Emerson Electric Co’s European manufacturing plant in Swindon, Wiltshire has launched the Accupower range of uninterruptible power supplies, UPS, for micros. The new products contain a battery that provides a power supply for up to 10 minutes to a personal computer or small-scale computer system if the main electricity supply fails, and protects the micro components if dangerous electrical conditions, such as spikes, sags and surges occur. Thus, any information that has been fed into the machine but not been saved on disk, will not be lost. The products, which Emerson claims are simple to install as they are simply plugged in between the micro and the mains point, took nine months to develop and operate off-line so they are silent. Being appoximately 50% of the volume and 50% of the price of the average similar product on the market, the new line meets European market demands for uninterruptible power sources that were unccovered in its extensive market research campaign, the company believes. Key requirements were for small size, low cost, reliable and silent systems. Five models are available from the company’s dealers, and prices range from UKP156 to UKP774: at the bottom end of the range, the 150 VA can support the likes of the IBM XT or PS/2 Model 30, as well 80 column dot matrix printers; the 300 VA supports machines such as the IBM PS/2 Model 60 and the Compaq Deskpro 386, and 132/160 column dot matrix printers; the 500 VA can support certain network file servers; the 800 VA supports multi-workstations and local area networks; finally, the 1400 VA can support larger-scale computer systems. Currently, 2,000 uninterruptible power supplies are being manufactured a month at the Swindon plant, and the company claims that it can increase this to 5,000 a month if necessary. Next year, Emerson will be launching a new software package for the 500 VA models and above, which will enable micros to receive information through serial ports in the power supply and shut down on their own accord, displaying this information on the screen. Emerson claims a lead in the low-end market, which it expects to grow rapidly in the next few years.
