10 Amazing Commodore Amiga CDTV Facts

Comments · 101

• EX

  @Exacerbate42 · 5 days ago

  That was a very entertaining video about the CDTV. I bought it back when it was still quite affordable. It came with a wireless keyboard and mouse, as well as a floppy disk drive. Since I was buying a lot of movie soundtracks at the time, the CDTV was perfect for me as a CD player (even though it was actually still too expensive for that purpose). Many soundtracks begin or end with an unpleasant sonic onslaught, have annoying noises in the middle, or even extremely boring passages. With public domain software, which I used to boot the CDTV from a floppy disk, I could create a playlist for each soundtrack and specify that certain sections should be skipped and even faded in and out. That was long before MP3 music compression. If Commodore had integrated this program into the operating system and advertised it, I'm sure many audiophiles would have been interested in the CDTV. Especially since the CDTV fit perfectly into an existing hi-fi system. The ability to use public domain collections on CDs was fantastic. There were always plenty of games included. I simply unplugged the cable from the annoying fan. Of course, I also played regular Amiga games from floppy disks on the CDTV. There was also an adapter that allowed me to connect two regular joysticks to the CDTV. However, the infrared remote control was cumbersome because you always had to point it directly at the receiver. Therefore, I bought a special infrared extension adapter. I placed it in front of the CDTV's infrared receiver, and the infrared signal was received much better without having to point the remote directly at the receiver. Then I installed my 68030 accelerator card, which I had in my Amiga 500, into the CDTV. It worked perfectly. Unfortunately, the case cover no longer fit. But I bent it into shape with a hammer so that it did. Overall, I was satisfied with the CDTV, even though there weren't many games available on CD for it. The graphic adventure "Labyrinth of Time," which used 4096 colors, was quite good for its time. I used the CDTV until 2013 when it unfortunately died. Commodore should have shipped the CDTV with a 68020 processor or, even better, with the Amiga 1200 technology, which was already on the horizon at the time. I didn't buy a CD32 back then because I owned an Amiga 4000, which allowed me to play CD32 games. While there weren't any exclusive titles, the available ones were quite good, and I no longer had to install dozens of floppy disks on my hard drive. The point-and-click adventures were fantastic, with voice acting from the CD.

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• IC

  @icerunner · 4 days ago

  Ah yes, the CDTV, from a time when we were so fearful that CDs might escape that we had to restrain them in a small box before inserting into the computer.

  1

• PD

  @pda1799 · 5 days ago

  This thing was in my school - the holy grail of learning. While I was playing Flash Back on Amiga to the utmost frustration of our teacher😂😂😂

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• TI

  @timwilcox5158 · 5 days ago

  when this was released, i actually wrote to Commodore asking for more information. i got a pack through the post which included an awesome CD-TV t-shirt which i kept for years.

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• DA

  @danyoutube7491 · 3 days ago

  @<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0zPVz_O2sw&amp;t=740">12:20</a> I didn&apos;t know about these memory cards, that&apos;s interesting.

  1

• VA

  @valley_robot · 5 days ago

  It was an Amiga 500 with a really cool box and wireless everything and a CD drive, I had loads of CDs full of interesting things. it ran pretty much every A500 game, I loved mine , it had built in MIDI as well so it was used as my first proper digital studio. fantastic machine

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• JO

  @johneygd · 4 days ago

  Well, that cdtv commercial at the end was surely hylarious🤣

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• HO

  @Horos_de_Vega · 6 days ago

  I still find the CDTV very charming somehow. Loved its look.<br>Thanks for the video

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• KE

  @kenwheeler3637 · 4 days ago

  &quot;An unparalleled value&quot;. Commodore certainly did have a copious amount of unmitigated gall.

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• NI

  @nickpalance4096 · 4 days ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0zPVz_O2sw&amp;t=445">7:25</a> that backpack 🎒 🌈 😳 What a time capsule piece! Need some MC Hammer 🔨 pants 👖 to go with that 😂

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• RA

  @rager-69 · 5 days ago

  I may have known at one time that the CD32 could play CDTV discs, but I had gone through most of my adult life not knowing/remembering that. &nbsp;So, I guess I don&apos;t &quot;need&quot; to get a CDTV.

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• MI

  @Michel-r6m · 5 days ago

  Machines like these (Philips CD-i, CDTV etc.) were a lot fun yet a pretty big investment. Used CD-i as an education platform in the 90&apos;s.

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