the machine is inside. That is a COOL find with the 'flash' board. Great to get some insight from someone who worked on it originally, as you usually do :)
Rewatching this video as I’ve just picked up my own CDTV, it’s such a great resource, thanks Neil.
Thank you for the link and video shout out for the Welcome Video Tour. The CDTV is awesome! I've been piecing my unit together since 2011 and in 2020 I finally tracked down the black keyboard for mine. Looking forward to your next videos on the CDTV!
And the Buzz-phrase of the decade SET-TOP-BOXES!!! Remember set top boxes?
Your videos are a true gem, they should be preserved for ages the same way you preserve these beautiful stories.
I remember getting my first amiga as a child.....and then being in absolute awe when, after school, going to my friend's house and seeing the "Black Beauty", I gasped as it ran EXACTLY the same games I was playing on my own Amiga, I didnt care though because it was black....not white but black.
Fred Harris - LEGEND
commodore dynamic total vision is the best thing i've ever heard lmao
I gotta be honest, ive never actually seen an original CDTV with my own 2 eyes, but i have played some Games on other systems. Looks like a really nice system. Typical Neil taking things apart, and wow, so much going on inside it. Pretty much every nook and cranny is filled up. Sorry to hear the discs wouldn't load, but of course this series, we will surely see this firing up. Be interesting to see what else its got in store. I literally just looked on Ebay, and did not find one, only software and various spare parts. Intersting it has no signs of an Amiga logo anywhere, but again I'm seeing alot here for the first time. The design of the cardboard box was simular to the design of box i received my first CD32 in. Great Video Neil, great to see your doing so well in the new cave. I will join your Patreon in the future, great work Neil
Fantastic, I bought Amiga CDTV with matching commodore keyboard having the exact same fault as this one from Ebay couple of years ago , it was listed as faulty, I too get the splash screen but CD drive is dead as it is with yours, so I packed it away in storage waiting for some one to upload a fix video on youtube with same issues and here it is, so eager for part 2
The Atari ST totally asserting dominance during the plug-in test.
Bizarrely, Atari had beaten almost everybody to the punch in releasing a CD drive for the ST very early on, I think around the time the 1040ST came out, but then did virtually nothing with it. About the only software released for it was a parts catalog for the Boeing 747 and I think some encyclopedia. The Tramiels never could get software right.
@@sunspot42 It always amazed me that the Atari got so much attention with it's built in MIDI ports when I had a MIDI interface for my Amiga that connected to the serial port and worked fine. Commodore really dropped the ball on that and should have mentioned how easy it was to add MIDI.
Also looking at software that supports MIDI I do think that Atari ST will win... Anyone knows which software that supports the CDTV MIDI ports? I am trying to find out to include in my series about how i transform my CDTV to be better than a A500 :)
@@jasonk9779 I don't think it was just the interfaces being built in. The ST had a high-res mode that made a dense user interface like the one in Cubase possible. And not only possible, but "professional" in the same way that a Macintosh was more professional than an Amiga.
I bought a CDTV back when it first came out. Since it was also my first CD player, the cost was much easier for me to justify.
Great video Neil. I have a CDTV because it's beautiful but only - like you, only managed to get one in recent years (price being the main blocker in the past). I had the A570 back in the day for my A500 and it was awesome! I remember sitting in my bedroom with my mum and amazing her with the ability of Hutchinson's Encyclopaedia etc. Also - how awesome is Gail Wellington!
I totally understand your opening statements, I have an Amiga 500, but wanted the CDTV, it looked and sounded so cool. But never could afford it when it was relevant !
Ahhh the back of Dixon’s with the CDTV and CDi sitting on their own in the hifi section... used to go in and have a play with them as a kid... memories... looking forward to the rest of the series Neil!
RIP Dixons (even if they did just get a change in name, it’s never felt the same)
loved my CDTV , AMIGA forever
Love these T2T videos. I think the cave needs a retro lounge with a big hifi stack.
Very nice quality CDTV, kepted in top condition, Thanks for the review and no retrobrighting required for this one ;)
Beautiful looking machine. Now people use their games consoles or home theater PC's under their TV's connected to their AV receivers to watch films and TV programs, listen to music and play computer games but in the early 90's this was far to ahead of it's time.
Oh wow, brilliant interview! Someone I knew must have owned a CDTV when I was a kid back in the UK, because that Splash screen looks VERY familiar! I had a 500+ with all the bells and whistles and later, the mediocre CD32. 👍😎
Your videos are always a joy to watch. Your passion for old technology is a breath of fresh air. It brings me a healthy dose of nostalgia revisiting things that I grew up seeing, but could never afford. Going over the history is exciting too. Thank you for continuing to share your content with us all.
What a cool machine. I had heard of these before but not much else, hopefully one day I find one. Excellent job on the interview as well
Sticker shock killed this thing. I remember seeing it displayed in pride of place in shops for a while. A few months later the "shop soiled" display unit was on the discount bench and boxed stock nowhere to be seen.
The 90s were the height of electronic aesthetic design. Love the look.
A friend of mine at university in 1991 bought one of these. Much as I loved Amigas and had an A500 system myself, followed by the fantastic (and cheap!) A1200 in 1993, I just didn't understand this repackaged A500 then and still don't really. Fabulous video. So interesting and with superb original content, and so well-produced. Great.
The CDTV really was ahead of its time. The set-top box of its day.
Thanks for this Neil, always been fascinated with these things since I saw them new as a kid.
Great version of Defender of the Crown for CDTV
Defender of the Crown II for the CDTV was the completed DotC as the original Amiga version had been rushed out incomplete. I believe every version after the original Amiga version had more content, even if they didn't look or sound as good.
i have been driving in a bus to nearest big city to see this best on store shelf .. my C64 was so old this machine was glorious !
Fantastic episode! So interesting listening to Gail. I can't wait for part 2.
Great video, thanks. Very cool looking machine, especially with the black keyboard and monitor to match! Looking forward to the rest of this series!
This was so much ahead of its times.
My first game console was a CDTV in the mid 90s. My dad was a distributor for Amiga.
Can't wait for the rest of the series, I've always wanted a CDTV
We purchased one in Australia at a university to use it in teaching. We had to develop the software to create the material. Over a year we had a working version ready with one small problem. No-one in Australia could burn a disk for us. Do our 5 1/4" drive was packed up and sent to the UK to make two copies. These cost $100 each I think. It was then used to show the benifits of computer based learning. Soon after the Amiga was dead and the project scrapped. Sad ending to a top set of Machines. RIP
I bought a new Raspberry Pi 4 8GB and installed RetroPie on it and I feel like a kid again playing some of these old games from my childhood. Mom isn't yelling at me to go outside and play or clean my room either which is definitely a plus. 🤣 I've never heard of Amiga CDTV. It's an interesting device but I can see why it never took off. Thanks for sharing with us.
What a great history lesson. I am looking forward to the next installment.
Great start to the CDTV series. I used to own the Amiga A500 add-on and was great for getting public domain demos, music and all host of games. I think I had a PGA Golf CDTV game but that was it. I also had the HDD expansion but alas my parents had thrown both of them out a few years ago - was very upset for a while.
My dad had a A570 for the A500 plus. All i had was PD cd that wrote games to floppy to play on the s00 plus. Miss those lawnmower man style cd caddys
I love the way these look. I wish there was a PC around this vintage with a similarly style.
Neil, great history on the CDTV, I really didn't know much about them as like you they were just too expensive at the time, I could only afford an ST. It was great hearing from Gail Wellington again. I wonder if in the future you could get an interview with Carl Sassenrath as I would love to hear from him about his time at Commodore and the work he did on the original Amiga OS and making it multi-tasking.
Really looking forward to this series. It’s just astonishing how many opportunities Commodore had, and didn’t execute on.
Absolutely superb content neil. Thoroughly enjoyable video as always. Thank you
Thank you
already can't wait for the 2nd episode!
Epic, like everything you did! Keep it coming, greetings from Germany
Great videos! I look forward to more, I love the window to Commodore Gail gave us.
Neil, you should definitely get one of those RGB-HDMI-thingys for your Amiga 500. It's a project that is perfect for showing how to do in a video.
Great idea! That's the pi zero based one right?
@@RMCRetro Yes, right up your alley, I think!
Another great video there, also love the interview :)
Great video. Looking forward to the next chapter
Man new videos are cool. They are step up in all ways possible. Love what you are doing here and hope will visit cave museum in the future!
Thank you Simon
"Composite" is called as such because it's a combination of luma and chroma. If it was like an A500's luma port, it wouldn't be called composite :) As an A500 owner of the era, I remember the frustration of CDTV being released. We desperately needed an A500 replacement that could match VGA graphics, have a high density floppy and maybe even a hard drive. Instead, we got this not-even-a-computer thing with games you couldn't even copy from your friends.
I wish I'd of kept the CDTV t-shirt which came, as a free gift, with my Amiga 500.
I got a CDTV t-shirt with my A500, and still have it! I had a brief conversation with Neil on Facebook who was fairly certain it was only included with the CDTV, but there must have been a limited number of them included with A500s
You may not be able to see it but Gail is wearing her original CDTV t-shirt in the video
@@philipcorner574 yeah, I definitely got the t shirt with my A500.. along with a faux brass sticker/badge saying, I can't remember the exact wording, about the Amiga being voted or winner of the computer of the year award (?)
@@edwinsmith-jones6205 Was the t-shirt included in the box, or was it given away by the retailer? I wondered if it was a fairly limited giveaway. The quality of the shirt was terrible; I'm sure I only wore it a couple of times, but it's about 6 atoms thick and has a hole in it!
Sorry @@philipcorner574 I can't %100 remember if it was in the box or not... vague feeling it was. I know for sure it was the Screen Gems pack.
Hai un CDTV in condizioni perfette,il CDTV e un bellissimo AMIGA e mi e sempre piaciuto,sono contento che piace anche a te.complimenti.
always wanted one of them, had the chance and missed out when every one was getting rid
Your not missing anything special.
So not "always" then ? If everyone was getting rid of them you wouldn't have missed out if it was "always". 🤷♂️
I also remember wanting one of these, but at the time they were fricking expensive. Eventually I got an Amiga CD32 and had some fun with that. While it was nowhere near as polished as the CDTV it was very much cheaper and I think the chips were slightly upgraded to the same as those used in the Amiga 1200, but basically it was a games console that ran Amiga games from CD. Controllers were not the best though. Played so much Lemmings, Cannon fodder and Pirates on that, but that was about it. Still got it in the shelf collecting dust, though I have no idea if it still works.
Amazing they went from that nice looking box to the Amiga32 cheap everything. Combine the two and they may have had something
Never heard or seen one before. Great vid and looking forward to part 2👍🏻
i worked at Commodore Philippines and won a cdtv in a chrismass party raffle with 2 educational cd's and an external amiga fdd with a lot of diskettes games including where in the world is carmen san diego,,i really love my cdtv,,thanks for this video😊😊
This brings back some memories of being in Dixon’s back in the early 90s. Can’t wait to see episode 2.
Hi Neil - This was really fun! I managed to resist buying one of these back in the day, and now... I kind of want one! Keep up the good work :)
RMC is SUCH high quality. Love it, I hope you delve into some DOS games and developers in the future!
Thank you! As soon as this new cave space has all the machines set up we can do more gaming for sure
Most interesting episode in awhile, thanks!
Yes, we do remember these.. A shop I used to frequent in the early 90'ths in Umeå/Sweden (Akademibokhandeln) had one on display, and it was as I recall never sold..
Oh man, thanks for this video. I had a cdtv, complete setup, black mouse, keyboard, black diskdrive and all. But it was stolen from my storage... so sad...
Oh that is really sad!
Been looking forward to this. Always wanted the full set up. Got a CDI instead.
Amazing video, amazing story.
Excellent video, I loved that interview :)
Absolutely love this!! Dream interviewees....!
You're such a tease, what a video, I can't wait for Part 2.
I haven't got past the intro - and I'm so looking forward to this. Back in the day, opinions in magazines (AF., AUI etc) where very much mixed, and personally, I've never even seen one. So let's go....
It really is a lovely looking thing!
I was in the same boat as you Neil, back then I had a A500 but when I saw the CDTV in a mag I just had to have one! I loved the all-black setup, it just looked so damn cool! Alas £600 back then was a lot of money so it slipped me by. I remember in Dixons this was in the Hi-Fi section, which I thought was strange. Anyway, you finally got yours! all good things....nice one, great vid :)