I’m hoping this is an ok community to post this in…
I’m looking for a surge protector with battery back up for my computer. I’ve looked up a few on Amazon but some of the reviews have left me leery. There’s so much junk on Amazon I’m hoping that someone here might be able to recommend one they’ve used.
TIA!
APC work well. I have a 600-series connected to my NAS.
Important to pick one that has USB output to the computer (more expensive) - so that it can automatically command a system shutdown as its internal battery reaches low power conditions.
I second APC. I’ve had a Back-UPS 700 for over a decade on my computer with only a single battery change last year. Wife replaced her unit instead of just the battery. Smaller unit, but newer so it has USBs for her to charge with.
Neither of us use the software that came with it. My computer isn’t running when I’m not at it, hers runs 24/7. They do come in handy when the power is out as you can squeeze the battery for a phone charge.
Awesome - thank you!
Uninterruptible power supply, or UPS.
When it comes time to replace the battery, I suggest avoiding the cheap aftermarket ones. They don’t last very long.
I bought the Cyberpower 1500 six years ago, and I have no complaints. Just last week it worked perfectly when the power went out.
I use it to keep my NAS and router running, they will last about two hours on battery. But a desktop + monitor might have higher power requirements.
You brought up a good point.
It would be helpful to know OP’s use case for the UPS. Just need enough time to save your game/work? Want to keep your modem and router running so you can have wifi while the power is out?
Something to keep in mind is, without a massive battery and a very expensive UPS, you won’t be gaming in the dark for very long. Maybe 15 minutes max with most consumer-grade UPS. Even commercial-grade UPS only stay on long enough to gracefully shut down services. For anything more, a generator is best.
This is a good point. I’m mostly concerned with keeping the computer on for running Plex when I’m away. I do t care so mu h when I’m at home, it’s easy enough to turn the computer back on but when I’m on the road I have no such luxury. I don’t need the server to run, or internet or anything. It can stop working for a power outage, just when the power comes back on od like access.
I hope no one gets upset I posted in a gaming community, the pc communities are either geared towards building or gaming and this was neither…
CyberPower CP1500AVRLCD (various version iterations) UPS units have been cheap, reliable go-to choices in many instances.
they are stepped square-wave units, but are used quite a bit in home-lab setups and are pretty well supported by NUT if you are on linux.
edit: I have used them for years to replace APC units. only issue has been cosmetic input voltage vs output voltage reporting mismatch via USB on very early v1 units.
The CP1500PFCLCD is a bit higher MSRP but I’ve seen it frequently at around the same price point as the AVRLCD. Personally, I find it worth the extra even at MSRP for the true sine wave output instead of simulated/stepped.
Thank you! I will look into this
Keeping the computer on:
When you buy a UPS, pay attention to the max Watt output (not the max VA output). Most will list their devices primarily by VA, but that isn’t something that is terribly relevant for you or most buyers. Buy one with a fair margin of Watt output above the pull of everything you will have plugged into it.
If you aren’t sure how much wattage your computer uses, buy something like a Kill-A-Watt meter and then ramp up load of all devices to the max. A 600W or 800W UPS is generally where you want to be looking for something like a gaming PC, and 400W for a reasonable desktop server.
Keeping the computer running for a length of time:
Now that you have a UPS that can keep the computer on. How long can it keep the computer running? Generally if you are pulling around the maximum wattage for a UPS, that will be about 10-20min; long enough to get through power blips or get everything saved and shut down (buy a UPS with a USB link to the computer so it shows up as a battery and the computer will be able to automatically shut itself off when the battery is low). If you need more than that amount of time, make sure you pay attention to the battery capacity of the UPS as well.
Though, usually if you need more capacity than that you are looking into producing a custom solution (batteries aren’t hard to chain together) or a UPS and generator combo, where the UPS just needs to last long enough for a generator to come online.
