27 Apr
1997
27 Apr
'97
7:32 a.m.
Well, I'm not an expert on these, but...
Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but
the Plus/4 (like the C-16) was
intended as an upgrade, and total break, from the C-64 and is incompatible in
both hardware and software to the C-64. I've seen it said that this was one
of the main reasons the machine never caught on. As for the color scheme of
the 1541 though, the later 1541's were the ones that matched the brown color
of the C-64. The earlier 1541's, labled VIC-1541, matched the lighter color
of the VIC-20. It is the VIC-1541 that I have in my collection.
The Plus/4, I think, was completely software incompatible with the C64 line.
The hardware was a different story - as it used the same serial bus as the
64. Most C64 peripherals were compatible. There was also a line of
hardware designed to go with the Plus/4 that was all done in black. The
black disk drive was not actually a 1541 but a 1551. There was at least
a printer and a modem designed specifically for this line. The C2N
cassette was also compatible I think and recased, for a brief period, in
black.
As for the 1541 disk drives - Commodore was always confusing with those.
Of the drives labelled 1541 there were at least 4 models - which were
called by different numbers internally. The drive labelled VIC-1541 which
is VIC in color is actually a 1540. There are also 2 models in original
C64 color which differ internally and are actually the 1541 and 1542.
Then, when the later slimline C64 came out they repackaged the drive and
made yet more revisions to it and called it the 1541-II.
Does anyone know if anyone other than Commodore ever got into writing
software for the Plus/4? Did Commodore ever make anything other than
the built-in apps?
Bill
----------------------------------------------------
Bill Whitson - Classic Computers ListOp
bill(a)booster.u.washinton.edu or bcw(a)u.washington.edu
http://weber.u.washington.edu/~bcw