Help me buy a UPS. What size to get?

[Eug]

Hardware:

Main computer
Celeron 533A@880 with Asus P2B
300 W power supply
Two hard drives
Lots of fans
ATI Radeon LE (flashed)
Pioneer 104 DVD-ROM drive
Sound Blaster Live! with Live!Drive
Iwill VIA Firewire card
D-Link NIC

External peripherals
Samsung 950p 19"
Powered USB hub
Powered Firewire hub
External Firewire CD-RW
External Firewire DVD-RAM-R
External Firewire hard drive
External Firewire Compact Flash reader
External USB zip drive (AC powered)
Handspring Visor Deluxe (USB)
Altec Lansing ADA106 Home Theater System
Kaysound MIDI controller keyboard
USB scanner
Cable modem
Linksys router
Netgear wireless AP
Netgear HomePNA bridge

I want to backup the stuff in bold (although not necessarily the cable modem and router). The Firewire and USB hubs don't necessarily need to be backed up since all the important things on them are powered anyway. What UPS brands and size?

 

[pcclub2000]

500VA or more
Do you really need to backup those????:
External Firewire DVD-RAM-R
External Firewire hard drive
External Firewire Compact Flash reader
External USB zip drive (AC powered)

 

[pcclub2000]

try on sunday by staples
they have one for $10

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: pcclub2000
500VA or more
Do you really need to backup those????:
External Firewire DVD-RAM-R
External Firewire hard drive
External Firewire Compact Flash reader
External USB zip drive (AC powered)

Not the CF reader, but I use the hard drive, DVD-RAM, and zip drive a lot. I don't want them going down in the middle of a file transfer, destroying all the files.

 

[MichaelD]

IMO, you can never have too much backup power. The more capability your UPS has, the longer you can run on battery power AND the more easily it will handle the load (i.e. a 600W UPS handling 400 watts vs. a 500W UPS handling 400watts...more headroom)

I've had great luck with the CyberPower1250AVR. It does voltage regulation as well as having shutdown/save software. Connects via serial port (comes w/the cable) and is easy to setup and use.

It's saved my butt a few times from blackouts and just as importantly (IMO) the Auto Voltage Regulation kicks in a few times a week. The power in my area is kind of "dirty" (the lights flicker a lot) and it's nice knowing that my expensive PCs/peripherals are receiving quality power.