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Anyone uses a UPS battery backup?

P

polya80

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 13, 2009
36
0
Cambridge, MA
Just out of curiosity, is a UPS battery backup needed for my imac?
It has a surge protector now but I am wondering if I should get a UPS for it.

What do most people do?
 
I only have one for my computer at work because I'm a computer programmer and I need to be able to save changes to files when a power outage occurs.

I do not have one at home because I'm never doing anything that important. :D
 
For the last couple of years I have had a small UPS which drives the two power strips into which my two macs, DSL router, printer, external drives, etc. are connected. Where I live the electric power flickers way down or blinks off every couple of months. I grew tired of having the computers shut off, not to mention worried about the electrical strain on them during the voltage drops.

I also enjoy having the UPS for the option of plugging a desk lamp or something into it if needed during a power failure at night.
 
I use UPSes: one protects my iMac, AEBS and external drives. The other protects my cable/TA modem, Linksys router, AE and cordless telephone base station. They came in handy when a transformer blew up in our neighborhood and we lost power - the iMac sensed it through the UPS USB line and powered down gracefully and I had Internet connection for at least an hour with my MacBook and iPhone after losing power before having to rely on 3G on my iPhone. They also help smooth out power during brownouts and surges...
 
I highly recommend a UPS. It's cheap insurance, covering you for short brown outs and black outs. You also get a chance for an organized shut down for longer power outages. I have two in my tv/dvr/receiver cabinet, one on my time capsule/modem/printer, and one on an old gigabit mac pro.

If you get one with a replaceable battery it will last a long time.

Mooch
 
I've always had one, for every system I've owned for at least 15 years. In all that time I've never (knock wood) had catastrophic hardware failure. If I lost a HD, it failed slowly - so I had time to deal with it.

I believe this is due to clean power. While UPS's are marketed as being good for power failures, I believe they are better for dealing with much more frequent power dips and brown-outs. Even in a large city, with good power, my UPS's alarm would sound a couple times month to let me know that it had kicked in, though the power had not actually cut out entirely.

Now that I'm in a rural area..... well, its been a system saver more than once. If you live in an area with good power, and you don't need the computer, then just buy one to give you enough juice to shut down gracefully. Cleaning up the power is much more beneficial, IMO.
 
I use a battery backup on all my Macs at home as well as my network equipment, PS3, cable box and flat screen TV. It is nice to be able to continue using your Mac or watch TV after the power has gone out. Granted, the UPS I use only give me about 10-15 minutes of battery runtime, but by then the power has usually come back online.
 
polya80 said:
Just out of curiosity, is a UPS battery backup needed for my imac?
Click to expand...

It's not needed, nut it sure is nice! I've been using a UPS at home for 3 years now and it has been worth every penny. The power in my neighborhood/city is clean, but if and when it flickers, I never miss a beat. I also feel good knowing that my iMac is not taking a hit if/when the power flickers.

Bryan
 
I used to not use them, then about two years ago my son (who was then two) turned off the switch to my PC's power strip (I was at work, and momma wasn't watching closely enough). Unfortunately, the entire boot drive got corrupted. I call it the "great crash of '07."

Since then, my wife's PC (the one that crashed; I gave it to her when I got my iMac) and my iMac are on separate UPS's. They're cheap and they've come in handy during storms where the power browns out or flashes out for less than a second.
 
I use a UPS to prevent corruption after a power failure. The problem often occurs when power comes back and surges. The UPS doesn't restart until you hit a button. I have two, one on each computer.
 
call me paranoid but since i blew a transformer in my old vox ac30 at a sketchy retreat in the middle of a forest. haha... i have used power conditioners on all my music gear.


so using a battery backup to me, even on a laptop is essential. i have everything worth something on a very low amped fuse - that way none of it gets spikes, and the battery backup is there to help put out some cleaner power
 
I have several around the house. They're all APC UPS.

Even though I'm running a portable (MBP), I usually am "tethered" to my Firewire chain (several drives and burner) and USB hub. Power dropouts were driving me nuts, because the external drives would get shutdown abruptly. I never experienced any data loss, but it's not the best idea.

It's a Back-UPS ES 550 (one of the dark grey "consumer" models). It's connected to the MBP via USB, so I can set shutdown options when it kicks over to the UPS.

I also have one one for my Leopard server (including DSL modem); Airport base stations, enet hub, cordless phone (wired phones work when power is out. cordless - not so much), answering machine; DirectTV DVR and eSATA drive; and one for my Win2k "beige box" PC. (Five total - some different capacity, and the server is the "pro style" model).

You should have heard the din during a power outage. That is, before I disabled the audible alerts. ;)
 
I have one on my Mac mini, monitor, router, and cable modem....I don't recommend putting your printer on a UPS - especially a laser printer, they draw too much start up power for a "small" UPS to handle - and you really don't need to print during a power outage. I have it mainly to do an orderly shutdown in the event of an outage, or to get me through the power "flickers" during summer thunderstorms
 
Thanks for the replies! :)

After reading what people are saying, I am thinking of investing in 1 UPS to protect my imac. What brand should I get? Is APC a reliable brand?

Thanks!
 
dborja said:
I have an APC and a CyberPower. Both have been good to me...
Click to expand...

I've got both as well. The APC beeps when it switches power, but the CyberPower hasn't beeped. CyberPower is a few bucks cheaper than APC for what appears to be comparable devices.
 
Tripp Lite OmniSmart 900 VA Rackmountable/Tower Digital UPS - OMNI900LCD

I have the Tripp Lite OmniSmart 900 (model OMNI900LCD) and the USB connection to my iMac doesn't work well. MacOS X can't tell what level the battery is at reliably, so when the power does go out, my iMac doesn't doesn't automatically shut off. It does last a fair amount of time however; I've run my iMac and DSL modem off of it for 20 minutes in the dark.
 
I have a Cyberpower, too, and its been perfectly fine. I've had it for about 4 years now and it still keeps a decent charge. Nice for my iMac for when the power blinks out (though its only occasionally). I have VOIP phone, so I also keep all of my internet connections on it, too - my cable modem, wireless router, and phone adapter. That way I have phone if the power is out. :)
 
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