Individual Computer's new PSU

[wiz12]

I see you can now pre-order icomp's new dedicated Amiga PSU called the "CA-PSU" for A500, A600 & A1200. It's rated at 50W with a few interesting features like "cable drop compensation" but is fairly pricy too.

https://icomp.de/shop-icomp/en/shop/...mpact_200-240V


Are existing Pico & Meanwell PSUs not reliable enough compared to this?

[thgill]

I’ve been waiting to see what he designed as a psu replacement and I’m somewhat disappointed. That two brick design is straight up ugly looking. And I’m not a fan of having two anyways. Seems to me there could be a better way to implement it.

[Hewitson]

Wow. What a terrible product. Poorly designed, overpriced, and just simply ugly.

[robinsonb5]

Originally Posted by thgill

I’ve been waiting to see what he designed as a psu replacement and I’m somewhat disappointed. That two brick design is straight up ugly looking. And I’m not a fan of having two anyways. Seems to me there could be a better way to implement it.

I think the reason for that is to avoid the much more expensive regulatory approval that would be required if the new PSU were directly mains AC powered. This would be prohibitively expensive in a market as small as ours - so instead it incorporates an off-the-shelf mains AC brick.

Edit: I do like the fact that the DC part is in what's basically a C64 cartridge shell!

[thgill]

Originally Posted by robinsonb5

I think the reason for that is to avoid the much more expensive regulatory approval that would be required if the new PSU were directly mains AC powered. This would be prohibitively expensive in a market as small as ours - so instead it incorporates an off-the-shelf mains AC brick.

Edit: I do like the fact that the DC part is in what's basically a C64 cartridge shell!

Ahhh. Good point. For some reason I thought he at some point mentioned that the psu brick was custom too. But it does look like an off the shelf design.

[wiz12]

I think the bulk of the cost is going towards the custom CA-PSU converter rather than the off the shelf PSU brick, it makes me wonder though if we could attach any easily available PSU brick to this and make it work?

[trixster]

Originally Posted by Hewitson

Wow. What a terrible product. Poorly designed, overpriced, and just simply ugly.

You’re an expert in power supply design, are you?

[BippyM]

Originally Posted by trixster

You’re an expert in power supply design, are you?

I am sorry to say I have to agree with Hewitson (a first time for everything).


I cannot comment on the specification, but for what it is.. Looks ugly, and seems waaaaaaay overpriced!!


But alas.. What do I know?

[apex]

How can a power supply look ugly?
Next to this the inner values are important to have a stable AMIGA.

[trixster]

@bippym sure it looks a bit rubbish, but I’m wondering how Hewitson can comment that it’s “poorly designed” and a “terrible product”?

[Akiko]

"It's ugly"

I don't know about anyone else but I'm fussy about cable management, so don't keep any of my commodore power supplies on display.

I recently got an uprated power supply for my CD32, Elsat Pro module, TF330 combo, and for some reason the pro module hates it so had to revert back to the original supply. I don't mind paying extra for something that is high quality and delivers.

[eXeler0]

Originally Posted by Hewitson

Wow. What a terrible product. Poorly designed, overpriced, and just simply ugly.

Terrible product? Lets not judge this new book by its cover and price alone just yet? It may not be an elegant design, and it seems to cost more than some available solutions... but the 2 part solution is actually somewhat useful, because the smaller (cartridge box) unit has on / off switch and is small enough to keep close to the Amiga on your desk while the actual off the shelf PSU can be hidden somewhere behind the desk.
And according to the description... " It is the first power supply on the market that fully complies with the original Commodore specifications".

So the price is not great but for a niche product we will never get mainstream prices. And iComp are rarely the cheapest option.
AmigaStore.eu has a couple of replacement models already, starting at €55. Don't know anything about the build quality etc of those, but on paper they look like a better deal, especially if you want single brick design.

At one point I was in contact with Ray Carlsen and while I was ok with his asking price, the whole thing with shipping from US + taxes, import charges, VAT would land at 3 times the price of this one, so local availability is another factor of course...

[aeberbach]

I have seen a video where Jens talks about power supplies. Several are tested. True, the Mean Well units have higher ripple than the Amiga originally specified (but so do pretty much all of the supplies tested). How do we know that the low ripple specified by Commodore engineers was actually required? What incredibly sensitive component is on an Amiga that requires such low ripple?

I doubt very much that the Individual Computers supplies are poorly designed. More likely they are over designed and for that reason are too expensive. They fix a problem (excessive ripple) that I don't think exists.

My Amiga certainly worked for a long time with a power supply that was far out of spec with its dodgy old capacitors, then it was replaced with a Mean Well and has performed flawlessly since. Aesthetically I hate the two-box solution but that's just a personal opinion. On the plus side you do get the power switch up where you can reach it.

[Daedalus]

Originally Posted by aeberbach

I have seen a video where Jens talks about power supplies. Several are tested. True, the Mean Well units have higher ripple than the Amiga originally specified (but so do pretty much all of the supplies tested). How do we know that the low ripple specified by Commodore engineers was actually required? What incredibly sensitive component is on an Amiga that requires such low ripple?

Yes, this is all very valid stuff. I should point out that there are a huge number of Meanwell models, and many of them do meet the 50mV ripple requirements of the original Commodore specification, just not the cheapest or smallest modules (which are also likely to be the ones used in the PSUs tested). It should be noted, of course, that the original Amiga PSUs generally don't meet that spec either. They probably did 20-30 years ago, but none that I have here now do. And all of them work fine, including with expanded Amigas, such as an A1200 with a Blizzard 1230, mechanical hard drive and CD-ROM drive, despite having ripple voltages well beyond the Commodore specification, the ATX specification and even the looser Meanwell specification. It's something I must sort out, but anyway...

It should be noted too that ripple specifications are generally stated for maximum load, and that the ripple is lower when the PSU isn't operating at its peak. Given that most Amiga setups don't even max out the original PSUs' specified capacities, let alone a modern Meanwell, it can be assumed that the normal-use ripple from a Meanwell-based PSU will be lower than the specification given in the datasheets, because a typical Amiga setup is likely much lower than the PSU's rating. My tests on a very small sample of PSUs would indicate that this is the case anyway. Of course, heavy consumers like 040+ or PPC cards are a different story...

[R4M]

I would guess, that a seizable portion of the price goes to the insurance company:

"CA-PSU is covered by a German product liability insurance."

[AmigaHope]

Honestly this looks like a great product. Off-the-shelf AC brick, then a custom power conditioner. Yeah it's an extra box but if it delivers best-in-class power, that's worth it.

[Jope]

Looks inconvenient with the cables going from the same direction into the C64 cart. Fine if you never go to demo parties with your amiga, annoying if your machine is regularly on the move. :-) Just thinking about the use case when packing up and tying your cables neatly.

Let's see once people start getting theirs.

[Tigerskunk]

I think this looks a bit crappy, but it seems to have some practical reasons behind it for that.
The price is not much higher than what the competition asks for.
And my experiences with Jens' products have been outstanding so far.

If you are travelling to retro exhibitions with your Amiga a bit, or like visiting your friends place, the large CBM power brick is always kind of an unconvenience if you just want to have everything in one backpack.

This would solve this problem for me.

[alpine9000]

Lots of the competitors in this space don't even have a power switch

[Etze]

I would have loved the power switch to be near (or in) the connector at the Computer.