Hardware
| Catalogue ID | HW-0338 |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | EVE ELECTRONICS |
| Person or team | Hank Szretter |
| Year | by 1986 (approximate) |
| Type | Power Supply (Power) |
| Platform | ADAM |
| Status | Released |
| Source | Collectors DB v1.00 Master |
An external power supply that frees an ADAM from its printer - the answer to the single strangest decision in the machine's design.
The problem it solves
The ADAM's power supply lives inside its daisy wheel printer. The printer must be connected and working for the computer to run at all.
A failed printer therefore means a dead computer, and printers failed often from launch.
What that buys
An ADAM without a printer becomes usable, which matters now more than it did then.
A surviving printer is spared the load of powering the whole system.
Listed at $79.95 in the 1986 ADAM Resource Directory hardware guide, alongside the standard Eve Power Pack at $69.95: "Eve PS-1A This is a heavy duty version of the standard Eve unit. It is intended to be used in applications where Data Drives are frequently used."
The standard unit's entry reads "Replaces ADAM printer power supply. Allows use of ADAM without the ADAM printer & provides power for other hardware products." The directory therefore records two Eve supplies at two price points, the PS-1A being the heavy-duty variant; and it notes that PS-1 owners were given an allowance toward the VD-MB, which carried its own supply.