On Friday 20 December 2002 12:35 pm, Susan S. Hays wrote:
> I need to purchase an APC Battery Backup for my computer.  I am thinking of
> the APC 650VA.  I live out in the country and I have constant surges and
> power outages for no apparent reason.  These occurances I feel are playing
> havoc on my computer.  I have already had to replace my hard drive. 
> Whether it was due to the power outages and surges I really don't know.  I
> have a dial-up connection with a second phone line.  So at night and on the
> weekends, my computer stay on.  I shut it down during the day while I am at
> work or not at home.  I have a Gateway Pentium III, 1000, with soon to have
> 512MB of Ram.  I currently only have 256.  Anyway, I was wondering whether
> the APC 650 is an overkill or not.  Any feedback would appreciated since
> the sale goes off in a couple of days.  Or any specific recommendations
> would be appreciated also.  I don't know much about the battery backup
> selection, but I do want one that will be sufficient and have automatic
> shutdown software when my computer is on and a surge or outage takes place.
>
> Thanks in advance.
> Susan Hays

Susan:
Have you been to the APC website (www.apcc.com)? They have an application that 
will help you determine the appropriate VA capacity for your equipment and 
situation, although 650VA seems about right to me for a simple SOHO desktop 
setup. You'll have enough time to save your data, and shut the system down.

Does this model provide a means of connecting to your PC, either by USB or 
serial connection? This is an essential feature, as this allows the PC to 
automatically shut itself down in case the power should fail when you are 
away or otherwise occupied.

I installed a 525VA Belkin UPS last spring, and it has worked very well. 
There's a lot of construction going on around here, so it _has_ been tested. 
In particular, I've really come to appreciate that my UPS bridges me through 
short power interruptions that would otherwise cause a complete crash.

Regards,
Carroll Grigsby

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