Editing VIC-20 (section)

== Reception ==

Describing it as "an astounding machine for the price", ''Compute!'' in 1981 expected the VIC-20 would be popular in classrooms and homes with small children, with "excellent graphic and sound capabilities". While predicting the 22-column screen was "too small to support any but the most rudimentary business applications" the magazine observed that "at a price of {{US$|long=no|299}}, that is hardly the point", stating that "the VIC will provide very stiff competition to the [[TRS-80 Color Computer]]" and "is a much more valuable computer literacy tool than" other products like the [[TRS-80 Pocket Computer]]. ''Compute!'' concluded "VIC will create its own market, and it will be a big one".{{r|thornburg198104}} While also noting the small screen size and RAM, ''[[Byte (magazine)|BYTE]]'' stated that the VIC-20 was "unexcelled as low-cost, consumer-oriented computer. Even with some of its limitations...it makes an impressive showing against...the [[Apple II]], the Radio Shack [[TRS-80]], and the [[Atari 8-bit computers|Atari 800]]". The magazine praised the price ("Looking at a picture...might cause you to think {{US$|long=no|600}} would be a fair price...But it does not cost {{US$|long=no|600}}—the VIC 20 retails for {{US$|long=no|299.95}}"), keyboard ("the equal of any personal-computer keyboard in both appearance and performance. This is a remarkable achievement, almost unbelievable considering the price of the entire unit"), graphics, documentation, and ease of software development with the KERNAL.<ref name="williams198105">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1981-05/1981_05_BYTE_06-05_Software_Piracy#page/n47/mode/2up | title=The Commodore VIC 20 Microcomputer: A Low-Cost, High-Performance Consumer Computer | work=BYTE | date=May 1981 | access-date=18 October 2013 | author=Williams, Gregg | pages=46}}</ref>