Belkin Universal UPS UPS - 1200 VA

.../> All in all this is well worth the money that it costs. It is expensive for a one-product one-off purchase, at around £105, but the hassle and money it could save, plus the hefty Belkin damages guarentee makes it worth it.

My opinion - Excellent.  ... more

I originally bought this UPS due to the fact that I now run a server and it just gives piece of mind, even though here in Aberdeen we rarely, if ever have power problems.

The unit arrives with fairly standard accessories, although the Universal Series, which this one is, does come with additional RJ45 and serial cables. Most people however will just use the USB cable that connects to a spare port on the back of the PC.

You just plug it into the mains, connect it up, stick the install CD into the PC's CD drive, let it do its thing and forget about it. You should however leave the PC and anything else attached to the unit powered down overnight to allow the battery to charge. Once this is done, you don't need to do it again until the following year, just for maintainance.

The unit has four AC power sockets on the back, three of which are battery protected. The 1200VA may not sound that much when looking at other models, but as an example, I have my computer with printer/scanner/usb devices connected to it, a trailing socket with lamp, phone, and chargers for mobile phone, rechargeable batteries and other small gadgets and another computer with monitor plus a laptop connected. All this uses up just under 35% on the unit's load meter. In a test, the unit provided all connected devices with just over 40 minutes of backup power. Take off the laptop and maybe the scanner and lamp, and you have over an hours worth of juice to spare.

The software that comes with the unit is efficient at what it does, providing a variety of measurements from battery load to input valtage, current peaks and battery statistics. There are also individual readouts for each socket on the unit, as well as diagnostic tests that can be performed. Teh status on the unit itself is also excellent, including accurate detection of the make, rating and battery type/repair status.

The unit is heavy, at over 12kg in weight, but at the same time is not something that is going to be accidentally knocked over or kicked around if sitting under your desk. Also, with the sockets located at the back, cables can be tucked neatly out of the way. The unit is also extremely quiet, and it's easy to forget its presence after the first few hours or so.

Users are quickly and efficiently alerted to power problems by means of either an on-screen message, audible alarm or configurable e-mail alert. All of these can be turned on or off at will through the Bulldog Software (included) control panel. You can also change the behaviour of the unit, including having it shut down the computer after x minutes of battery power usage. This is handy if you run a mail server for instance, and need to conserve power for future emergencies during long power outages, but need to allow sufficient time for current tasks to be completed.

All in all this is well worth the money that it costs. It is expensive for a one-product one-off purchase, at around £105, but the hassle and money it could save, plus the hefty Belkin damages guarentee makes it worth it.

My opinion - Excellent. 

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