UPS really necessary?

[daweinah]

Reading about UPS, they seem to serve two main functions 1) regulate power if you have surges or brown outs 2) give you time to save and shut down if you lose all power.

For people who live in areas with frequent power fluctuations (what kind of areas do people live in?? I dont understand) I guess this would be nice. I'm curious how much one would help me though, I just spent ~$1300 on a badass new comp (if I may say so myself) and I definitely want to protect it, but I also can't throw too much money around.

With my old computer, I used an even older (at least 6 years) surge protector that plugged into the wall and gave me 5 outlets to plug my PSU, Monitor, printer, and speakers into (one was empty) and I never had any trouble with it. I used it as an extension cord basically, I never used the power buttons on the surge protector, they all stayed on all the time. I controlled the power of computer by shutting it down and turning the monitor off manually. The speakers were always on. I guess I live in one of those areas with constant power or something, because I've never noticed any power issues with the computer, except, of course, in thunderstorms when the whole house/neighboorhood loses power.

Would a UPS be a good investment for me, or could I sneak away with one of those long, rectangle, cheap 6-outlet extension thingers?

 

[Blain]

It sounds like you want to get by just as cheap as you can.
In that case I'd say save your money for new parts that get killed by dirty power.
Look at it this way... It will give you the perfect excuse to upgrade! :laugh:

PS. Buy as small and as cheap a power supply as you can find.

 

[WackyDan]

1. Surge protectors do not last. While they are create for breaking out power to multiple aplliances, they only take so many hit's/surges before they are just an extension cord. A six year old surge protector is more than likely not surge protecting anything anymore.

2. Even those with relatively good power can benefit from a low cost UPS with AVR. When I first went to UPS's at home, my blue screens, and lockups disappeared immediately.

 

[daweinah]

Hmm.. I do want to spend as little as possible. Can anyone suggest a suitable UPS for me? My rig is in the sig.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Belkin, APC and all the others have calculators on site to assist you in finding out what your needs are. I bought a monster Belkin 1200 w/AVR for cheap because it was on blow-out sale. Shipping is the killer when buying a UPS because they are heavy. So look to buy as a carry out or will-call. APC is on sale often at CompUSA, Circuit City, etc.

When/if you buy a UPS, leave it plugged in for atleast 24 hours before plugging the system into it. This will give the battery time to get fully charged.

Once hooked up, spend a few minuets going over the software it uses for monitoring itself.


...Galvanized

 

[JMoore]

You can buy a good UPS for around 30$. You just spent 1100$ on your system. THis is not somethiNG you want to skimp out on.

Edit: You spend 1300$

 

[ValuedCustomer]

I've got a 3 or 4 year-old model of this Tripp-Lite and it's never let me down. And I live in an area infamous for dirty-power & sudden thunder-storms. - anytime the power goes out the UPS will typically keep things up for 8 to 10 minutes.. plenty of time for a controlled shut down.