Aug 27, 2010 11:04 GMT  ·  By

Those end-users old enough to remember the early days of computing will likely know of the Commodore C64, an old-school computer system shaped like a keyboard, and Commodore USA has just been revealed to be working on a replica of it, only with contemporary hardware such as ION 2 and Pine Trail.

End-users interested in less than ordinary computer systems will likely know of the ASUS EeeKeyboard.

This so-called all-in-one keyboard PC started shipping back in May and is, basically, a keyboard that packs the full range of PC capabilities.

The Commodore C64 replica that Commodore USA plans to bring out, according to a recent report, is something along the same lines.

The main difference, besides the retro design itself, is that the upcoming keyboard PC lacks the 5-inch capacitive multi-touch display that ASUS's invention is constructed with.

Still, as far as everything else goes, the full range of PC components are present, from the CPU to the video outputs and connectivity options.

At the heart of the machine lies the Intel Atom D525 dual-core central processing unit (CPU), which has a clock speed of 1.8 GHz.

This CPU is backed up by a full 4GB of DDR3 memory and is paired with the NVIDIA ION 2 graphics processing unit.

This combination of hardware should be able to handle any multimedia file, even those in HD or Full HD quality.

What's more, the product comes with a hard disk drive of 1TB storage, plus a DVD or Blu-ray optical disk drive, meant to satisfy any and all storage requirements.

Finally, the new Commodore boasts Bluetooth, a 6-in-1 card reader, wireless communication via 802/11n WiFi and DVI and HDMI outputs.

According to the report, this keyboard PC will start shipping during the holiday season. The price, unfortunately, has not been mentioned.