Best UPS for the money

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Alpha7

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Oct 29, 2014
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First off, do these really protect your machine from power surges? I had a nice TV die on me recently. Not sure what the cause was but it was during a storm...... Might have been a power surge.

I'm looking to get something to protect my new investment. I have a lot of power outages in my area. Can someone recommend a product?
 
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So you guys are confident they actually protect you from power surges? I've read some mixed reviews on the internet. Some argue they do nothing, others say they work well. I really know nothing about them.

 
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That's because there are different UPSes with different features.

There are ones which are just a battery backup which kicks in when all power is lost. These don't provide surge protection. I guess they expect you to plug a surge protector into it if you want that.

There are ones which combine a battery backup with a surge protector.

There are ones which also try to cover brownouts (brief drop in power from your power company - you may have noticed these as the room lights dimming for a fraction of a second). These UPSes are advertised as having AVR - automatic voltage regulation. These always do surge protection as well.

And there are ones which generate a true sine wave output instead of faking it. Most devices which run constantly (light bulbs) or convert to DC (your PC power supply, anything with an AC adapter) are usually ok with the imitation sine wave output. Devices with sensitive AC motors though, like an electric drill or medical equipment with pumps, may need pure sine wave output.

All surge protection is not equal either. Different protectors will kick in at different voltage levels. If your surge suppressor kicks in at 300 V and your equipment fries at 200 V, the surge suppressor isn't going to be much help. Reality is that AC power is dirty, so most devices are designed to withstand brief surges of slightly excessive voltage.
 
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Thanks for the detailed answer. I get pretty frequent blackouts and brownouts. Multiple times every year. It's annoying....

Do you know of a reputable model that would have both surge protection and the AVR?

I read an article once that surge protectors don't really protect you from power surges and that they are essentially just a power strip. Not sure how much truth there is to that. They also said the "insurance/warranty" these companies provide isn't worth the paper they are printed on.

I just want to be certain they are worth the money before I spend $200.
 
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I just buy the Cyberpower ones from Costco. They usually clearly label which models have AVR (unlike APC).

The other reason for buying from Costco is that the battery in these things usually only lasts 3-5 years. Most of them you can replace on your own for about $15 (they usually use standard 12V gel cells - sealed lead-acid batteries that come in a variety of standard sizes). I've replaced these batteries several times. Some UPSes make it easier than others. But it's annoying enough I prefer to have Costco's lifetime return policy as insurance.
 
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I have not seen any like that. The UPS's that I am familiar with all provide surge protection. In fact, if you plug them in to a surge protection strip instead of straight into the wall, you will void the warranty. The main benefit of the UPS is that it allows you to save your work during a blackout. I also think there is less chance of data corruption with a more stable power source, though I have no proof. A good PSU does have some ability to deal with brownouts. The surge protection is probably helpful, but not 100% effective. If your home get a direct lightening strike, your computer is probably toast regardless of the protections you have on it. The UPS warranties for the connected equipment are probably worthless. Yet, will all these caveats, I still own several of these. In the USA the Cyberpower models frequently go on sale.
 
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Thanks for all the info guys. I'm going to buy one tonight online as I have Paypal funds to burn. I like the sound of the replaceable battery.

I have a quality PSU but I'm just trying to safeguard myself as much as possible.
 
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Many of the newer PSU's with PFC (power factor correction) work better with a pure sine wave PSU rather than an approximated stepped sine wave. See those I posted above. Put in a deal alert for UPS at slickdeals as they go on sale fairly frequently.
 
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You're welcome. "Deal Alerts" is at the very top of the page with a little yellow triangle beside it. You could also put in the specific model numbers of the ones I listed above.
 
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