So, it seems we get little one second power outages from time to time at our new location. Lately, it seems like it happens every week or so. We already have a APC 550 UPS for our internet and other communications equipment which has worked well, but my computer is located in another room. Can anyone recommend a good affordable solution for my desktop? I’m thinking most any cheap UPS should cover a little short blip like this, so I don’t have to deal with recovering documents, and restarting if I was in the middle of something. An APC 425 runs around $65, but maybe there is a better and cheaper solution?
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Nope. I’ve had similar UPS on every computer I’ve owned for the last couple of decades. Been through a couple dozen.The no name brands work just as well, but don’t last quite as long. I generally use whatever is in stock at local stores.
I use them on everything. Home. Office (where most were used). Internet and phone equipment. Computers. But not printers. I use laser printers and they draw too much power for a UPS.
–Peter
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Extension cord to the UPS you already own.
Or rearrange the furniture so you can serve two machines with one UPS.
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That’s not happening. There’s no good way to route an extension cord and the existing UPS is getting kind of old also. Rearranging is not practical given our layout. I’d rather spend the $65 or so for the second UPS. The other (even more expensive) solution is replacing the desktop with a laptop, but for now the desktop is working reasonably well (when I have power). That will be a definite possibility the next time I replace the computer. Power went out at least 3 or 4 times today, but we are experiencing high winds. Other times it goes out with no unusual weather phenomena. I’ll check with neighbors sometime and see if this is typical for the development. While power was iffy, I decided it was time to attempt an install of a wifi card in the computer, since the USB adapters that I’ve been using have been flaky. That didn’t go well. It has been a frustrating day.
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I have one for the computers, the 2nd for the network. I just go to Costco and buy whatever is there. The cheapest one I see on their site is a CyberPower LE850G, $75 through Dec 18. Of course Costco is for members only.
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I’ve had APC UPS units on our Mac confusers for years, replaced the battery in one, once so far, and a Monster Power line conditioner on the LG TV/Sound Bar setup… I think I got them at Best Buy years ago, battery replacement via amazon…
Good to see Costco has a similar UPS now…
Absolutely use a UPS on each computer. I also have a separate one for my network gear and one on each TV. Clean stable power is essential for top performance and also increases the lifespan of sensitive electronics.
I actually just replaced the battery in a small unit for my network gear last night. It was an APC brand UPS and the battery’s date of manufacture was 2013. I got a new battery at Batteries+ Bulbs. It cost a little bit more than online, but I got it that day and I also recycled 11 SLA batteries and a couple old Ni-cads packs I had laying around.
I’ve used both APC and CyberPower units and have been very happy with both. Micro Center currently has a CyberPower 450, 8 outlet unit for $60.
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Thanks everybody. I’ll head to Staples or Best Buy today and get an APC or CyberPower low-end unit, whatever I can find in stock at the right price.
Best value I’ve found, and by far, is Costco. Haven’t looked at Sam’s, but if you’re a member they probably have pretty good deals, too.
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No Costco membership and Sam’s selection is lacking, but thanks for reminding me to check.
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Also check online and search for coupon codes. Remember … tis the season for coupon codes and deals! 
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I have baulked at the APC prices and regretted it.
One thing to be careful about do not get a too small unit.
Another thing - you can get batteries for APC products. Make sure you can for anything you buy. Also check prices. I have found BHVideo has batters for some APC products at a significant lower price than APC and even lower than Amazon, Batteries Plus, etc.
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I wound up with a CyberPower 450VA unit for around $60. The box suggests I can get 14 minutes out of that for a PC workstation. Considering that all of the outages I’ve experienced since moving have been of the <1 minute variety (and mostly around 1-2 seconds), it should work out fine for me for routine outages. Anything beyond that, I can save my work and power down, since I’m not doing anything terribly important anyway.
It’s charging up and should be ready to go later this evening.
Another advantage of the APC UPS units was that they included an interface cable to the Mac OS via any USB port, so it monitored the UPS status, looking just now i don’t see it in the energy saver prefs, so maybe it was dropped, or hasn’t been updated for ages… I see the two APC units I have are just 750W jobbers, no real load to worry about.
Looking again, I could use another for my Xfinity, AppleTV, Modem, router boxes, but if the power is off, not much point, just use our iPhones until it comes back on. They are on a decent surge protector already. Multiple battery sources to recharge them are kicking around, or the trailer in the side yard for heat if its winter…
The last time I looked, a replacement battery was something like 80% the cost of a whole new UPS. Has that changed lately?
—Peter
Depends on the UPS. APC is going proprietary battery. But I have two of their older UPSes that use an RBC17. About $20 delivered for a new generic RBC17. My 1kVA APC replacement proprietary cost about $60. Got the UPS from Costco for $100 in 2015 (?) or 2016.
For me the replacement for my APC Pro BR1000 units were less than 40% of the whole unit. The reason I said check replacement batteries before purchase.
I have 3 of these units now – needed 3 at one time to keep my LAN operational. Today I really only need 1 as I do not have separate router, modem & WiFi boxes as well as computers. As a practical matter I have one for my gateway (AT&T fiber system) and WiF. A second powered an interface for a printer – it was an ethernet printer (old HP without any wireless) in another room from my computer & network stuff.
I’m seeing the lights flicker a little and the computer’s APC UPS switching and returning, must be a glitch on the PG&E line in the area… Lanterns, flashlights are ready…
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hope you don’t need flashlights, etc.
It seemed to have settle down, whatever the cause behaved itself, would have been interesting to have a chart recorder on the line.
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