Do I Need a UPS??

[MrBlank]

I just got my parents a new Mac Mini and a 17 in Dell LCD. They live out in the country and the power fluctuates a lot. Sometimes the lamps just dim for a second and other times the power will just go out.

Is this hard on a computer's power supply? Would a UPS battery be a good idea for this situation?

Thanks for the help!

 

[HN]

it won't be bad (except for whatever it costs)

 

[BurnItDwn]

A UPS is probably a good idea. It will both protect against surges and supply constant power to the computer during power fluctuations. IMO it's worth the price as long as you find a decent deal. An entry level 500 or 600 VA UPS would probably be enough to supply both the Computer and Monitor power for a 10 to 15 minute time frame. I prefer APC, only because I hear the most good things about them.

 

[LASTGUY2GETPS2]

Go for it. I have a country home too and when the power goes out/dims it's nice knowing that my computer will shutdown itself because it knows its on batteries. It couldn't hurt.

EDIT

If the power did go out while your hardrive was writing it could cause damage so a battery is a good idea.

 

[amdskip]

Definately a good idea.

 

[Tu13erhead]

Sometimes just for fun I flash my BIOS and at the exact same time turn on a dozen or so hairdryers and a few air conditioners. Whee!

 

[BurnItDwn]

Originally posted by: Tu13erhead
Sometimes just for fun I flash my BIOS and at the exact same time turn on a dozen or so hairdryers and a few air conditioners. Whee!

As they say on the guinness commercial after Captain of the Obvious says something ... BRILLIANT!

 

[sivart]

these new motherboards with dual BIOS do ruin all the fun of the power surger during a flash

 

[BurnItDwn]

Not everyone has a newfangled fancy dual bios board though

 

[Tu13erhead]

Originally posted by: siliconhills
these new motherboards with dual BIOS do ruin all the fun of the power surger during a flash

See, that's the fun! My motherboard does have dual BIOS, so the challenge is to f**k it up! First one to not boot wins!

Whee!