I Live in NYC, So Do I Need a UPS?

[koolx]

Considering that i live in NYC where theres no blackouts or brownouts, do I need a UPS? Someone said that I dont need one. And that I should just get a surge protector or power strip so it suffices all my needs.

 

[smorizio]

with a ups if your pc a work pc or you have files you cant lose at any time a ups will do two things. one it keeps the pc off main power of the home. if there a lighting hit the ups is better at keeping the spike from taking out your pc. if the power goes out or dips a correctly sixe ups will give you time to save and shut down. here where i live in mass power is just as fine as it is in nyc. all i have my pc and ethernet cable on anti lighting strips. had pc running for many years this way without any issues.

 

[Eximo]

That is generally true. A surge protector and a power strip aren't necessarily the same thing, but most moderately expensive power strips in the US do have a surge suppressor/protector.

A UPS will offer a fairly hard layer of protection and give you enough time to shut down in case of a power outage. Many can be programmed to tell your computer to begin shutdown on battery.

Unless you do work on the PC, a UPS is not needed for the most part. I tend towards laptops for anything important, since they have a built in UPS in the form of the battery.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Considering that i live in NYC where theres no blackouts or brownouts, do I need a UPS? Someone said that I dont need one. And that I should just get a surge protector or power strip so it suffices all my needs.

Do you need a UPS? My wife lived in Manhattan for 15 years, there definitely are occasional power surges, brownouts, blackouts, it happens. The UPS protects your system against this when its running, because it is possible for damage to be done to a hard drive from the power being pulled in the middle of an operation. If you have any important files that are not backed up you could be screwed (or if you don't have the time to restore a backup or re-install everything after buying a new drive). UPSes also provide better surge protection and in the case of good ones voltage regulation than any off the shelf surge protector. This helps prevent damage to your PSU as well.

I have a UPS on every PC in my house, no you don't "need" it, but insurance is good to have.

 

[koolx]

Considering that i live in NYC where theres no blackouts or brownouts, do I need a UPS? Someone said that I dont need one. And that I should just get a surge protector or power strip so it suffices all my needs.

My wife lived in Manhattan for 15 years, there definitely are occasional power surges, brownouts, blackouts, it happens.

When was the last time there was a blackout in NYC? The last time was 13 years ago. Since then there havent been any. As for brownouts, I never experienced any in Manhattan. Are you sure your wife lived in Manhattan or she worked here but lived somewhere else because this doesnt make sense.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Considering that i live in NYC where theres no blackouts or brownouts, do I need a UPS? Someone said that I dont need one. And that I should just get a surge protector or power strip so it suffices all my needs.

My wife lived in Manhattan for 15 years, there definitely are occasional power surges, brownouts, blackouts, it happens.

When was the last time there was a blackout in NYC? The last time was 13 years ago. Since then there havent been any. As for brownouts, I never experienced any in Manhattan. Are you sure your wife lived in Manhattan or she worked here but lived somewhere else because this doesnt make sense.

She lived on 52nd and 2nd for 15 years (just left 2 years ago), we are located on LI now, I have friends who work for ConEd, NYPD, MTA, FDNY, and she continues to work in the city now as she has for nearly 20 years. There are local power outages all the time in different places in NYC. Please don't speak so condescendingly to me. No its not a blackout like 13 years ago but power outages happen hell plenty of people lost power there during hurricane sandy, so how do you even qualify saying 13 years ago. Its not as common as in places with above ground lines but there are issues all the time especially with the underground infrastructure that continually needs water to be pumped out of it and is susceptible to surges, rats, and fires. UPS devices only provide you with about 15 minutes of power, enough to save your work and shut down your PC preventing damage to your equipment especially your hard drive. Thats what you are protecting against.