APC by Schneider Electric Back-UPS BX - BX700UI - Uninterruptible Power Supply 700VA (AVR, 4 Outlets IEC-C13, USB port, Shutdown Software)

Works well, makes a slight noise but not much of a problem, I've not been using it long enough to as its current location is temporary, so I'm switching it off every night but once I've moved back into my room and have a dedicated socket to plug into I'll give an update. For anyone worried about changing batteries in the future, I researched it before buying, and you can buy replacement batteries. Installing them requires unscrewing the case and opening it up (will invalidate the warranty). There are videos on YouTube showing how this can be done. Mine came supplied with two male to female cables which plug directly into the computer and monitor to the APC. There are no other cables supplied, to connect the APC unit to the socket you can use the original cable you used for the computer's power supply. The USB port on the back of the APC device is type B (not supplied). This is the same cable that is used for most old printers and devices, so if you've kept a bunch of old equipment or cables you may already have one or more like I did, otherwise you can buy from Amazon for under £5. When first using it there is a smell, but I believe this smell will go away over time, it's not an awful smell and more like that smell you get with a new car, etc. The device comes with a 2-year warranty, or at least that's what is stated on the sticker on the box. I made sure to register my device as soon as I got it. The information you'll need to register the device is located above the USB port on the back of the device, so grab a picture of this before installing it in its location. It's not getting very hot and is comparable to my previous unit which was an ES 400. That also had a smell when I first used it, which went away over time. The software must be downloaded from the website which is listed in the manual which comes with the device. It's good software which gives you control over bleeps. You can set it on/off/off certain times. It also records energy usage and if you input your cost per kWa it can show you, your daily cost for running the device. Mine runs at 32p a day at around 120 to 150 watts. I ran Counter Strike Global Offensive at high graphic settings, and it used around 285 to 350 watts. This might help those who are just looking for a UPS with lower cost and Watts backup, but I still recommend the 1400 BX since it's always good to have a little more. My estimated uptime on battery should there be a power cut is around 30 to 45 minutes depending on what I'm doing. You can also use the software to set when the computer shuts down. Either 1 to 5 minutes or you can select 5 to 8 minutes of battery life left. I've includes several screenshots above of the software pages, notice that one section allows you to input the date when you replace the batteries, so anyone saying the batteries cannot be changed are wrong. I recommend buying a socket extension, so you can plug other devices in. Usually this is shown as an option when scrolling down from the top of the page.

Great value UPS with the usual APC build quality. My one is the Back-UPS 1400U which has 240V input and 6 IEC outlets. Free download software PowerChute PE is useful monitoring but the USB cable did not come in the pack, so you'll need one of those. I have a Dell i7 tower two 28" monitors a couple of wifi routers and a fairly large Gigabit switch which when connected tells me from PowerChute it is currently using 80W to 100W load and offering around 49 mins of backup time. Max load is suggested around 700W which would probably only give you 5 or 6 mins running but enough to do a safe shutdown. Voltage trigger is above 280V to a low of between 151V to 160V (setting in software) will set it in motion. My old APC had automatic voltage trimming but not sure if that is included in this one. A self-test is available in the software but only seems to work from the front panel button. Updating firmware does not seem to work either, but not needed really as this unit is no longer in production. Like all UPS's, the batteries will last 2 to 3 years depending on use, a new set in my last APC UPS lasted 18 months (they were not APC cells though). That unit was a trusty 20 years old. You don't get a fancy LCD on the front panel, just a single button and an LED. At this price point, it is an easy buy if you want no frills but a functional unit with plenty of capacity for most home users.

I have two BX1400UI units in use at home, since I moved to a village with slightly flakier power and occasional outages. So far, on the whole, I'm very pleased with them. Good value for the capacity offered. To give you an idea on capacity / runtime - the first is powering a Poweredge T20 server with Pentium G3220 CPU and a few HDDs, a HP Compaq 83200 Elite SFF workstation with an i5-2500, a network switch, ADSL modem, Gigaset VOIP base unit and ancilliary devices and reports 14% load and 47 minutes estimated on-battery runtime. The second is powering a HP Z240 workstation with a Xeon E3-1245 8-core CPU and a pair of flatscreen monitors (32" Acer and 27" HP) and reports 9% load and estimates 68 minutes on-battery runtime. Truth be told, the BX1400UI is a bit over-specced for my use, and I could have got away with the 700 and saved a few pennies, but I wanted the extra runtime to see out typical power outages since I work from home, and to have a bit of headroom for any future expansion of needs. I opted for APC as they're a well known and quite respected UPS brand, and it's easy to manage them from Linux machines - hook it up with a USB A -> B printer-style cable (sadly not supplied!), install & configure apcupsd, and you're laughing. I get emails when the UPS goes on/off load and if there are any problems with it, and if the remaining runtime gets low, my workstations automatically shutdown (the one acting as a Minecraft server first, to reserve power for my home server & network kit, then the remainder after if the power still hasn't returned). So, that all sounds good - but what about downsides? Non-user-replaceable battery - it *is* possible to change the batteries, but the unit has not been designed for this, it involves opening the unit up in a way that will invalidate any warranty left (although it's unlikely the batteries will need replacement during the warranty period, and if they do, I'd hope the warranty would cover them as that would be premature failure). It also needs to be done very carefully, as you could shock yourself if you're careless. For the price, not throwing in a cheap USB A-B cable is a bit stingy; they're cheap and you probably have some knocking around anyway, but the idea of a "smart" UPS is that you can manage it and have your workstation shut down cleanly before the battery power is exhausted, so omitting this cable is a bit too tight for my liking. Also, you'll get just one IEC C14-C13 lead to hook your PC up to the UPS; you'll need to use your PC's existing IEC13 "kettle lead" to hook the UPS itself up to the mains, as it doesn't even include one of those. There are six C14 output ports, so you'll probably want to order some more C14-C13 leads for other devices - or, rather more flexibly, get a C14 -> 4 port extension lead like this one - or purchase a rewireable IEC C14 plug and fit it to a standard extension lead for lots of standard UK sockets to plug anything you like in - particularly for power adaptors for modems/routers/switches etc. Finally, the second unit I received must have been sitting in a warehouse for some time, as the battery install date (and QA test report date) was 2019-06-19, and I ordered it on 2020-07-28, so the batteries were almost a year old already... not particularly pleased by that. but that's down to the unit I received.

Batteries are not replaceable. When batteries are dead, you have to drop out the entire item as a waste and buy a new one. What an unnecessary pollution mess !

APC står som vanligt för högsta kvalitet och enkelt användning. Produkten blev en aning varm med första laddning men inte mer än handvarm. Det är enkelt att konfigurera beteende ( när den skall tex skicka signal till datorer eller NAS mm ) Efficiensen är mycket bra och utan last är UPSen helt tyst.

This is best value for money. Provides estimate 20 minutes of backup for my prebuilt HP and Dell system (monitor load not included) and about 5 minutes on my AMD Ryzen 7 setup (which is a power hog so short time is understood). My primary objective was ability to properly shutdown the system so more than enough for me. However, if anyone has a use case that requires extended backup time then probably not a good choice for them.

وصلت بالوقت المناسب وكانت سليمة

Ho optato per questa marca forte delle esperienze positive avute nei precedenti posti di lavoro dove, per altro, le periferiche collegate ai gruppi di continuità erano numerose. Mi son detto che usarlo per la mia piccola postazione PC era la scelta adatta. Inizialmente ero tentato da un altro modello, ma facendo un rapido 'conteggio' di cosa collegare ho scelto il 950VA che ha ben sei ingressi per altrettante unità da proteggere. Con un computer e due monitor le tre prese standard le avrei subito utilizzate, poi mi son reso conto che anche il telefono e l'hug di Fastweb andrebbero sempre collegate al gruppo di continuità. In questo caso non è per la perdita di dati, quanto per evitare gli sbalzi di corrente che in più di una occasione hanno creato fastidiosi inconvenienti. Le due apparecchiature,infatti, dopo un temporale particolarmente forte finiscono per non bloccarsi temporaneamente e necessitavano di un riavvio (ovvero staccare la spina, lasciarle 'riposare' per una decina di minuti per poi ricollegarle all'alimentazione). Una seccatura non da poco visto che le spine dei due apparecchi sono poste sotto la scrivania e ogni volta dovrei mettermi a strisciare a terra per raggiungerle. Il funzionamento è quello tipico di ogni Ups. Non bisogna far altro che collegare il gruppo di continuità alla più vicina presa di corrente ed inserire, nei connettori posti sul retro dell'apparecchio, i cavi di alimentazione di computer e monitor. Prima di entrare in funzione l'Ups deve essere lasciato in carica per 10 ore al fine di accumulare la giusta quantità di energia elettrica da sfruttare quando la stessa verrà a mancare. Tornando al prodotto in questione voglio soffermarmi sulle caratteristiche che hanno influenzato la mia scelta (vedi le già citate sei porte), a partire da quello che ho trovato maggiormente interessante. APC offre la possibilità di collegare l'unità al computer mediante cavo USB (non fornito nella confezione) e tramite il software scaricabile dal sito [ ... ] monitorare le prestazioni dell'ups, lo stato della batteria e quanta carica è rimasta, visionare informazioni e statistiche sulla rete elettrica o impostare il timeout di spegnimento nel caso di interruzione della corrente. Powerchute, è questo il nome del software, non è proprio intuitivo, ma con dedicandogli un po' di tempo è possibile utilizzarlo a dovere e risulterà sicuramente utile. Va evidenziata la possibilità di sostituire la batteria (cosa che non era possibile con alcuni vecchi gruppo di continuità che ho usato), ma solo nei centri APC, con un costo medio di 70/80€. In questo modo avremo un prodotto quasi nuovo e pronto all'uso per altri anni a venire. Va anche sottolineato che il modello acquistato risulta particolarmente silenzioso sia in fase di carica che in quelle successive di utilizzo giornaliero. Un aspetto interessante e positivo, visto che ci pensano già i computer a emettere una buona dose di rumore e aggiungerne dell'altro non è mai piacevole. Posso ritenermi soddisfatto per la scelta e per i soldi spesi (poco meno di cento euro) visto che APC Back-UPS 950VA BX950UIassolve al suo compito in maniera egregia. Ovviamente con questa tipologia di apparecchiature è il tempo a dare il giudizio definitivo, ma fino a ora non ho alcun motivo per lamentarmene. Da non trascurare anche la facilità di collegamento, settaggio e uso in generale, merito anche delle spiegazioni allegate nella confezione. Semplici, chiare e in italiano per essere comprese subito anche dai meno esperti. Promosso!!!