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The Commodore 1530 (C2N) Datasette (a portmanteau of ''data'' and ''cassette''), was Commodore's dedicated magnetic tape data storage device. Using compact cassettes as the storage medium, it provided 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. == Description and history == The Datasette contained built-in analog to digital converters and audio filters to convert the computer's digital information into analog sound and vice versa (much like a modem does over a telephone line). Connection to the computer was done via a proprietary edge connector (Commodore 1530) or mini-DIN connector (Commodore 1531). The absence of recordable audio signals on this interface made the Datasette and its few clones the only cassette recorders usable with CBM's machines, until aftermarket converters made the use of ordinary recorders possible. 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. ''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 Commodore 1541 floppy drive 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. The Datasette was slow albeit extremely reliable, transferring data at around per second; even the very slow 1541 was significantly faster. Some years after the Datasette's launch, however, special ''turbo tape'' software appeared, providing much faster tape operation (loading and saving). Such software was integrated into most commercial prerecorded applications (mostly games), as well as being available separately for loading and saving the users' homemade programs and data. These programs were only widely used in Europe, as the US market had long since moved onto disks. Datasettes could typically store about per side. The use of ''turbo tape'' and other fast loaders increased this number to roughly . 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Commodore Datasette」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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