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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS)
Lourdes Shoaf, Photographer, Assistant
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Round Rock | TX | USA | Posted: 9:24 AM on 11.06.09 |
->> I think I might invest in one of these. Lately I have noticed that the power has gone off in the night. Does anybody have any advice or experience on brands and features?
Thanks! |
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Greg Francis, Photographer
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Rochester | NY | USA | Posted: 9:36 AM on 11.06.09 |
| ->> I've been running APC units for 5 years. Lightning hasn't fried my system yet, so they must be working. I had a friend in Orlando lose his microwave, computer etc. due to a lightning strike. And if the power goes out, I have about 5 mins to shut everything down. It's a good safety measure. Check dealnews.com for one at a good price. |
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Kevin M. Cox, Photographer, Assistant
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Galveston & Houston | TX | US | Posted: 12:40 PM on 11.06.09 |
->> I'm also using APC units and have no complaints. The key is making sure the unit you select has enough power for the maximum draw your computer might pull.
For example most Mac Pros draw a huge inrush of current when waking from sleep and underpowered UPS units can't handle it and just shut off. |
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David Harpe, Photographer
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Louisville | KY | USA | Posted: 6:49 PM on 11.06.09 |
->> UPS units are cheap insurance for your home computing gear. Aside from power failure protection, UPSes generally have better surge protection than your average protected power strip.
APC is a great company for UPS protection. These days UPSes are cheap - you can get a 1,000 watt unit for under $400. APC has a nice calculator that walks you through figuring out how much power you need based on the hardware you'll be hanging off of it:
http://www.apc.com/tools/ups_selector/index.cfm
If you have an always-on computer system, it can be handy to have a "Smart" UPS which tells your computer to shut down after a few minutes of running on the UPS. This lets the operating system do an orderly shutdown before the UPS runs out of juice. |
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Gordon Grant, Photographer
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East Hampton | NY | USA | Posted: 8:35 PM on 11.06.09 |
->> I recently bought this unit
http://www.pcnation.com/web/details.asp?item=M22044
Great unit. I have been using APC for years with no losses. My older units were getting underpowered and I needed to upgrade.
The LCD screen is great.
gg |
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Kevin M. Cox, Photographer, Assistant
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Galveston & Houston | TX | US | Posted: 2:22 AM on 11.07.09 |
->> One point of clarification, the majority of UPS units can be connected to a computer via USB cable and will report their status to the computer so it will shutdown before battery power runs out. (On a Mac you usually don't even need to install extra software, OS X has the functionality built-in.)
One of APC's product lines features models named "Smart-UPS" but you don't have to buy one of these for the feature that talks to your computer. The cheaper "Back-UPS" line does this as well.
The main difference between the two product lines is that the "Smart-UPS" models provide power as a "true sine wave" like the power that comes out of the wall. The "Back-UPS" models provide power as a "stepped sine wave" which is fine for most computer equipment.
More information then you could ever want to know here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninterruptible_power_supply
As a reference, at home I'm using the Back-UPS RS 1500 with my Mac Pro:
http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BR...
At the newspaper we're using Smart-UPS 1500 models on most of the Mac Pros and Power Mac G5s:
http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=SU... |
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Daniel Putz, Photographer
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Geoffrey Bolte, Photographer, Assistant
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Spencer/Worcester | MA | USA | Posted: 10:21 AM on 11.08.09 |
| ->> I've been very happy with my APC Back-Ups 1300. Works great with my Mac Pro. Also picked up a smaller model last year during Black Friday for around $25 700 w max. Works perfect for my backup G4, and my hometheatre. |
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Darren Whitley, Photographer
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Maryville | MO | USA | Posted: 11:06 AM on 11.08.09 |
| ->> My understanding is that a UPS also provides a means to condition your electrical supply as well. Electrical supply isn't perfectly even. Putting a UPS between your machine and the electrical supply allows it to be provided more evenly to the computer. So you're receiving that benefit as well. |
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