Ups

Just wondering if anyone here has had any personal experence with a UPS and could help me in deciding which one to buy. I am running a 400w PSU p4 system. Any susjestions on brands and how many VA I need or anything else on this matter would be greatly appreciated. =) Thank you.

Java_Geek.

I prefer Lieberts UPS and I wouldn't go under a 600VA. However Lieberts are a good quality UPS and have a price tag to match. The company I work for has started selling a different brand and they are pretty good too. I just can't recall the name atm. Will check today.

In my opinion steer clear of Upsonic UPS'. We had heaps of problems with them with Darwins "Unique" power conditions. They kept tripping for unknown reasons. This was not just one or two but nearly all of the ones we installed (over 30).

i have always had APC SmartUPS.. now running 1000VA. haven't had the power off long enough to really test it.

I must agree with Burk. I have an APC SmartUPS 1000VA and it works tops. Mine is a little old but still holds 2 pc's and 2 monitors for at least 30 minutes. Wasn't game enough to try it longer than that.

Also MGE is the brand I was trying to think of earlier. Their Pulsar Ellipse range is quite good and reasonably priced. http://www.mgeups.com/

so the 1000VA is the way to go for how much power?
Did a online test thinggy and it said i should get a 1000va-1500va UPS but the link to the site did say they over rate stuff to be safe.

looking at your system, depending on the monitor, I would say a 500va-100va would be ample. I run 2 PC's and monitors on a 1000va fine. A ups should only hold up long enough to get over small blackouts or long enough to shut your PC down. Not to keep playing online until power is restored. Therefore 500va-1000va should be enough.

A 1Kva UPS would be ample for the normal computer user. Depending on the battery age and draw on the UPS it should keep 2 computer on for far longer then you'd need to shut down. One problem that i can think of when looking for size tho, is if you have a lage monitor (21") or other thing that takes extra power when started up. The initial draw when its turned on might exceed what a smaller UPS might like. But 1kva should be fine i would think. Unless you have 2x21" monitors and you turn them on at the same time :P. APC UPS's are also good from my experence and arent too expensive.

my monitor (LCD) now only uses 40W of power.. add that to my 350W power supply and mine keeps going on and on and on and on.

wonder how much a 22" CRT would drain :P

Heaps on startup....similar amount to a TFT afterwards :)

It's the coiling on a CRT that drains... :)