Thread: Which UPS to get?

So my home ups as well as the original comp ups went kaput... have to get a new ups for the comp, am not so keen on having the previous ups' battery replaced, never liked it.

Anyways, i want a ups that can perhaps tell the comp the amount of battery remaining and all that jazz so at least there's some automation (like the comp shutting down itself after a set battery level is reached). A 500VA one will suffice for my puny little p4 comp.

Any brand which provides this functionality?

Thanks!

Get yourself an APC UPS .... its considered the best UPS and i can personally testify it ....

I use 2 APC UPS one for my new desktop (3 years ) and another for my old one (6 years ?) .... I never had to replace batteries or repair either of my UPS ....

And yes you do have automation software for APC for scheduling shut downs / Alarm intervals etc etc etc..... Check their site for more info

//offtopic
I see u changed your name .... mistook u for a newB

But is this feature available for the 500VA ones?
I don't see that feature being mentioned...or am i not looking correctly? Ya APC rocks, my home ups is also that.
N thanks for the fast reply...

I have been using an "i ball"(thats what the sign says) ups from about 2 years.
never had a problem :rockon:

I use APC Back - UPS ES 500 without any problem. Here is the screen shot.

ok thanks dilip... this is 500VA (300W) am i correct? just what i need.

I think so. Please use this link

APC Product Information for Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)

Originally Posted by meetdilip

I think so. Please use this link

APC Product Information for Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)

just tell me how many sockets does it have? i will know it then. but its most probably the 500va.

Three. Two with back up. I use them for monitor and CPU. Another has surge protection.

Originally Posted by meetdilip

Three. Two with back up. I use them for monitor and CPU. Another has surge protection.

ok thanks for the info, its 500va. its good that the speakers wont have backup , two songs aren't worth it! and it'l add a few secs to the backup.

so does it automatically shut down the comp if u configure it in windows?

gonna get it tomorro! :thumbup:

Always welcome

Never tried. I use to shut down as soon as there is a power failure or before the critical alarm beeps. Only once I waited till critical alarm.

i just need it for the time it takes for me to switch on the home ups (yes its been converted into a generator like thing due to a faulty battery )...
i guess u have connecetd it with USB?

Start > Control panel > Power options > UPS > Select > American Power Corporation.

Simply connect the power cable to the UPS. I do not use any USB. Nor it has any USB ports. UPS.exe will run in the background. I know it sounds strange. But it is possible.

yes it IS strange! so do you get alerts on your computer about power failures?

i think its not at all possible that the computer will know about the ups without other connections to it such as usb or serial...!

Originally Posted by PunchsucKr

yes it IS strange! so do you get alerts on your computer about power failures?

i think its not at all possible that the computer will know about the ups without other connections to it such as usb or serial...!

I asked the same question to someone I think good at these things. He said it is possible. Since you have this particular option under power option for this particular model and my ups had no other connection wires/ports. I don't see the option there is by mistake. I checked this and then I asked the same question to get this answer.

answer my other question please

so do you get alerts on your computer about power failures?

that'l explain everything!

Originally Posted by meetdilip

Never tried. I use to shut down as soon as there is a power failure or before the critical alarm beeps. Only once I waited till critical alarm.

I get no alerts. It beeps at regular interval.

so that explains it buddy, it will beep even if there's no ups.exe running, basically it has not software connection with the comp in any way.

and since you tell me there's no usb or serial port on it its not the model which i was looking for.
the software functionality is available with the 650VA model only it seems. it has got a serial and a usb port, and when you connect it through this port (apart from the power connections of course), it will update the computer on the amount of power remaining in the ups, and will automatically shutdown the computer once a set amount of battery backup time is left.
and this model is available at a price of ~3600 INR...which i think is an unnecessary expense, as i only need some ~5 mins on the battery and the 500VA is available for about 2200 INR.

PS: you can safely stop the ups.exe service unnecessarily running in the background.

In that case, please check with the vendor. My model too

ya ok i'll check it out; am going out to get this one or the higher one. the software conn would have been useful to me while i would've not been in the house and would have been unable to start the inverter.
and now i'm sure my previous cheap ups was overcharging the battery every time from being new to old. it became very hot (first sign), gave out a bang (hydrogen + oxygen igniting possibly cause of a spark) when i switched it off the last time it was on!
so replacing its battery won't be so feasible for me. so the lesson is never to buy cheap stuff! , but i got it free with the comp (no wonder)

If we take the word of majority, APC is the best.

Yes i used APC and i strongly recommend that only..

i got the 500va one... so it doesnt have the software communication... i can live without it ... thanks guys.

GO FOR apc is the best if your budget is big go for a inverter

Originally Posted by anand4hosting

GO FOR apc is the best if your budget is big go for a inverter

i already bought an apc ups, and i already have an apc inverter.