Editing Commodore 1541 (section)

== History ==
=== Introduction ===
The 1541 was priced at under {{US$|400}} at its introduction. A C64 with a 1541 cost about $900, while an [[Apple II]] with no disk drive cost $1,295. The first 1541 drives produced in 1982 have a label on the front reading VIC-1541 and an off-white case to match the VIC-20. In 1983, the 1541 switched to 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.  After a home computer price war instigated by Commodore, the C64 and 1541 together cost under $500.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}  The drive became very popular and difficult to find.  The company said 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,<ref name="anderson198403">{{cite news |url=https://archive.org/stream/creativecomputing-1984-03/Creative_Computing_v10_n03_1984_Mar#page/n57/mode/2up |title=Commodore |work=Creative Computing |date=March 1984 |access-date=2015-02-06 |author-last=Anderson |author-first=John J. |pages=56 |author-link=John J. Anderson}}</ref> 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.<ref name="halfhill198312">{{cite news |url=https://archive.org/stream/1983-12-computegazette/Compute_Gazette_Issue_06_1983_Dec#page/n7/mode/2up |title=The Editor's Notes |work=Compute!'s Gazette |date=December 1983 |access-date=2016-02-06 |author-last=Halfhill |author-first=Tom |pages=6 |type=editorial}}</ref>

The early (1982 to 1983) 1541s have a spring-eject mechanism ([[Alps Electric|Alps]] drive), and the disks often fail to release.  This style of drive has the popular nickname "Toaster Drive", because it requires the use of a knife or other hard thin object to pry out the stuck media,{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}} just like a piece of [[Toast (food)|toast]] stuck in an actual [[toaster]].  This was fixed later when Commodore changed the vendor of the drive mechanism ([[Mitsumi]]) and adopted the flip-lever Newtronics mechanism, greatly improving reliability.  In addition, Commodore made the drive's controller board smaller and reduced its chip count compared to the early 1541s (which had a large [[printed circuit board|PCB]] running the length of the case, with dozens of [[transistor–transistor logic|TTL chips]]).  The beige-case Newtronics 1541 was produced from 1984 to 1986.

=== Versions and third-party clones ===
[[File:Commodore 1541 white.jpg|thumb|1541C, the first upgrade version]]
All but the very earliest non-II model 1541s can use either the Alps or Newtronics mechanism.  Visually, the first models, of the ''VIC-1541'' denomination, have an off-white color like the VIC-20 and VIC-1540.  Then, to match the look of the C64, [[Commodore International|CBM]] changed the drive's color to brown-beige and the name to ''Commodore 1541''.

[[Image:C64-IMG 5372.jpg|thumb|Commodore 1541-II, the second of two upgraded versions of the CBM 1541. The 1541-II has the more modern "radial handle" locking mechanism.]]

The 1541's numerous shortcomings opened a market for a number of third-party [[clone (computing)|clones]] of the disk drive. Examples include the ''Oceanic OC-118'' a.k.a. ''Excelerator+'', the [[MSD Super Disk]] single and dual drives, the ''Enhancer 2000'', the ''[[Indus GT]]'', [[Blue Chip Electronics]]'s BCD/5.25, and ''[[Creative Micro Designs|CMD]]''{{'}}s ''FD-2000'' and ''FD-4000''. Nevertheless, the 1541 became the first disk drive to see widespread use in the home and Commodore sold millions of the units.

In 1986, Commodore released the 1541C, a revised version that offers quieter and slightly more reliable operation and a light beige case matching the color scheme of the Commodore 64C.  It was replaced in 1988 by the 1541-II, which uses an external power supply to provide cooler operation and allows the drive to have a smaller desktop footprint (the power supply "brick" being placed elsewhere, typically on the floor).  Later ROM revisions fixed assorted problems, including a software bug that causes the save-and-replace command to corrupt data.

=== Successors ===
The [[Commodore 1570]] is an upgrade from the 1541 for use with the [[Commodore 128]], available in Europe. It offers [[Modified frequency modulation|MFM]] capability for accessing [[CP/M]] disks, improved speed, and somewhat quieter operation, but was only manufactured until Commodore got its production lines going with the [[Commodore 1571|1571]], the double-sided drive. Finally, the small, external-power-supply-based, MFM-based [[Commodore 1581]] 3½-inch drive was made, giving 800&nbsp;KB access to the C128 and C64.