BitBinders
1581S - A beautiful, 100% compatible replica of Commodore's 1581 floppy disk drive
1581S - A beautiful, 100% compatible replica of Commodore's 1581 floppy disk drive
4.89 / 5.0
(9) 9 total reviews
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A high quality replica of Commodore's highly desirable and rare 1581 3.5" floppy disk drive. BitBinders 1581S uses an accurate reproduction of Commodore's PCB and the exact same components as the original. This means that compatibility is 100% guaranteed. For all intents and purposes, it is a Commodore 1581.
But, we couldn't resist making an improvement to the power supply. The original Commodore power supply was big, heavy, and inefficient. Today's advanced electronics permitted us to do something very different. The 1581S has internal power circuitry that allows us to use any standard "wall wart" transformer between 7.5 and 12 volts. That means that if something happens to your wall transformer (like misplacing it!) you can grab another that you likely have lying around the house.
Finally, all internal integrated circuits and the internal power circuitry are on sockets, meaning that replacement decades in the future are simple to do.
The 1581S drive comes standard with JiffyDOS firmware which, when combined with JiffyDOS firmware in your computer, dramatically increases the speed of the drive's trsnsfer rate and also adds many useful commands. See our Frequently Asked Questions for more information.
Please note that in order to achieve 100% compatibility, some of the internal components are obtained from previously used and new-open-stock sources, To ensure the highest reliability, all components and the drives themselves undergo extensive testing during manufacture and prior to shipment. See How We Test Our Products for detailed information.
The 1581S comes with an exceptional 12 month warranty. See our Frequently Asked Questions for more information.
In the Box
(1) BitBinders 1581S Disk Drive
(1) 9V, 2A Wall Power Supply (US plug - 110V/220V Compatible)
(1) “Commodore 1581 Test/Utilities” Floppy Disk
(1) "1581 Toolkit" Floppy Disk
Specifications
Commodore 1581 compatibility: 100%
Wall adapter requirements: 7.5 - 12Vdc, 2A min
AC adapter cord length: 4 feet (1.2 meters)
Dimensions: 2.6in x 5,4in x 8.8in (65mm x 138mm x 224mm) (H x W x D)
Weight: 2.4lbs (1.1kg)
NOTE: ALL PHOTOS ARE UNRETOUCHED AND REPRESENT TYPICAL SHIPPING PRODUCT
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I love my 1581s, such a well crafted and authentic reproduction. I ordered it to use with my C128. I liked it so much I ordered a second for my C64.
My VIC-20 is now happy with a new Drive. Arrived in a good packaged box, works as expected very good. Great work!
I had a bit of a wild ride to get my 1581S (which I love). First, I was stung by the UPS' outrageous "surprise" processing fees for a shipment to Canada (as well as their inability to find my condo building in the middle of the city). Happily, BitBinders is now using Canada Post for shipping their drives up here. More personally for me, BitBinders was kind enough to allow me to refuse the shipment from UPS, and they hand-delivered a replacement for me at the World of Commodore expo in Toronto.
Unfortunately, I had problems with the replacement drive. It would work for a short time, and then my C128 would stop recognizing it until I power-cycled the computer and the drive a few times. The customer support at BitBinders was excellent. They responded quickly via email. They led me through several troubleshooting steps, but at the end we were unsuccessful in getting the drive to work consistently. BitBinders paid the returning shipping and gave me the option of a full refund or a new 1581S.
Luckily, I took the second option. BitBinders was now using Canada Post; so there were no shipping surprises. Yes, if you hold the drive under your nose to inspect it, you can tell it's 3D-printed, but for general use you don't notice any of that. It is a beautiful drive, certainly the finest example of 3D-printing I have ever seen. It looks like a real Commodore 1581 when it's sitting there on your desk. I have been putting the new drive through its paces, and it works very well. My main goal was to transfer d81 disk images to real disks. This works nicely, and it's funny to watch as my pi1541 takes forever to read 80 track, and the 1581S writes them super-quick to real media. (The pi1541 doesn't support burst mode, while the 1581S does.) I've tested 1581 disk partitioning and CP/M mode as well; it all works.
I would definitely have given 5 stars if the first drive I received had worked as flawlessly. I imagine my case was a one-off, but I have to report what I experienced . What I can say is that BitBinders stood behind their product and did everything they could to make sure that I was a satisfied customer.
I received the disk drive in a well packaged box and got it hooked up to my C64 and it works great. No I wish I had bought two! Well built, look great and runs really nice.
I’ve very recently taken delivery of a great looking 1581S drive. The unit arrived safely in France after its trip from the US and was well packed so it was in good order.
A great product is defined by the quality of the service and responsiveness provided by the creator. Craig is first class in this respect. I had a couple of very minor set-up issues and within the same day (Sunday as well) Craig replied to my email with a great answer to the set-up question I had. Not only that but I also learned that there will soon be a set-up / user guide to make the product even better.
If you’re in the market for an external drive for your MEGA65 then look no further.