When shopping for a UPS, it is important to choose one appropriate for your system and
locale. You need to consider the amount of power your system and peripherals will require
as well as the penchant for brown-outs and other power-related problems in your geographic
area.
Living in a somewhat rural part of Tulsa, OK, I have been faced with several brown-outs
over the years. Having lived in New York and New Jersey where power was usually not a
problem, this new location presented some challenges. Without a UPS, my systems rebooted
constantly during the day, even when the skies were clear and it was cool outside. To that
end, something had to be in place to prevent long-term damage.
Having used American Power Conversion products since 1986, I have always
been pleased with their price and performance. With the commercial release of a USB
version of their SOHO (small office - home office) UPS, I elected to try it out.
I previously owned a serial version of their UPS which enabled the PC to
gracefully shutdown Windows and power off during a power failure. While I liked this
feature, I rarely saw it work properly. As I proceeded to upgrade or change the system
configuration, the serial connection always caused me heartache, and frequently
disappeared from my Windows Hardware configuration screen.
The Back UPS Pro 500 is a different, more reliable animal. The UPS
connects to your PC through a USB connection (ours connects to our Entrega
hub), and it requires the installation of a few drivers and utilities via a CD. The set-up
is fast and simple.
Once installed you can forget the UPS is even there. It has seven AC power
receptacles and connections for a phone line. We have a Gateway Tower, 19 inch monitor,
and a variety of peripherals plugged in. It occasionally performs battery tests, but other
than that, you won't hear a peep out of it until the power gets cut. Then it does its job
by providing about 20 minutes of time to finish work and shutdown the PC.
We're happy APC has gone the USB route and improved their software
integration with the Windows 98 power management utilities. Together, these products make
a fine addition to the SOHO environment. Highly recommended.
Back UPS Pro 500
