Commodore 1530 Datassette Unit C2N C64

Description

Commodore 1530 Datassette Unit C2N C64

The Commodore 1530 (C2N) Datasette, later also Datassette (a portmanteau of data and cassette), is Commodore‘s dedicated magnetic tape data storage device. Using compact cassettes as the storage medium, it provides inexpensive storage to Commodore’s 8-bit home/personal computers, notably the PET, VIC-20, and C64. A physically similar model, Commodore 1531, was made for the Commodore 16 and Plus/4 series computers.

The Datasette was more popular outside than inside the United States. U.S. Gold, which imported American computer games to Britain, often had to wait until they were converted from disk because most British Commodore 64 owners used tape, while the US magazine Compute!’s Gazette reported that by 1983 “90 percent of new Commodore 64 owners bought a disk drive with their computer”.

Commodore 1530 Datassette Unit C2N C64

Computer Gaming World reported in 1986 that British cassette-based software had failed in the United States because “97% of the Commodore systems in the USA have disk drives”; by contrast, MicroProse reported in 1987 that 80% of its 100,000 sales of Gunship in the UK were on cassette. In the United States disk drives quickly became standard, despite the 1541 costing roughly five times as much as a Datasette. In most parts of Europe, the Datasette was the medium of choice for several years after its launch, although floppy disk drives were generally available. The inexpensive and widely available audio cassettes made the Datasette a good choice for the budget-aware home computer mass market.

Another great retro item available at Escapist Gamer – Alfa Data Megamouse Plus (Amiga)