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Ragnar Dan wrote:

JustAnEngineer wrote:

The APC Smart-UPS C 1500VA LCD gets significantly more run time from a pair of 12V-12Ah batteries, but it's more expensive, too.

There are other sellers.

Still a lot more than the CyberPower one. But definitely in the running at that price.

My main purpose has been to avoid Amazon after learning more about the main owner, but money's money, too.

Ragnar Dan wrote:

My main purpose has been to avoid Amazon after learning more about the main owner, but money's money, too.

Well, I avoid Wal-Mart. So I guess we can call it even?

They even apparently have 'em at K-Mart, though for $18 more. I am sure there are other examples such that an agreeable seller is available for most people.

Ragnar Dan wrote:

They even apparently have 'em at K-Mart, though for $18 more. I am sure there are other examples such that an agreeable seller is available for most people.

All of the K-Marts near me have closed, so I would need to pay shipping, or expend gas/time to get to one that's still open. Aside from that, I suppose I don't have an issue with the current management of Sears/K-Mart, other than the CEO apparently has no clue about retail and has run two iconic brands into the ground.

I suspect that Amazon/Wal-Mart/Newegg are the best deals, in terms of cost including delivery. (I'm an Amazon Prime subscriber, so that factors into it as well,)

I also wouldn't want to bet on the freshness of stock at the few remaining K-Marts.

JustAnEngineer wrote:

FWIW, my reasonably-priced 1500 VA UPS is rated for 900 watts for two minutes or 450 watts for eleven minutes. It keeps my PC and monitors powered up for 20 minutes of web browsing. It uses two 8½ Amp-hour 12 Volt batteries, so, at full draw, it's getting only 15% of the rated energy in the batteries to the output before it gives up. That improves to 40% at half-load.

I have the same one, been very happy with it after my decade old APC had some sort of electrical failure and had to stop using it.

just brew it! wrote:

Ragnar Dan wrote:

They even apparently have 'em at K-Mart, though for $18 more. I am sure there are other examples such that an agreeable seller is available for most people.

All of the K-Marts near me have closed, so I would need to pay shipping, or expend gas/time to get to one that's still open. Aside from that, I suppose I don't have an issue with the current management of Sears/K-Mart, other than the CEO apparently has no clue about retail and has run two iconic brands into the ground.

I suspect that Amazon/Wal-Mart/Newegg are the best deals, in terms of cost including delivery. (I'm an Amazon Prime subscriber, so that factors into it as well,)

He is just running them into the ground, and giving them loans with real estate as security for the loans. Once they finally go under he gets all their real estate and then sells it and makes tons of money.

just brew it! wrote:

JustAnEngineer wrote:

FWIW, my reasonably-priced 1500 VA UPS is rated for 900 watts for two minutes or 450 watts for eleven minutes. It keeps my PC and monitors powered up for 20 minutes of web browsing.

Yeah, I've been meaning to do a UPS upgrade at some point, mine (one on the desktop, one on the server) are really ancient "stepped sinewave approximation" units. That's a pretty nice looking one.

I'd highly recommend the CyberPower as I won't touch APC with a 5-foot stick anymore. The original batts just don't last even close to as long. I bought that exact model UPS in 2012 and it's still on the original batts, and they even have a good hold up time during power loss. Wasn't paying attention to the load so I can't give figures. Bought it from that page during Amazon's black friday sales for $160, and they have put that UPS on BF sale every single year since.

Kougar wrote:

I'd highly recommend the CyberPower as I won't touch APC with a 5-foot stick anymore. The original batts just don't last even close to as long. I bought that exact model UPS in 2012 and it's still on the original batts, and they even have a good hold up time during power loss. Wasn't paying attention to the load so I can't give figures. Bought it from that page during Amazon's black friday sales for $160, and they have put that UPS on BF sale every single year since.

Eh...I wouldn't draw sweeping conclusions from a small sample of battery failures, unless you know for certain the stock was fresh yet failed anyway. Even in ideal storage temperatures (cool but not freezing), lead acid batteries cannot go longer than 3-4 months without a maintenance charge or they will deteriorate.

Every manufacturer has both fans and flops. APC, Eaton, CyberPower, Tripp-Lite, it's like buying a hard drive about five years ago: who is making the good ones this year, and who is building miniature DJ scratch decks? The only one I have a minor vendetta against is Tripp-Lite, because for years their standard response to a battery failure was Lights Out, even if mains power was still available. That's not just cheap design, that's dumb design.

ludi wrote:

Kougar wrote:

I'd highly recommend the CyberPower as I won't touch APC with a 5-foot stick anymore. The original batts just don't last even close to as long. I bought that exact model UPS in 2012 and it's still on the original batts, and they even have a good hold up time during power loss. Wasn't paying attention to the load so I can't give figures. Bought it from that page during Amazon's black friday sales for $160, and they have put that UPS on BF sale every single year since.

Eh...I wouldn't draw sweeping conclusions from a small sample of battery failures, unless you know for certain the stock was fresh yet failed anyway. Even in ideal storage temperatures (cool but not freezing), lead acid batteries cannot go longer than 3-4 months without a maintenance charge or they will deteriorate.

As I learned the hard way with the APC I bought at a TigerDirect clearance sale years back.

ludi wrote:

Every manufacturer has both fans and flops. APC, Eaton, CyberPower, Tripp-Lite, it's like buying a hard drive about five years ago: who is making the good ones this year, and who is building miniature DJ scratch decks? The only one I have a minor vendetta against is Tripp-Lite, because for years their standard response to a battery failure was Lights Out, even if mains power was still available. That's not just cheap design, that's dumb design.

My Tripp-Lite committed suicide in a shower of sparks. Haven't touched their UPSes since.

With a UPS once you have the VA rating and the run time required sorted, there are a couple of other areas you should look at. The first is what is the output waveform like when on battery, is it a true sine wave or a modified square wave? The second is what type of UPS is it in terms of offline, line-interactive, or online?

just brew it! wrote:

My Tripp-Lite committed suicide in a shower of sparks. Haven't touched their UPSes since.

Hey, at least it lived up to its brand name. It tripped and emitted lots of light.

notfred wrote:

With a UPS once you have the VA rating and the run time required sorted, there are a couple of other areas you should look at. The first is what is the output waveform like when on battery, is it a true sine wave or a modified square wave? The second is what type of UPS is it in terms of offline, line-interactive, or online?

The UPS I borrowed was a line interactive unit with a simulated sine wave.
After some additional testing I found out that the TV was overloading it, not the amp like I had originally suspected. Even the TV alone (plus a 40w cable box) would trip the UPS. Panasonic claims a 189w average/585w rated power consumption. I guess it's closer to 585.

But anyway, I'm not going to bother with a UPS. Just too much hassle, and after reading some of the posts here they certainly sound like touchy little buggers. That one power incident a few days ago was the first one we had in years. I can live with that.