A few easy UPS questions

[Foxery]

My trusty APC CS-500 has travelled with me through several homes and several upgrades, and I'd long since forgotten that the "500" model number refers to VAC, rather than watts. It's 300 actual Watts, so combined with its age, (7+ years?) my newest system blew it today. It maintained power, but the red indicator for "Replace Battery" is on, and it beeps every 5 hours. Oops.

It looks like I need to bump to the "RS" series to get into the 800-1200 VAC range. 400-600 watts - my quad core + TV are a liiiitle bit more power hungry than my college machines. So,

1) Should I care about the LCD models? Exactly how useful is the display compared to colored lights?
2) Should I bother to replace the battery in my old one and find it a new home, or forget it because it's so tiny?
3) APC's web site lists new batteries for $36. Are there any major B&M chains who would possibly have these locally?

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: Foxery
My trusty APC CS-500 has travelled with me through several homes and several upgrades, and I'd long since forgotten that the "500" model number refers to VAC, rather than watts. It's 300 actual Watts, so combined with its age, (7+ years?) my newest system blew it today. It maintained power, but the red indicator for "Replace Battery" is on, and it beeps every 5 hours. Oops.

It looks like I need to bump to the "RS" series to get into the 800-1200 VAC range. 400-600 watts - my quad core + TV are a liiiitle bit more power hungry than my college machines. So,

1) Should I care about the LCD models? Exactly how useful is the display compared to colored lights?
2) Should I bother to replace the battery in my old one and find it a new home, or forget it because it's so tiny?
3) APC's web site lists new batteries for $36. Are there any major B&M chains who would possibly have these locally?

1) Useful? Nah. Cool? Sure.
2) Replace thewhole UPS. Might as well do it right.
3) eBay. Folks stock and sell these batteries for more than just UPS's so they can be found for around $10 on eBay.

 

[Foxery]

Sweet. Looks like I can get a knockoff battery for $20 and take the old one to work.

The local Circuit City has the RS900 and XS900 mighty cheap, as well as 1300 models. This may be much easier than I could have hoped.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Actually I like the lcd display on my apc unit. I like being able to access the information from it directly instead of sifting through the menus on the powerchute software if I desire. I paid $159 + tax for the 1500va version at circuitcity. After having seen what surges do to electronics first hand I believe that they are money well spent.

 

[Foxery]

I picked up the LCD version of the XS-1300 last night. It was too cheap to resist, I was planning to buy a KillAWatt meter anyway, and CC was on my way to the grocery store I feel much better now, having a beefy (and future proof) unit.

One caveat: the Wattage indicator is completely wrong; it reads 1/2 to 1/3 of my actual power draw.

edit:
A quick Google search shows that this is a common issue with many APC LCD units. I suppose I can live with it.