Commodore 1581 - Introduction to the Commodore 1581 Disk Drive; How This Guide is Organized

INTRODUCTION
The Commodore 1581 is a versatile 3.5" disk drive that can be
used with a variety of computers, including the COMMODORE 128™,
the COMMODORE 64®, the Plus 4™, COMMODORE 16™, and VIC 20.™
Also, in addition to the convenience of 3.5" disks, the 1581 offers
the following features:
• Standard and fast serial data transfer rates—The 1581 auto
matically selects the proper data transfer rate (fast or slow) to
match the operating modes available on the Commodore 128
computer.
• Double-sided, double-density MFM data recording—Provides
more than 800K formatted storage capacity per disk (400K +
per side).
• Special high-speed burst commands—These commands, used
for machine language programs, transfer data several times
faster than the standard or fast serial rates.
HOW THIS GUIDE IS ORGANIZED
This guide is divided into two main parts and seven appendices,
as described below:
PART ONE: BASIC OPERATING INFORMATION—includes all the
information needed by novices and advanced users to set up and
begin using the 1581 disk drive. PART ONE is subdivided into
three chapters:
• Chapter 1, Unpacking, Setting Up and Using the 1581, tells you
how to use disk software programs that you buy. These pre
written programs help you perform a variety of activities in
fields such as business, education, finance, science, and recrea
tion. If you're interested only in loading and running pre
packaged disk programs, you need read no further than this
chapter. If you are also interested in saving, loading, and run
ning your own programs, you will want to read the remainder
of the guide.
• Chapter 2, Basic 2.0 Commands, describes the use of the
BASIC 2.0 disk commands with the Commodore 64 and Com
modore 128 computers.
• Chapter 3, Basic 7.0 Commands, describes the use of the
BASIC 7.0 disk commands with the Commodore 128.