Back in March of this year, I all but praised the local electric company for the fewer instances of power outages during the last year. I even went so far as to say I may no longer need an electric power generator and couldn't justify the expense of any kind of UPS. Well, I've had to eat my words since then because it seems like we had a record number of brownouts in May and are continuing along that path in June. When I bought a new PC on the 3rd of June, I decided that I would buy an uninterruptible power supply as soon as possible and today I did just that.
APC Back-UPS RS 500 BR500CAI-AS
I spotted the UPS at the same place I bought the computer – I just didn't have the cash on hand to buy it at the time. Since we've already had one night of brownouts since then, I decided that today was the day. I didn't actually go. I sent a relative (that I trust) to buy it and to put some gas in the car along the way. It turned out that the UPS was more expensive than either of us remembered and it was a good thing I gave him more than enough for the actual cost.
The "AS" in the model number stands for "ASEAN" and that means it's specifically designed for countries like the Philippines, where the electrical power requirements are nothing like those in the United States. As such, it costs about twice as much as the model sold in the United States. A UPS designed for our power requirements can't simply be purchased in the US and then sent to me due to the differences in voltage and other things I don't want to read from the specifications.
I thought about buying a locally produced UPS, but I wasn't impressed either by the way they look or the price, which is as much or more than the APC brand. APC has been doing this for a long time (I had an earlier model in 1998). Not only that, but the computer store provides a one-year warranty on it while APC provides a two-year warranty. You can't beat that with a stick.
Installation Confusion
I don't think I'm as quick-witted as I once was. There were two power cords included with the unit and I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do with them. After thinking about it for a period of time a bit longer than it should it have taken, it finally clicked. Each power cord replaced the power cords for the computer case and the monitor (the original cords are designed for outlets, not other computers and the UPS has computer-type connections).
Of course, this meant that I was a power cord short, right? Wrong. I just used one of the cords I replaced as the power cord from the UPS to the outlet. I don't know if it's wisdom or for the sake of trimming costs, but the APC firm obviously figured that part out long before I did. Anyway, what I ended up with was one extra power cable – relegated to the closet space where I've been putting all of my unused hardware.
Backup Time
According to various notes, under normal usage, the UPS is designed to last around 20 minutes – long enough to close any open applications and shut the PC down manually. Even if I'm outside for some reason, that still gives me plenty of time to get inside and get it done.
Unlike my former PC, I'll be shutting this one down every night (or whenever I sleep). The old PC had issues – sometimes it wouldn't even boot up on the first try. I knew things were going wonky when things like YouTube videos started getting choppy, but that wasn't the impetus for me to buy a new PC. No, when I consider that 3 megabits is plenty fast enough to load and render most pages in a web browser (including my own) well within a few seconds and it takes longer than a minute for any web page, something has to be done about it.
Buying the UPS isn't really designed to make my life any easier. It's designed to protect my investment.
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Looks like you got a bigger one than I did. I also went with APC. Got it last month. Mine was about P3,000 I think. It's only the 300watt one I think? … Lasts about 8minutes with my monitor and computer on.
Tim G. recently posted..Using CiviCRM Book Review
I don't know. It's only rated to 300 watts. I don't know what model you have and I don't know what the difference would be. I paid P3500 for mine and the maximum time (if your computer is idle) is about 30 minutes. Otherwise, it could be as low as 5 minutes.
My UPS is working very bad..Sometime even I don't get time to close normal application. Even we have power problem sometime and I am considering to purchase one bigger UPS with good backup. But not getting idea what to purchase. May be you can help me to decide. I need backup up to 4-5 hours.
Etinne recently posted..Adirondack Chair Plans: Success Story About How I Built My Own Chair
There are no UPS units that last more than an hour available to consumers. Getting one that lasts 20 minutes to an hour is probably the best you can get. If your UPS is not lasting long enough to shut down applications, chances are it's the battery that's failing and you may just be able to replace it.
hey RT,
I'm on my second UPS. We don't have very many power outages, but I figured it I get one I would never need it, but if I didn't, I would end up regretting it one day when I'd lose a lot of work…
Anyway, the reason I'm on my second one is because after a few years, the first one indicated it needed new batteries. The replacement batteries would have cost more that just buying a new UPS, so I got a new UPS instead. Did you see how long your batteries are suppose to last, and how much replacements cost? I think some brands have more expensive (proprietary) replacement batteries. Steve
Steve recently posted..Thinking Outside the (Trade Show) Box
No, I didn't check. My last UPS battery (in my last UPS) lasted about 4 years – I had that UPS for about 8 years.
Today, I was able to test how long the UPS lasts. The brownout lasted about 2 minutes longer than the UPS (about 40 minutes) and the only thing I turned off was the monitor. I shut the PC down when the beeping became constant — then the power came back on 2 minutes later. It may have lasted the entire time, but I didn't want to chance it.
I use to have UPS because anytime from now the electric power will suddenly interrupt and you are working with your computer, it shut directly that is a mess! Glad to know that UPS.
Son Harrel recently posted..CNA Training