Computer Power Backup

[Ninn]

Has anyone on the forum had experience with one of those universal power supply thingies for the computer? My friend who works with computers recommended that we get one, but it runs over 100 bux for one. We would need at least 2. It is supposed to protect your system from surges as well as provide up to 24 hours of emergency power to your system in case of outage. Please advise, as I would rather not spend that kind of money unless I know for sure it is the right plan. Even tax refunds must be carefully managed, and this would come out of that. Thank you.

[jross]

Originally Posted by Ninn

Has anyone on the forum had experience with one of those universal power supply thingies for the computer? My friend who works with computers recommended that we get one, but it runs over 100 bux for one. We would need at least 2. It is supposed to protect your system from surges as well as provide up to 24 hours of emergency power to your system in case of outage. Please advise, as I would rather not spend that kind of money unless I know for sure it is the right plan. Even tax refunds must be carefully managed, and this would come out of that. Thank you.

One power failure during important work will convince you about needing a UPS. One can find 500 watt UPS's at Staples, Office Max, Best Buy..etc for less than a hundred
dollars when they are on sale. You need at least 500 watts for todays computers plus the monitor. Frequently my UPS goes on battery momentarily and the lights haven't dimmed of blinked, indicating a voltage reduction or surge.
You only need one that supplies power for 15 minutes, long enough to save your work and then shut down. Believe me, living in a rural area, I have had no problems with bad downloads or crashes since using our UPS's.

[mightybooboo]

Mine is old and MAYBE will give me 10 minutes backup,enough to save work and shutdown.Also as stated very handy with momentary outages.Mine is just a cheapy.Well under 100 dollars.

I also plug in the cordless phones and the answer machine and DSL modem into it.If power stays down I go to the household backup system.

BooBoo

[Ninn]

BooBoo~

I am still trying to figure out what my household backup system is going to be. I am extremely limited as to alternatives, as we live in a trailer park. Anything I attempt to use for more than a few minutes is likely to get stolen or tapped into. We don't exactly live in the best neighborhood. If it makes noise or creates a fire hazard, it's out, too. I was thinking of getting a gas powered generator at tax time-can u see the neighborhood if we were the only trailer with power, heat and running water? My generator would disappear in a heartbeat. Not to mention that someone would complain to management about the noise level. Got any ideas?

[mightybooboo]

Originally Posted by Ninn

BooBoo~

I am still trying to figure out what my household backup system is going to be. I am extremely limited as to alternatives, as we live in a trailer park. Anything I attempt to use for more than a few minutes is likely to get stolen or tapped into. We don't exactly live in the best neighborhood. If it makes noise or creates a fire hazard, it's out, too. I was thinking of getting a gas powered generator at tax time-can u see the neighborhood if we were the only trailer with power, heat and running water? My generator would disappear in a heartbeat. Not to mention that someone would complain to management about the noise level. Got any ideas?

No,I really dont have a good plan if the threat of theft is there.Thats unfortunate.We use backup batteries,8 heavy things,they would be an instant theft target.

BooBoo

[Herb]

Got any ideas?

If that is the case, moving may be the best option. Not very realistic, I know.

[halfpint]

I have several of them, one each for my computer, TV system, and stereo system. Mainly because I lost many of those items when hurricane Ivan came through as we apparently had low voltage just before the power went out, since when it came back on many days later we had a bunch of electronics (TV, DVD, VCR, stereo, CD player, tape deck, and phones) that no longer worked (we had unpluged the computer fortunately). After that storm we felt it was worth the $40-50 to put one on the expensive equipment - that all had surge suppressors on them which don't protect from low voltage. I think the one's on the TV and stereo are 350-450 watts - primarily just to keep from a low voltage situation. The one on the computer is 650, giving me enough time to save stuff and shut down the system.

I watched for them to go on sale - not just $10 off but when they discount them about 30-40%. Best Buy, Circuit City and the office supply stores all have good sales on them every few months.

Dawn

[sgl42]

I have 4 UPS's (I have multiple computers, and put monitors on a separate UPS from the computer) ranging from 350 VA to 500 VA. (VA = Volt Amps, essentially Watts.)

These would only run my computer 4-8 minutes, but that's enough for my purposes. My power is pretty good; I rarely have a real outage, but regularly have little low voltage dips that last a fraction of second -- enough to crash a computer.

I buy them when they're on sale, usually about $20-30 after rebates. There's a web site I visit frequently that posts deals on computer equipment. The link for power management stuff is: http://dealnews.com/categories/Compu...ection/90.html

Keep in mind that the batteries in UPS's tend to only last 2-4 years. I've had better luck with the APC brand than I've had with the Energizer brand of UPS.

I generally buy one every time they're on sale, as I always can find a use for them at $20 each.

In addition to using them for computer equipment, you could put a lamp with a compact florescent bulb on one of these UPSs and it would probably provide about 45 minutes of light in a power outage.

--sgl

[Peacock]

My UPS was about $60; it will run my PC for maybe 20 minutes after the power goes out, long enough to save my work and shut it down properly. Before I got it, the circuit was blowing at least twice a day and I lost a bunch of work because I didn't save in time. Since then not only have I not had PC power trouble, the circuit hasn't broken. Odd, hm? A UPS is doubly important for us because our phone is on the cable system, and if the modem loses power, we're phone-less. It won't help us in an extended power outage, but it does save us the trouble of having to reset, because it can take up to an hour for the phone to start working again.

[seedspreader]

My UPS is built into my computer... it's a laptop. LOL.

[ceresone]

Also check with your electrical company-- that where i bought our 2--if lightening hits it, and protects the computer, well worth it--then the elec co. gives you a new back-up

[WisJim]

The better UPS systems smooth out power spikes etc that could cause damage to your computer, as well as provide power during an outage so you can save work and shut the computer down properly. I think that a good UPS could extend the life of computer components due to more uniform power supply, and could pay for itself that way, too--but how could you really tell?

We got a good one when we got our first new computer, and I'm glad we did. It was almost $100, and includes surge protection for phone connection, etc., too.

[Ninn]

Thank you all for your advice. I looked at several at Staples and will probably pick up at least 2 at tax time. The ones I looked at will allow up to 8 items to plug in, and provide appox. 60 minutes of back up power. That's great for us, as it allows us time to get out oil lamps, start the kero heater and shut down the hot water heater before turning everything off.

[bgak47]

The operative phrase there Ninn is ''UP TO 60min of backup power''. It depends on how powerful the battery in the UPS is & what you have plugged into it. They're great for power surges & brownouts though. We had a minor power outage here week before last & my TV & cable box & a desk lamp stayed on for about 10 min. The computer was already off at the time. I'd highly recommend them for any electronics.

[highlands]

The ones you buy in the store for less than $1,000 are not very good. Instead you can make your own that will backup a computer for hours to days. I did it using a deep cycle marine battery, inexpensive but sine inverter and car battery charger. I have also done it by taking an old commercial computer battery backup system (UPS = Uninterruptible Power Supply) with a dead battery (you may be able to find one for free or near so in a yard sale or classified) and then replacing the dinky internal battery with a serious heavy duty marine deep cycle battery. Works great and has been running for over a decade.

[Windy in Kansas]

Just be aware that the batteries do eventually go bad/no longer hold a proper charge/etc. and will need to be replaced at some point in time.

The annoying occasional beeping if you bump a unit or get low power is not pleasant.