Product Support Bulletin

NUMBER:
S-0029C
PAGE: 3 of 6
Q. What kind of floppy Disk
drives does the Apex have and what
kind of floppy diskettes should I use?
A. The Apex comes standard with
two half-height, 5 1/4", 360KB
floppy disk drives. Make
sure
to use
only double-sided,
double-density,
soft-sector,
48 TPI floppy diskettes.
The
diskette boxes are usually marked DSDD or 2S-2D, Soft-Sector,
48TPI.
New blank diskettes
must be formatted
in the computer
before being used.
Q. Can I use other types of floppy disk drives with the Apex?
A. 1.2MB,
half-height floppy disk drives are not compatible with
the Apex personal computer.
The Epson 3.5",
half-height, 720KB floppy drive
(Epson Model
code A112A-AA)
has been
tested with the Apex computer and is
compatible (available from Epson computer dealers).
Q. Can I install a Math-Coprocessor chip and what type do I need?
A: A Math-Coprocessor chip
is an option which
speeds up the math
functions used in many spreadsheet and math-intensive software
applications.
It can be bought at
electronic parts retailers
and computer stores
(Epson America Inc.
does not supply them).
An 8087-2
Math-Coprocessor chip which runs at
8MHz is
recommended for use with the Apex computer. An 8087 Math-
Coprocessor may also be
used but it will only operate reliably
when
the slower
speed (4.77MHz) is selected.
The Math-
Coprocessor
chip is installed in the socket provided on the
Apex CPU board
(the board which has the dip switches and
parallel printer interface).
The dip switches need to be set
up to select the math-coprocessor according to the User's Guide.
Q. How can I increase the Apex RAM memory to 640K Bytes?
A. The Apex comes
standard with 512KB of RAM memory which is
suitable for most applications.
The memory can be expanded to
640KB by adding
additional RAM memory chips to the CPU memory
$;zyback) board in the empty sockets
pro;d!ed.
Four 4464
RAM chips are
chips' directly
required.
Epson does
supply these
but they are
available from electronic parts
retailers.
They can also be ordered from mail order sources
which advertise in computer magazines such as PC Magazine.
You
should be certain to order the 4464 type (150ns) RAM chips as
there are other types of 64K RAM chips which will not work.
Since this is not the standard configuration of the Apex as it
is offered,
Epson will not
provide
warranty support of this
upgrade.
If service
is required,
these RAM chips should be
removed before returning the Apex for repair.