I have tested my UPS twice to see what my max time allowance was. The Cyberpower 1500AVR has given me 1 hour and 6 minutes of juice with 2 monitors, computer, and cable modem. My 2 Samsungs run at 40 watts each... when I tested my UPS, I had a 250 watt power suppy in the box... I have since upgraded to a 300 watt power suppy... I run an Intel 2.4g CPU. The cost for UPS $230.00. So I say... beware of spending 3k for a UPS when you can get 1 hour of juice for $230. -- Z
I tell all my clients that they should have a UPS because of not only power surges but also to cover brown outs. Try this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3403239220&category=16184 Hope that helps.
Just looked on eBay to see if my unit was there. It is: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3403968689&category=16184 I paid $500 fo mine and I think it works great. It has come through for me on a few occassions like a champ. And actually, there really is no way to know how many brown outs it has covered. Long live Power Supplys!
power blackouts are very rare where i live, and if it does happens, my plan is to simply use the laptop off batteries to close out any positions i need to.
That's nice, and will work if you are on dialup (with an internal modem) to the net. But if you are broadbanding (cable or DSL or Sat), you'll have trouble. You'll be able to play solitare on your laptop, but with your net connection down (because your cable modem, DSL modem or dish don't have power) you won't be trading. Of course, you can use broadband to do your regular trading, then dial in for an emergency bailout due to power loss. My point is that if one is using a UPS, one should have their internet connection modem on UPS as well. In my area, continued power outages are rare, but we get hiccups about once a month. And, I'm sure glad that my computer, cable modem and router are all UPSed.
I forgot to remind you, when you get one of the higher end ones, make sure that you understand what NEMA means, or when you get home, you may be in for a surprise when you try to plug it in. nitro
Everyone MUST have a UPS. If you buy a $2,000 machine why do you not protect it with a $150 UPS? Tht 600 watt APC model (the cheap one) gives you about 5-10 mins of power for a one monitor/ one CPU setup. Not only will you get power enough to safely close down, but it conditions your line, protecting you from voltage variations which can damage your hardware.