I saw this Youtube today (though it was obviously posted almost a year ago), and it got me thinking: Building a NEW Commodore 1581 Disk Drive in 2021!
Back in the day, I used some of my Peace Corps readjustment allowance on a C128D system, replacing the C128 that I donated to the high school I was teaching at in Grenada in the mid 1980's. In addition to the built in 1571, I got an external 1571 and 1581, as well as a daisywheel printer. After I fried the processor in the 128D, my bank account said I was fully re-adjusted (and working as a temporary industrial worker to bridge the gap before starting grad school in the Fall), so the system I took to Grad School was my original C64, a portable color TV (with massive ghosting of one of the colors), a 1571, 1581, and daisywheel printer. I had also picked up WarpSpeed for the C128, which had a small slide switch to toggle between C128 and C64 use, so my old C64 finally got a drive accelerator cartridge.
My use of the 1571 was primarily for sharing text files and internet downloads between the IBM XT's in the grad student computer lab (because Profs had been upgraded to ATs or better) and my set-up at home, copying files over using Big Blue Reader. My working drive was almost always my 1581. I didn't have a big stockpile of retail games, but I did have a pile of disks from before I left for Grenada, so the 1571 was also for digging into my legacy disks.
With my WarpSpeed cartridge, I would type up papers with my Busy Bee "TheWriteStuff" word processor, stored on my 1581 ... and I normally just copied TheWriteStuff onto the 1581 disk, since there was plenty of room on the disk alongside the program.
So I, unfortunately, have a lot more nostalgia for my 1581 than for my 1571 or 1541. For the X16, the 1581 is an appealing option for the IEC port. Compatibility with C64 game copy protection is the number one appeal of the 1541/1571, but that is not an issue for the X16. And by 2022, 3.5" disks are just about as retro as 5.25" inch disks, while still having all of the benefits of better storage and better storage capacity.
I say "unfortunately" because if you go to eBay, a 1581 is going to run you $300-$500.
However, it turns out that thanks to the magic of retro projects to replace this and that part of a 1581, you can put together a replacement for a 1581 system, as explained in the video.
Now, according to his budget tally on the end, the total cost will vary widely depending on how much your can get used or even recycled, and if you buy all new, it can cost upward of $300, which is similar to the eBay cost of a new working version. However, if you get lucky with parts and/or you have a 3D printer and are OK with a 3D printed case, you might be able to get one made for $150-$200. Plus, you would have the satisfaction of having soldered the controller board yourself!
