Buying a UPS to ensure external hdd's safety

[ng80092a]

Hello,

I will soon buy a UPS because power fails frequently at my home.
I aim at keeping 2 laptops and a few external hdd's safe.

(A note: power failed while one of the hdd's was reading data, if I perform a chkdsk with sector analysis and everything is fine may I rest assured that the drive didn't got any problems after the failure?)

Anyways I'm thinking in one of these:

http://www.apc.com/shop/iq/en/products/APC-Back-UPS-1400VA-230V-AVR-IEC-Sockets/P-BX1400UI

http://www.apc.com/shop/ro/en/produ...Back-UPS-Pro-550/P-BR550GI?isCurrentSite=true

They have the same price range, so, what is the difference between them, and what would better suit my needs?

Thank you very much for your time.

 

[t53186]

The first one has twice the capacity as the second one.

 

[ng80092a]

But woulndn't I be protected against a broader range of risks with the second one?

Also, can I plug a triplet on one of the outputs?

 

[geofelt]

For your usage, either will work.
laptops and external devices use little power so uptime on the UPS battery is not important.
Your capacity needs are minimal, certainly less than 550w.

But, to determine if one or the other has superior protection capabilities. it would be best to contact APC.

A power failure while reading data will not compromise your hard drive.
If it happened while writing, possibly.
Chkdsk will check for a writing failure discrepancy. I think you are OK there.

As to how many plugs there are, look at the rear of each unit.
Some outlets will have power surge protection only, while others will also include battery backup.
If you are attaching low power devices, you will have the option of using a power strip to increase the number of outlets.

If the two, I think the 1400 is likely to be better, but since the price is similar, I would want an explanation of the difference.

 

[ng80092a]

Thank you for your help geofelt,

Other issue has arised, my external hdd use the following plugin

http://s894.photobucket.com/user/xinyanwei15/media/POWER%20SUPPLY/EU_12V_2A_ADAPTER.jpg.html


But the ups output have the following geometry

http://www.apc.com/resource/images/500/Back/6543AE26-5056-9170-D37F51FAF5A06E41_pr.jpg


In this situation, I won't be able to plugin my external hdd's to the ups, also, APC advised against using a power strip.

How can I safeguard my hdd's with an UPS?