Advice on buying an UPS for my desktop
May 13, 2013 10:23 AM Subscribe
Hi MeFi,
I want to buy an uninterruptible power supply for my personal desktop. I don't need a lot of performance, just something to ride out brief blips in the power. I was thinking about getting this one{APC Back-UPS ES BE550G 550 VA 330 Watts (4) NEMA 5-15R (Battery Backup) (4) NEMA 5-15R (Surge Protection) Outlets UPS}
This is a good idea? Do you need more information about my setup?
Thanks,
zscore
Best answer: The reason for that, by the way, is that an under-spec UPS will actually make UPS stand for Unexpected Power Shortage, shutting itself off completely if you draw more power from it than it's happy with. It would be sad to spend a hundred bucks on making your computer less reliable.
posted by flabdablet at 10:51 AM on May 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by flabdablet at 10:51 AM on May 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'd spend the extra $25 and get this one. If you are pulling any sort of big load (game/heavy data processing) and happen to be pulling more than 330W through the thing, it can act up, so hedging on the side of caution is a good idea.
posted by deezil at 10:51 AM on May 13, 2013
posted by deezil at 10:51 AM on May 13, 2013
Make sure you find out if it beeps. I have one that beeps on battery power, and it is terrible for home use. There's no way to disable the beep unless you shut it down. We usually shut it down in power outages, when I intended it to wait out ~hour long outages. I can't see your link at work, so if it does specify than never mind.
posted by BeeDo at 11:16 AM on May 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by BeeDo at 11:16 AM on May 13, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I used to be in the UPS business, and I think that APC model should be fine if you don't have a high performance setup and you just need to ride out short (and presumably infrequent, which means you don't live in a place with a lot of storms like Florida or a place with a sub-standard power grid) power interruptions. But if you want a beefier battery with more back up time, you could indeed spend $20 more.
posted by Dansaman at 12:08 PM on May 13, 2013
posted by Dansaman at 12:08 PM on May 13, 2013
What's your desktop computer like? If it's more than a few years old, maybe you want to look into getting a laptop instead.
You can pick up a laptop for around $300 these days. Less if you buy a used/reconditioned one. In case of power outage, the laptop will switch to battery power without a hitch.
posted by ErikaB at 12:26 PM on May 13, 2013
You can pick up a laptop for around $300 these days. Less if you buy a used/reconditioned one. In case of power outage, the laptop will switch to battery power without a hitch.
posted by ErikaB at 12:26 PM on May 13, 2013
Make sure you find out if it beeps. I have one that beeps on battery power, and it is terrible for home use.
The importance of this cannot be overstated.
posted by srboisvert at 3:20 PM on May 13, 2013
The importance of this cannot be overstated.
posted by srboisvert at 3:20 PM on May 13, 2013
You'll get way more bang for your buck at refurbups.com -- no relation other than being a happy customer.
posted by Brian Puccio at 3:31 PM on May 13, 2013
posted by Brian Puccio at 3:31 PM on May 13, 2013
you may be able to disable the beeping on a higher-end UPS, depending on what software comes with it for management. APCs usually use PowerChute, which comes in a couple different versions, and (I think) only the higher-end versions allow you to change the beep setting. it is worth looking into, though. the BackUPS line that APC has tends to be pretty barebones but a SmartUPS or a higher-end BackUPS may have that feature.
also seconding refurb UPSes and whatnot - the only thing that really goes bad on them is the batteries. all mine are 1400VA (950 watts) APC SmartUPS units. they were trash rescues but you can find them sans-batteries for not much and then add batteries for $120 or so. they can be harder to connect to your computer (mine are all serial-only but they're pretty old) but are still totally worth it. my 27" iMac with 2 extra displays and a whole bunch of disks attached (a fair amount of crap) will run for 30-45m, and that's on the one with the old battery.
posted by mrg at 3:43 PM on May 13, 2013
also seconding refurb UPSes and whatnot - the only thing that really goes bad on them is the batteries. all mine are 1400VA (950 watts) APC SmartUPS units. they were trash rescues but you can find them sans-batteries for not much and then add batteries for $120 or so. they can be harder to connect to your computer (mine are all serial-only but they're pretty old) but are still totally worth it. my 27" iMac with 2 extra displays and a whole bunch of disks attached (a fair amount of crap) will run for 30-45m, and that's on the one with the old battery.
posted by mrg at 3:43 PM on May 13, 2013
I've had enough problems with APC consumer UPSes that I finally gave up on them. Annoying beeping, a test mode that seemed to cause power failures about once a year, all sorts of annoyances. I switched to the competing brand Cyberpower and haven't had as much trouble. Here's a similar Cyberpower UPS to the one you linked. You have three choices. LCD or no; get the LCD. Tower or power strip form factor. And capacity. Estimating capacity is a bit tricky if you don't have a power meter. We could make a better guess if you tell us the age of your PC and what else you need plugged in; particularly monitors.
Also remember that a computer without Internet is nearly useless. You want the broadband modem and router on a UPS too.
posted by Nelson at 4:44 PM on May 13, 2013
Also remember that a computer without Internet is nearly useless. You want the broadband modem and router on a UPS too.
posted by Nelson at 4:44 PM on May 13, 2013
I have two of the same APC units, and while the beeping is annoying, they do work quite well. One is on my old desktop, which has a 430w psu but hasn't been on during an outage so I don't know how well it would do, but an older APC with less wattage gave me plenty of time with that computer to save and shut down with no problems. The other one is on my home theater pc and monitor and speakers, and recently ran them for ten minutes while I was watching a DVD and didn't notice a power cut for a bit (beeping was lost in the soundtrack). They seem to do a good job of protecting from surges as well. As long as you turn them off during a long power cut, they don't beep when not in use.
(A bit of disclosure: My mother worked as a consultant for APC a few years ago, and told me good things about their business and manufacturing practices, so I tend to be biased in their favor. But I don't know about customer service, as I've never needed them. IIRC they manufacture here in the US, which also is a good thing in my opinion.)
posted by monopas at 4:52 PM on May 13, 2013
(A bit of disclosure: My mother worked as a consultant for APC a few years ago, and told me good things about their business and manufacturing practices, so I tend to be biased in their favor. But I don't know about customer service, as I've never needed them. IIRC they manufacture here in the US, which also is a good thing in my opinion.)
posted by monopas at 4:52 PM on May 13, 2013
Best answer: I deal with a bunch of UPSs at work. Don't get a 300ish watt one, they're shoddy. Get a BIG one. We've had a ton of the small ones die despite being under loaded, and have only had one larger one die.
I'd go with the refurbups suggestion and get a larger one for the same money. Look for "line interactive" models as well. They're a lot better for the kinds of small blips you're talking about.
Seriously though, get something in the 750-1500va range even if you don't actually need it. I can't recommend this hard enough.
posted by emptythought at 3:12 AM on May 14, 2013
I'd go with the refurbups suggestion and get a larger one for the same money. Look for "line interactive" models as well. They're a lot better for the kinds of small blips you're talking about.
Seriously though, get something in the 750-1500va range even if you don't actually need it. I can't recommend this hard enough.
posted by emptythought at 3:12 AM on May 14, 2013
Response by poster: Thanks everyone for the feedback! Think I have an idea of what I want to do now :)
posted by zscore at 9:35 AM on May 14, 2013
posted by zscore at 9:35 AM on May 14, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by flabdablet at 10:39 AM on May 13, 2013