Task: Purchase a Commodore VIC-1541 Floppy Disk Drive
Needed: Web browser
Time: 30-60 minutes
Introduction
I previously posted about the must-have Commodore VIC-20 computer. An essential peripheral for an authentic retro experience with this computer is the 5.25″ VIC-1541 floppy disk drive. The VIC-1541 was the first version of the 1541 that was also later modified and sold for the Commodore 64. The nice thing about the VIC-1541 is that it matches the lighter color of the VIC (see photo below). I was very happy to land one of these as a package with my VIC-20. The 1541s can only read and write from one side of a disk at a time with a data storage capacity of 170Kb.
As someone who regularly used disk drive in the 1980s, I really love the authentic retro experience which means booting software from floppy disks. Therefore, I see this as a must-have peripheral for the VIC-20.
Instructions
These are usually available on eBay for around $75 to $125. Be sure the seller has tested the drive and has a good track record selling retro computing items.
You will need a male-to-male 6-pin DIN connector to hook the drive up to the VIC. These are available for sale online in multiple places for around $10 to $15 in case your seller doesn’t include one. Here is an example seller on Amazon.
Note that the power supply for the VIC-1541 is different than the VIC-20 and different from the later model 1541s. It requires 5V/1.0A and 12V/0.5A DC. If one is not available, you could buy a newly made power supply like this that has different power lines for both the VIC-20 and the VIC-1541 drive.
Comments
The Commodore 1541 is a notoriously slow disk drive compared to other systems such as Atari and Apple. In fact, the Commodore drive transfers data at about half the speed of equivalent Atari drives. This thread discusses the issue.
These drives are also a bit heavy!
Commodore purchased MOS Technology in 1976 and was able to manufacture their own chips, including the 6502 processor, that was used in the VIC-20 and the VIC-1541. This allowed them to source chips cheaper than their competitors.
Schematics are available if you need to repair one.
