CPS-500 Power Supply For Amiga

Scott Thomas

In my opinion, the Amiga 500 is the ultimate home computer. Dollar for dollar, the 500 delivers more processing, graphics, and sound capability than any other personal computer on the market. Building on the knowledge and experience acquired through the development of the Amiga 1000, Commodore has produced a low-priced but power-packed computer. Its quality of construction is for the most part good, but the power supply for the Amiga 500 is marginal, at best.

Commodore has had a history of problems with power supplies that dates back to the Commodore 64. It seems that in an effort to make its home computers competitively priced, Commodore sacrifices quality in its power supplies. This continues to be true. Many purchasers of the first Amiga 500s off the assembly line were greeted with a dead power source within minutes of power-up. Although Commodore has corrected the problem, the new power supply still is taxed to its limits on a 500 equipped with the internal 512K RAM expansion and an external drive.

Outside Power Source

Fortunately, numerous third-party manufacturers have developed hardware peripherals for the Amiga 500 even though the 500 has only been on the market for a few months.

One of these peripherals is the CPS-500 from Phoenix Electronics. The CPS-500 is a replacement or alternate power supply that provides the 500 with more than enough power to support an external drive and the internal 512K RAM expansion. The CPS-500 5V rating is 6 amps, which is 1.7 amps higher than the Commodore power supply.

The CPS-500, however, does not stop with an amp-rating improvement alone. The power supply includes three auxiliary 117 VAC 60 Hz 100-watt reciprocals with transient/spike suppression and RFI and EMI filtering. The unit has a five-amp primary fuse accessible from the rear of the unit.

The power supply, therefore, acts as both the power supply for the computer and a power strip for your other peripherals, such as your monitor and printer. By flipping the on/off switch on the CPS-500, you turn the power on for all of your computer hardware. The CPS-500 weighs six pounds and is encased in a sturdy metal housing that can be opened for servicing. The size of the unit is 10½ inches deep by 6¾ inches in width by 3 inches in height.

A Good Investment

With all of its superior features and its one-year warranty, the CPS-500 is a wise investment for owners of the Amiga 500. Since the on/off switch for the computer is on its power supply, combining the power supply with a fused, spike-suppressed, filtered power strip for all your hardware makes good sense. The unit is well constructed and its parts are easily accessible for servicing. The extra amp rating of the CPS-500 can mean the difference between staring at a blank screen or high-powered processing. I highly recommend the CPS-500 to all Amiga 500 owners.

CPS-500
Phoenix Electronics, Inc.
314 Court St.
P.O. Box 156
Clay Center, KS 67432
$89.99