is a UPS back up device worth buying?

windheaven

windheaven

windheaven

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APC is a nice brand, but don't know if one of the best.. Sorry can't help you any further..

Seeing that model, I don't think it will supply enough power for your rig..
From it's webpage:
http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=bk350ei

It only supports 210W????.. And only 6-8 minutes of authonomy at 220W????...

Sorry but I don't think that, with your rig, it could even hold up a minute or so....

Remember: for UPS you'll always need to see the Watts it can handle, not the VA..

Best regards.. :)
 
+1 the above ^^

I just have one a surge protector extension socket, my area has power cuts every odd month and I've never experienced any lost data, corrupt hard drives, etc..
 
I have a UPS but only because I was given it. It was faulty when I got it as the battery was seemingly duff (fixed it by charging it with my motorcycle battery charger!).

There have only been 2 occasions where it's been used outside of it's weekly self-diagnostic (cuts the mains feed and runs on battery for 2 mins) in the 2 years I've had it. There have also been times where the house lights and other equipment have flickered due to split-second power issues and the UPS has negated the effects on my PC.

IMO if you're spending upwards of £1k plus then a UPS should be included. UPS usually have a better surge protection than normal anti-surge sockets.

My UPS is a Belkin 500VA Superior series (the one that has normal 3-pin sockets)

This is a review for it's slightly bigger brother: LINK
 
windheaven said:
kk i'll get one then rather be safe than sorry

@Resident you might want to remove that link...against the rules to promote competitor sites
Click to expand...

It's not a competitor, it's a review site unless I'm missing something.

I've only ever used a surge protector at home and never lost any data due to corruption in the 10+ years we've had a PC in the house.

UPS's are only worth it in my mind if you live in an area with lots of power cuts, if you're afraid of losing work save often and do regular backups.
 
I have a Belkin 1200va(670watts) with AVR UPS, Ive had it for just over 4yrs now and Ive replace the batts once in that time. Its been great and never failed to kick in when the weather gets rough or during a powercut.

The best thing about a ups though,, if the mains power gets too high or low during strong winds or storms, battery mode will kick in until power has returned to safe levels. I think the delay time is something like 2-4ms before the ups reacts to power change or power loss.

Im still quite wary of leaving it all plugged in during thunder storms though, as Ive had a pc that was taken out in a storm, but it wasn't protected at all. But Im sure it will cope fine during a storm, its just trusting it. But saying that we have had about 2 quite bad storms over the yrs, I haven't been at home to disconnect everything and no damage yet has been done. But I cant help myself if Im at home and a storm gets bad, I just disconnect everything:eek:

yashiro said:
A UPS is a sound investment. I'm not sure I'd use anything by Belkin though.
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Dont knock it till you've tried one,, My belkin ups is up there with the good APC ups. I was thinking of changing my ups when the batts needed replacing but I couldn't find a half decent replacement with the same spec or higher then mine for £200. So just decided to change the batts in the end
 
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I have 3 APC's, one for each PC. Laptops already come with battery backup inbuilt. Occasionaly, you may wake upt to find that there was a power outage during the night.

Thes UPSs will shutdown your PC automatically for longer interuptions and keep you going during shorter ones (usually up to 5 or 10 minutes depending on the model you buy and the power your system requires).

It also ensure a good clean supply of power to your PC.
 
Mine keeps things alive for 20mins during power cuts. The only disadvantage about a UPS it constantly uses the power, because its always monitoring the mains power to keep things in check. Mine uses 17watts 24/7
 
windheaven said:
kk i'll get one then rather be safe than sorry

@Resident you might want to remove that link...against the rules to promote competitor sites
Click to expand...

As stated, the link is to a review site, the price shown is the price of the unit at the time of the review. There are no obvious links to any sales website, just the equipment manufacturer site.
 
My belkin is quite small, but god it weighs a ton. See it under the desk at the right, its keeping my old dual core pc and my mums pc safe in that pic.

25760_10150123531995217_682006_n.jpg
 
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windheaven said:
i've spent around a £1000 on components so far...as well preventing data loss i wouldn't want my components to be damaged..
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Anyone can (but did not) read its specification numbers. It provides temporary and 'dirtiest' power during a blackout. So that unsaved data can be saved. Data already saved to disk? A UPS does nothing.

Hardware protection is only provided by in subjective myths and hearsay. When not in battery backup mode, a computer connects directly to AC mains (and anything destructive that might be on those mains). UPS takes almost forever to switch to batteries. Fortunately a computer can supply its own rock solid power during a period when the UPS outputs no power.

300 consecutive surges could pass through your computer before a UPS even thought about switching. And then a millimeters gap inside that UPS will stop a destructive transient? Of course not. It does not even claim to. But again, anybody can read that UPS specification so see near zero hardware protection. Others using subjective reasoning are easily manipulated by propaganda and advertising.

What happens when voltage drops? A computer adjusts accordingly. Any voltage adjustment is already done better inside the computer. Portable devices are even better. Again, numbers. Their ideal voltages are 265 volts down to 85 volts. How often does your voltage drop to 85 volts? So that UPS solves a strawman.

Now, when voltage goes to zero, UPS power to a computer is worst. One utility demonstrates how 'dirty' in pictures:
http://www.duke-energy.com/indiana-business/products/power-quality/tech-tip-03.asp

See those square waves? Described in advertising as a pure sine wave. Not a lie. Square waves are nothing more than a sum of pure sine waves. Since they are educating others who ignore facts and numbers, then most will recommend a UPS for 'clean' pure sine wave power. But again, how many posters included numbers?

Superior protection is (must be) already inside your computer. A 230 volt UPS will even output 400 spikes. And that is perfectly ideal power to any computer. Superior protection inside every computer makes 'dirtiest' UPS power irrelevant.

What exactly do you want to protect? Harmonics, frequency variation, floating neutral, power factor, noise? No solution solves every anomaly even though UPS advertising claims otherwise - subjectively. Best protection adjacent to a computer is inside the computer. Anything that might overwhelm that superior protection is best implemented where anomalies would enter the building. That means spending tens of times less money. So which anomaly should be addressed?
 
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