purchasing advice: UPS

rokrok
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
okay, got a new computer on the way, and i think i need this extra bit of insurance. only problem is that a UPS can get super-expensive quick. does anyone have any recommendations, or can clarify what some of the features are for these models?



for reference, i will be plugging in the following:

dual-G4 tower (needs battery backup)

19" lacie monitor (needs battery backup)

17" generic monitor (not sure if i need that on battery or not)

DSL modem (on battery backup, just to finish any internet transfers as necessary)



i will have other items that could be plugged in, but probably not require battery backup, just surge protection.



having been here in louisiana for a few months now, i can say honestly that there are a LOT of enormous thunderstorms, as bad as the ones i grew up with in tampa, florida, so power surges, as well as fallen power lines, are to be expected year-to-year, so i really can't assume it will never happen to me. but i don't want to shell out $500 for a backup, either.



anyway, any help would be appreciated.

thanks,

rok

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    chychchych Posts: 860member
    Well, if you want to protect against surges and irregularities in the electricity, you should get a line conditioner like this. This is what I use along with several 'normal' surge protector strips (more outlets).



    Use a UPS to still have power when there is none, not for protecting your equipment (primarily anyway).



    If you look on froogle.com the Tripplite is in the $100 range.
  • Reply 2 of 10
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Related note...I ordered something from Canda...and I paid for it to be shipped priority mail. How is this so, I thought that it was a US only thing.
  • Reply 3 of 10
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ast3r3x

    Related note...I ordered something from Canda...and I paid for it to be shipped priority mail. How is this so, I thought that it was a US only thing.



    priority mail means fedex. fedex will ship ANYwhere, and were just about the only way i could order anything from the states while i lived in toronto. even if someone was willing to ship via UPS, UPS had astronomical border handling fees, and you had to pay them on delivery, so you never knew how much they would be. in fact, you will probably get billed afterwards from a border brokerage company for handling through customs. i hated paying that sh!t.
  • Reply 4 of 10
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by chych

    Well, if you want to protect against surges and irregularities in the electricity, you should get a line conditioner like this. This is what I use along with several 'normal' surge protector strips (more outlets).



    Use a UPS to still have power when there is none, not for protecting your equipment (primarily anyway).



    If you look on froogle.com the Tripplite is in the $100 range.




    hmmm... interesting. my power in this house fluctuates a LOT (when the dishwasher kicks in, the lights in my office dim, for example). i gotta protect from that at least.



    i do have to protect against power outages, though, at least to save files. there have been several 2-second blackouts that would have destroyed open files if i had been working on them. maybe i need both? i know some UPS' come with a line conditioner built-in (i.e. they show the power level going up and down on the LED indicators on the front). maybe i should look for that?
  • Reply 5 of 10
    chychchych Posts: 860member
    Well, it really depends on how high quality you want to go. I doubt any UPS + line conditioner will offer as good conditioning as the tripplite unless you spend a lot more (like $500).



    Anyways in my dorm room when we have a lot of stuff turned on (microwave, stove, computers, lamps, etc) the tripplite detects an undervoltage and does some magic to put everything back up to 120VAC after the voltage passes a certain threshold, works very well at that.



    Just looking around on ebay, I do see a lot of cheap UPS's, perhaps a cheap UPS and a good line conditioner is the way to go?
  • Reply 6 of 10
    We have some Belkin Bulldogs on our servers here at work. They were only $150 or so. We have them set to turn off the computers if power is off for a minute or more. We lost power in our building a month or so ago, and all the machines shut themselves down gracefully. I would imagine a combo UPS/line conditioner would work well for you. Since it has the battery it can handle a dip in the power a lot easier than a line conditioner which probably has to use capacitors or a transformer to smooth things out. I would look for a $100-150 UPS.
  • Reply 7 of 10
    I would think that this would meet your needs for your computer and monitor. Its a decent price, and has software to shutdown your computer.
  • Reply 8 of 10
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by rok

    okay, got a new computer on the way, and i think i need this extra bit of insurance. only problem is that a UPS can get super-expensive quick. does anyone have any recommendations, or can clarify what some of the features are for these models?



    for reference, i will be plugging in the following:

    dual-G4 tower (needs battery backup)

    19" lacie monitor (needs battery backup)

    17" generic monitor (not sure if i need that on battery or not)

    DSL modem (on battery backup, just to finish any internet transfers as necessary)




    I have a 2x1000 MHz G4 and 19 inch Mitsubishi Diamondtron hooked up to one 700VA APC Back-UPS 700U. Runtime for this set-up on the battery is <5 minutes. The main culprit is the monitor. If your computer is mostly idling, your monitor will be responsible for sucking up most of your power.



    Quote:

    i will have other items that could be plugged in, but probably not require battery backup, just surge protection.



    If you need more runtime than above, you'll definitely need a beefy, expensive UPS.



    Quote:

    having been here in louisiana for a few months now, i can say honestly that there are a LOT of enormous thunderstorms, as bad as the ones i grew up with in tampa, florida, so power surges, as well as fallen power lines, are to be expected year-to-year, so i really can't assume it will never happen to me. but i don't want to shell out $500 for a backup, either.



    You probably won't need to spend $500, but you'll definitely be up around the $200 range if you want more than 5 minutes of runtime.
  • Reply 9 of 10
    Quote:

    Originally posted by rok

    hmmm... interesting. my power in this house fluctuates a LOT (when the dishwasher kicks in, the lights in my office dim, for example). i gotta protect from that at least.



    Do you really need something more than a surge protecter power strip for that?
  • Reply 10 of 10
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mac Man 020581

    Do you really need something more than a surge protecter power strip for that?



    yep. trust me, my old job, when i first arrived, had power dips constantly, due to poorly managed circuits and loads from the studio computers. and surge protectors don't do crap for DROPS in voltage, only spikes (and usually only large ones at that). it took me several weekends of crawling around under desks and reconfiguring loads and using UPS's with line voltage indicators to get everything to settle down. once i did, system crashes dropped a significant amount



    (edit: one example, they had four G4's, six 19" monitors, and a tek phaser 780, a xerox N32 printer, and four table lamps all plugged into the same circuit -- and, as we came to figure out later, two other offices -- one with a space heater -- were on that circuit, too. every time someone would print, the voltage indicator would drop to its lowest spot, and occasionally someone would lock up. i imagine that did a fair amount of damage over time to those G4's, which is why they suffer from chronic kernel panics today).



    i think that belkin one posted above is exactly what i need (or at least has the specs i am looking for).
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