The 1541 Ultimate II+ is the latest version of the 1541 Ultimate. I've got it in the featured spot on the Buyer's Guide because of its epic nature and the sheer breadth of its features.
The 1541 Ultimate II+ has a deceptive name. The name made me think it was just some sort of basic 1541 replacement, perhaps even the ultimate 1541 replacement, but essentially just a floppy disk storage alternative. This is completely wrong. The 1541 Ultimate II+ offers a staggering array of brilliant features and functions all packed into a very small, sexy and professional case.
It is a bit costly. At 149 euros it's ~175 USD or ~225 CAD. But, when you consider what it contains and what it costs for those products if you buy them as stand–alone solutions, it's actually a bargain.
Here are some of its features and their approximate prices (in USD) as roughly equivalent individual products:
Add those together and you're well beyond the price of the 1541 Ultimate II+, but spread across a bunch of devices, and that doesn't include many of the other features of the 1541 Ultimate II+.
I've purchased one of these for myself, and it is pretty great. It's not a perfect replacement for everything. There are still good reasons for buying many of those other hardware products individually, but it is an amazing piece of kit.
Read my complete editorial review, and technical deep dive in the C64 OS weblog here: Review: 1541 Ultimate II+
I got two. Greatest retro add-on of all time IMHO. Rob O'Hara — Twitter, 2017