or something.. Anyways, can anyone recommend a good UPS? Where I live power frequently goes off for a second or 2, pretty much just long enough to power off my PC's. Rarely has power ever been off for more than a few minutes, except for major snow/ice/hurricanes.. And at the point the last thing I'm worried about is my PC if power is off for a few hours. Basically I just wanted a UPS that will stop the PCs from powering off during the brief power failures. I looked on Bestbuy.com and saw a few for around 40-50 bucks that only last for 20 minutes or so. Should I just buy one of these or go all out and get the better ones?

4/25/2006 11:33:39 PM

Post the products you are thinking about purchasing and you'll get a yea/nay response.

Best Buy sells APCs from what I remember, and APCs *generally* have a good reputation for backup batteries. I'd recommend the 350 batteries which stand upright (can't remember exact model #'s at moment). The "boxy" looking ones take up a heck of a lot of space on the floor.

4/26/2006 12:06:13 AM

Hey

The 2 I looked at on bestbuy.com are

APC Surge Protector with 350VA Battery Backup
Model: BE350R

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7424548&type=product&productCategoryId=cat08029&id=1122655672352


and


CyberPower 425VA SL-Series Battery Back-Up System
Model: CPS425SL

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6201585&type=product&productCategoryId=cat08029&id=1069297060711


Now that I think about it my requirements would include:

At least 3 battery backup outlets 4 would be better. I have surge protectors so that's not a requirment for the UPS, even though they have them.

Phone port for now, maybe one with a cable port incase I ever change to cable internet.

Big outlets for my router plugs.

I've seen some have a USB/serial port connection. Is that actually useful? I'm running both PCs on Linux if that makes a difference.

Safely power off incase power outage does last longer than the UPS can handle.


Thanks for the reply Perlith.

4/26/2006 12:19:46 AM

The two you posted are the "boxy"/"blocky" ones ... they are roughly 12"x5". Not sure where you are putting the UPS, but usually won't fit under a desk. Also, I don't believe (and somebody correct me if I'm wrong), the batteries in those are replaceable. Once they are dead, they are dead.

I was thinking of something like this when trying to describe the ones which stand upright: http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=282952 Don't let the price throw you ... things go on sale once or twice a year ... they had an 800VA for $50 not long ago.

The USB cable talks to your computer and lets it know it is on a battery. Otherwise, it just assumes its running from wall power, even in a power outage. In Windows XP, I've got my computer set to hibernate once the battery hits 3%. If you are looking to do this with multiple computers, you'll need to look into some other options (which I don't know much about to be honest).

[Edited on April 26, 2006 at 6:16 AM. Reason : .]

4/26/2006 6:15:24 AM

^^Don't let the 20min fool you. You will be lucky to get 5 minutes w/o a monitor and only a few minutes with. I use 3 of the 350VA's around the house. It is just long enough for the software to automatically shutdown the computer. I also use it to keep my modem and router powered up. When the battery fails after 2+ years, it is generally cheaper to get a new one for $20 AR.

4/26/2006 7:18:10 AM

Thanks guys. Ive got plenty of room to put a UPS and I would only have the PC, DSL modem and router on it anyways. I basically want it to just not poweroff my computer when the power blinks. But the idea of being able to replace the batteries makes me want to buy a better one than the 2 I listed. I might cruise on over to BB before work tomorrow and see what they have instock.

4/26/2006 11:32:44 PM

I have a couple of http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BE725BB at work for our workstations. We get fairly frequent power blips and they have been great for the past 14 months. They do have small fans or something that kick on and are moderately annoying if it is not placed under the desk. They also have user replaceable batteries.

I have a Belkin F6C800 at home and it has been great, even when powering a 2.8ghz system w/ dual hdd and a 19" CRT monitor for about 10 minutes before it shut down on its own. It is silent and the software lets you monitor everything and do tests to make sure everything is good. I prefer it to the APCs.

Don't get one that is too small (a 350va) because it will be running near max load and will run hot.

[Edited on April 27, 2006 at 9:06 AM. Reason : ]

4/27/2006 9:04:27 AM

get a rack mount APC 1000+VA ups. you'll actually have a decent amount of battery backup. I'm sure fregac or garfus99 will hook you up

[Edited on April 27, 2006 at 9:13 AM. Reason : d]

4/27/2006 9:13:32 AM

just curious....where the fuck do you live

4/27/2006 9:18:55 AM

^^
Heh, if you go with the high-end ones ncsuapex, make sure you check what type of plug into the wall it requires.

4/27/2006 10:54:44 AM

i have an APC BackUPS ES 500VA and i love it

4/27/2006 11:27:51 AM

from my experience, belkin is trash. not as many plugs, poor response, etc...

i do like the metal casing though.

4/27/2006 11:36:47 PM

I live in Apex, well between Apex and Garner out in the county.


What about this one?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6819552&type=product&productCategoryId=cat08029&id=1091101368673


I don't think a rack mount UPS is what I'm looking for.. At least not now. I just want something that will keep my server going when the power blips and if power is down long enough that it will at least power the server off gracefully. When I say server I mean just a PC that serves some content.. Not a real hardcore server.

4/27/2006 11:55:56 PM

^
Find out how long the warranty is on that. I don't know the reputation of Geek Squad products.

4/28/2006 6:49:53 AM

http://www.securemart.com/cgi-bin/future/APB18782.html?pcode=1

here's the official site for that one

http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BE750BB

I like it.

4/28/2006 6:56:57 AM

I've got a couple APC Back-UPS 1000 units at work....pretty solid

I would definitely recommend APC though among others

4/28/2006 9:15:10 AM

this is what I have
http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=SU1400RMXLB3U

with the network module so you can telnet in and see what's up

4/28/2006 9:26:06 AM

A guy at work said he had a APC and was happy with it, I never was thrilled about the name "geek squad" on a product anyways...

4/28/2006 7:32:16 PM

^^that's great but you can't expect someone to buy a $400-500 UPS for personal home use, seriously it's not worth it, even if they had their motherboard, cpu, and power supply fried they could replace the parts for less...

and this...

Quote :

"Basically I just wanted a UPS that will stop the PCs from powering off during the brief power failures."

i think a $50 UPS would be just fine.

4/28/2006 8:03:22 PM