Commodore 1541
Front view of the second-most common version of the Commodore 1541 disk drive, with open disk slot: this version uses a Newtronics drive mechanism, and the rotating lever is used to engage the drive mechanism with the disk (i.e. to engage the hub clamp and load the disk heads) and to prevent removal of the disk while the mechanism is mechanically engaged.
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| Manufacturer | Commodore Business Machines, Inc. |
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| Type | Floppy drive |
| Release date | 1982 |
| Introductory price | US$400 (equivalent to $992.69 in 2016) |
| Discontinued | 1993 |
| Media | 5¼" floppy disk SS SD |
| Operating system | CBM DOS 2.6 |
| CPU | MOS 6502 @ 1 MHz |
| Storage | 170 kB |
| Connectivity | Commodore proprietary serial IEEE-488 0.4 kB/s |
| Power | 100, 120, 220, or 240 V 50/60 Hz 25 W (30 W max) |
| Backward compatibility |
Commodore 64, VIC-20 |
The Commodore 1541 (also known as the CBM 1541 and VIC-1541) is a floppy disk drive which was made by Commodore International for the Commodore 64 (C64), Commodore's most popular home computer. The best-known floppy disk drive for the C64, the 1541 is a single-sided 170-kilobyte drive for 5¼" disks. The 1541 directly followed the Commodore 1540 (meant for the VIC-20).
The disk drive uses group coded recording (GCR) and contains a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, doubling as a disk controller and on-board disk operating system processor. The number of sectors per track varies from 17 to 21 (an early implementation of zone bit recording). The drive's built-in disk operating system is CBM DOS 2.6.
The 1541 was priced at under US$400 at its introduction. A C64 plus a 1541 cost about $900, while an Apple II with no disk drive cost $1295. The first 1541 drives produced in 1982 have a label on the front reading VIC-1541 and have an off-white case to match the VIC-20. In 1983, the 1541 was switched to having the familiar beige case and a front label reading simply "1541" along with rainbow stripes to match the Commodore 64.
By 1983 a 1541 sold for $300 or less, much less than the price of other computers' disk drives. After a brutal home-computer price war that Commodore began, the C64 and 1541 together cost under $500. The drive became very popular, and became difficult to find. The company claimed that the shortage occurred because 90% of C64 owners bought the 1541 compared to its 30% expectation, but the press discussed what Creative Computing described as "an absolutely alarming return rate" because of defects. The magazine reported in March 1984 that it received three defective drives in two weeks, and Compute!'s Gazette reported in December 1983 that four of the magazine's seven drives had failed; "COMPUTE! Publications sorely needs additional 1541s for in-house use, yet we can't find any to buy. After numerous phone calls over several days, we were able to locate only two units in the entire continental United States", reportedly because of Commodore's attempt to resolve a manufacturing issue that caused the high failures.
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