Commodore 1541 Views
The Commodore 1541 (aka CBM 1541, and originally called VIC-1541), made by Commodore International, was the best-known floppy disk drive for the Commodore 64 home computer. The 1541 was a single-sided 170 kilobyte drive for 5ΒΌ disks. The 1541 followed the previous Commodore 1540 (meant for the VIC-20).
Priced at under US$400 at its introduction, the 1541 became widely popular. Although expensive by today's standards, a C64 plus a 1541 cost about $900, while an Apple II with no disk drive cost $1395. The demand caught Commodore by surprise, and they struggled to produce the drive in adequate quantities.
The early 1541's had a spring eject mechanism (Alps Drive), and the discs often failed to release. This style of drive had the popular nickname Toaster Drive , because it required the use of a knife or other thin object to pry out the stuck media just like a piece of toast stuck in a real toaster. This was fixed later, when Commodore changed the vendor of the drive mechanism (Mitsumi) and went to a flip handle that allowed extraction of the disc using your fingers, and no longer requiring the spring.
There were two versions of the 1541 mechanics. Early models used a drive mechanism made by Alps Electric, distinguishable by its push-down drive door. Later models utilized a drive mechanism manufactured by Newtronics (Mitsumi), which used a lever release. All but the very earliest 1541s can use either the Alps or Newtronics mechanism. Visually, the first models, of the VIC-1541 denomination, had an off-white color like the VIC-20 and VIC-1540. Then, to match the look of the C64, CBM changed the drive's color to brown-beige and the name to Commodore 1541.
Commodore 1541 Images
