Buy a new iMac (UPS)

Hello everyone on mac-forums,

Anyone know a good UPS that's not that expensive but good enough for 1 iMac home user?

Thanks for your time,
Rze

Good UPS units are available at most resellers of computers and computer accessories. The size of the unit would depend on which iMac you have. The 27" iMac consumes more power than the 21" model so you would of course opt for a larger unit that will provide enough time to do an orderly shutdown in the event of a power failure.

Another thing to consider is what else would you place on the UPS battery backup? Perhaps a router or modem for example. Printers, scanners, fax machines, and some other devices should not be placed on battery backup.

To summarize, add up how much power (VA) that you would need and then buy an UPS that would give you that much plus room to spare.

In my opinion, if you are only running one computer off it (ie. no peripherals), any 1000VA line interactive UPS will be fine. the price variations come from the type of UPS it is, battery backup, line interactive or online. online UPS is the most expensive and in my opinion a bit more than the average home needs. it converts AC to DC then back again, thus smoothing absolutely out all power irregularities. line interactive is a step back from this, protecting from surges and making up for drops, without the double conversion. unless you have notably volatile power at your house, it is completely capable. as far as a brand, eaton & apc are the most well known, but really, any will do the trick.

I use a Cyberpower CP1500AVRLCD UPS and really like it. It gets fantastic reviews and the price isn't bad at all.

Amazon.com: Cyberpower CP1500AVRLCD UPS - LCD Display 1500VA/900W AVR 8-Outlet RJ11/RJ45/Coax Tower USB: Electronics

TomTomTuning said:

I use a Cyberpower CP1500AVRLCD UPS and really like it. It gets fantastic reviews and the price isn't bad at all.

Amazon.com: Cyberpower CP1500AVRLCD UPS - LCD Display 1500VA/900W AVR 8-Outlet RJ11/RJ45/Coax Tower USB: Electronics

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That is a nice looking unit. I've been using one of the low-end APC units in my basement to power my NAS, but I suspect it's close to EOL at this point. I might have to give Cyberpower a shot.

Thanks for the tip.

Thanks for the reply's

Its an iMac 27" and maybe a ps3 on at certain times.

Whats the lowest VA i can go?

thanks again

Rze.

I would go with a 1000 VA unit. That will easily handle the 27" iMac and give you plenty of battery time to shut down and room to grow. A PS3 should not consume much power.

I currently use a Cyberpower unit that I purchased from Best Buy. They generally get a good rating from most consumer magazines. I tend to stay away from the APS units because of their short battery life and cost of replacement.

cwa107 said:

That is a nice looking unit. I've been using one of the low-end APC units in my basement to power my NAS, but I suspect it's close to EOL at this point. I might have to give Cyberpower a shot.

Thanks for the tip.

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In case you're looking to save some money...the battery (batteries) in most UPS's are replaceable.

I've been "dabbling" with worn-out UPS's I've been finding on Craig's List...and I'm "guestimating" (on average) that the cost for replacement batteries is about 25% (e-Bay) of the cost of a brand new unit with the same Volt-Amp rating.

- Nick

The cyberpower 1500 is 30 off at Costco.com I ordered one to replace a failed triplight omni1000

lilmill said:

The cyberpower 1500 is 30 off at Costco.com I ordered one to replace a failed triplight omni1000

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139.99 After 30.00 off.

It's 139.99 on amazon as well.