Editing Commodore 1541 (section)

=== 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.