The Power Box


From Compute (formerly Wizard Developments)

Looks

When you first recieve your Power Box from Compute and take a good, long, hard look at it then you may not really be overly impressed. I mean it's a standard creamish colour, with a few ventilation grills, a load of wires hanging out of the front and a sticker which quite imaginatively says "Power Box." However, looks are not everything and so underneath this harsh and might I say robust outer casing, you really do have a manly power supply unit.

One of the best features of this modified PC power supply is its power up switch. When I say that this switch powers up, I mean it powers up, it actually lights up a red colour when you turn it on.

First things first

First of all, make sure that you have everything that you are meant to have, i.e. the Power Box, the power cable and the instructions, not that you really need any instruction. Plugging the Power Box in could not really be simpler, you plug the power lead into the back of the box and the other end into a normal household plug socket and then the power lead with the Amiga plug on the end of it into the back of your machine and hey, presto - you've just upgraded your power supply. It's that simple.

Power Up

You won't really notice any difference in regards to using your machine however, the noise level in the room where you use your Amiga will increase greatly, so if you use your machine in the bedroom then I would not recommend leaving it on all night. Not only would it save your ears ringing for four hours the next day but it may save you some money on your next electricity bill.

Conclusions

Well, what more is there to say apart from it's brilliant, it's big, it's manly, it runs rings around the standard Amiga PSU, its power up switch lights up and it has a switchable voltage setting in case you move out of the country. Yeah it's noisy, it's a bit ugly, especially with the wires hanging out, but these things are necessary evils, especially the noise. However, look at it this way - you will probably never run out of power again.

Verdict

Speed: 0% - Not really relevant
Accessibility: 97% - How hard can it be
Reliability: 98% - I've never had any problems
Features: 88% - Power up switch lighting up, excellent!
Value: 90% - Almost £20 cheaper than its competitors

Overall: 93% -
by Neil Bullock

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