slee@oregon.uoregon.edu (06/09/90)
I'm moving to a place that's pretty susceptible to summer thunder storms and power outages. What's your learned opinion of uninteruptible power systems (UPS)? They tend to be pretty pricey, Kensington for instance sells them for $270-$950. What's the difference between brands and sizes on these things? Any opinions, experiences, or references to articles reviewing UPSs? I just want it for a single computer, so it seems likely that the smallest model would be appropriate. True? How about the cheapest? Are they pretty much a generic good? Scott
ostroff@Oswego.EDU (Boyd Ostroff) (06/13/90)
In article <19664.2670c5cf@oregon.uoregon.edu> slee@oregon.uoregon.edu writes: >I'm moving to a place that's pretty susceptible to summer thunder storms >and power outages. What's your learned opinion of uninteruptible power >systems (UPS)? I don't have one on my mac at this time, but have one on my AT&T 3B1 unix box. I definintely wouldn't run a unix machine without one (from experience). I live out in the "middle of nowhere" and have lots of power problems. Since I got my UPS I can keep my system up for months at a time without problems. They tend to be pretty pricey, Kensington for instance >sells them for $270-$950. I have a Tripp-Lite BC-325, which can handle 325 watts (should be enough for most macs). I paid $300 for it a year ago from Jameco, but if you want the best deal, pick up a copy of Computer Shopper Magazine and look through the ads - I've seen this model for ~$250 there. >What's the difference between brands and >sizes on these things? I'd suggest doing what I did. Fill out the "reader service card" from a computer magazine (like Byte) for all the companies which advertise these things. I ended up with tons of brochures and specs. I picked the Tripp-Lite for the cost vs. features ratio. The main differences are in the transfer time, the type of wave (square vs. synchronized steps) the battery capacity (amp-hours) and the wattage rating. Don't confuse the last two - the wattage rating just determines how big an inverter the unit has and how much load you can connect to it - it doesn't necessarily reflect on how long it will operate your computer. I doubt that transfer time will be a problem with the typical mac power supply. Actually the term "UPS" (uninterruptable power supply) is probably not accurate. Mine is technically called a BBS (battery backup system). This means that normally your computer is running of the AC line while the battery is trickle-charged. In the event of a power failure, power is transferred to the battery/inverter in a couple milliseconds. This is the most common setup; there are also full-time UPS'es which always power the computer off the battery/inverter. This requires a much beefier setup and is very expensive, but you don't have any transfer time problems and your power is always filtered with the battery as a buffer. >Any opinions, experiences, or references to >articles reviewing UPSs? Byte Magazine did a very good article on "PC Power Protection" about 2 years ago - sorry I don't have it handy. >I just want it for a single computer, so it >seems likely that the smallest model would be appropriate. True? Probably; depends on what you're trying to accomplish. If you just want to protect against quick brownouts, or want to have a few minutes to do a shutdown during a blackout that should be fine. Just to give you an idea, my 3B1 is MC68010-based micro with 2 MB RAM, a 67MB miniscribe disk, fan, monitor and external 2400 baud modem - should be similar to a Mac II in its power requirements. I was very surprised to get 3 hours of backup time during a power outage recently. For a $300 UPS, I'm quite pleased! If you just have a Mac Plus or SE, a 200-watt model would probably be sufficient and might save you $50 or $60, but I'd go for the 300 watt unit anyway in case your needs change in the future.... >How >about the cheapest? Are they pretty much a generic good? Just like anything else, there are good ones and bad ones. Do a little research and take your best shot. Good luck! ||| Boyd Ostroff - Tech Director - Dept of Theatre - SUNY Oswego ||| Sys Admin - "The CallBoard" - (315) 947-6414 - 1200/2400 baud ||| ostroff@oswego.oswego.edu - cboard!ostroff@oswego.oswego.edu