I was just moving my computer back into my bedroom after several months of it being on my kitchen table, and the UPS beeped loudly as I was moving it back in because it thought it had lost power. That made me wonder – how many people actually use UPSs? It’s like backing up your hard drives; everyone knows it’s a good idea, but might not get around to it until disaster strikes. I’ve been fortunate enough to survive a few power outages over the years, but got a UPS about two years ago “just because.” (I’m not sure what got into me).
Several times this ‘winter,’ I was at my computer when the lights dimmed and my UPS clicked on and off momentarily, which is a great feeling. What proportion of people actually use a UPS?
No, but with Sydney’s propensity for late afternoon electrical storms, I power down my laptop and pull out the plug from the wall (and the power plug for the wireless modem).
That said, I left my old PC on all the time, and it ran for years. Our power supply is pretty good here.
I had one, but gave it to my Dad when he was live. He had one of those chairs that helped him get up and down. He lived it in and I was worried that the power might go out and he might be stranded. Unfortunately, it did not have what it took to power the chair. But I never got it back.
I’ve had an APC unit for about 4 years, with USB connectivity and software to shut down any programs, the OS, the computer and itself. It’s worked as advertised to save my machine, and has paid for itself many times over. It’s essential to have one, this being Florida, with our daily thunderstorms in the summer.
I’ve got a question, if anyone knows the answer. I paid probably $49.95 for this unit. After 4 years, the battery is still at full capacity. At work, they use fabulously expensive, heavy-duty UPSes that seem to just die after about a year, two at the most. Then they throw them out and get new ones. Why would my modestly-priced UPS outwork and outlast one that cost more than several times its price?
I’ve always had a UPS since my first computer in 1992. Here in Florida it’s a must-have. During the summer rainy season, I can count on the power going out almost every day.
I used to have one, but I switched to a laptop, so a power failure will just switch to the laptop battery till the generator kicks in or grid power is restored.
I used to have one back in the days when an abnormal finish to a Windows session took much effort to rectify. I had to re-equip after divorce and didn’t get another and don’t really see the need. Even when I get the odd power loss I have no recovery problems.
Nope. Got pretty stable power here and a unexpected power loss really isn’t that big of an issue on XP. I rarely do much work that’d be irreparably damaged by not saving so I just don’t see the point.
Yes I have one that powers the PC, networking equipment and projection television. In case the power goes out, I want to have enough battery power to run the cooling fan for a few minutes after I switch off the TV.
I sort of do. Well, I guess I don’t actually. When my wife was pregnant we didn’t have a land line and our cell phones were getting shakey reception at our house. I decided to get Vonage so if the cell phones didn’t work we could still make calls. Since you have to have power to have Vonage, I picked up a UPS that keeps my vonage box, cable modem and routers live in the event of a power failure, at least for a little while. I also have one on my TiVo and Cable box (but not the TV). That one is there so that if the power blips my TiVo dosen’t restart, and more importantly if the power does go out and back on, the cable box doesn’t realize it. If the cable box loses power it doesn’t turn it self back on, which means until I notice it the TiVo records a lot of nothing all day.
I have one. Mainly so if I am playing an MMORPG and I lose power I can tell the other group members whats up then log off and not just disconnect from the game. Also, I’d rather power my comp off and not have it just lose power.
My previous computer was a laptop, so I used to be independent from power in sockets. Unfortunately in my area power grid is relatively unstable, and I painfully experienced what that means. I bought UPS quickly and I’m ever happy with it afterward. Let’s see at log… a-hah, last blackout was two days ago, when for 24 seconds power was lower than 180V (we have 230V here).
I’m huge proponent of UPSes - maybe they are not the best thing since sliced bread, but they are second next. I guess it saved my fortune in counseling fees for mental breakdowns
IANAElectrician, but that sounds strange. UPSes are supposed to last for years. Even when abused due to unstable grid, simple replacement of batteries should be enough. Maybe they are doing something wrong.
ETA - also, price doesn’t mean much in UPS world. I’ve seen really shitty ones hugely overpriced and really good ones at moderate prices. You only should be vary of these ridiculously cheap ones.
My really WAG on that subject. There are two different types of UPSs out there. With some you are always running on the grid and when the power goes out it switches to battery. With the others, you are ALWAYS running on the battery, when the power goes out, nothing happens, your computer doesn’t even realize that something changed since it was never transferred to another power source. My guess is that the persons work uses that kind and maybe they just have to much plugged into it.
I have a UPS, but it didn’t help at the last power outage - turned out I’d exceeded its power output, so it shut off when the power went out. You’d think the UPS would check for overload before the power goes out… :smack: But I suppose it’s also my fault for not setting up the USB connection and monitoring software, it would have told me what the current power output was.
I don’t know why, but we’ve had the same experience. I think we bought half a dozen UPSs for the lab last year and two have died already. They’re not overloaded either, just a PC and peripherals on each one.
