For the last couple of weeks I have been using a five socket Surge Strip, that has a rather nice plus in that it is also a UPS. The size is only slightly thicker than a conventional surge strip.
Buy Now...
It is actually called a Battery Backup 500VA, I have not called it
that simply because when I mentioned it to a couple of other people
their answer was the same, whats that?
The five outlets are formed in a slightly curved line with the
furthest three being powered through the battery backup. This means
that the other two are live and still provided with surge protection
even when the battery backup portion is switch off. The unit also has
surge protection for phone, modem and Ethernet with sockets at the end
of the unit.
It is 44x10x8cm, the weight is 3.4kilos which is minute compared
with the battery backup units I reviewed not that many years ago. The
battery technology has improved and miniaturised to such a degree that
this unit gives almost the same amount of time protection as a unit
that you would not pick up unless you already had somewhere close by to
put it down again.
The unit has a CD-ROM with software that can be installed on the PC
and then the unit can connect by USB lead allowing a safe shutdown
should power fail while the PC is unattended.
The stated time without mains power is up to twenty minutes, however
this would be for a small desktop PC with a 15inch monitor. A more
typical configuration with a larger PC and a 17inch monitor is stated
at nine minutes. I tested with a configuration something like what I
just described by simply switching the power off at the wall socket. I
think the claim of nine minutes would be ambitious but there was
enough time for a dignified shutdown which means opened applications
can be saved and shutdown. This means there should be no file
corruption and when power is restored you can return to work from where
the power outage occurred.
This Battery Backup unit is the larger of two sold by APC the other
being 350VA and my choice after my tests would always be the larger
500VA unit.
There are four LEDs on the unit and when first switched on the
battery is tested for integrity for around ten seconds during boot up.
As with all Battery Backups you should not have a printer connected as
this will draw power and cause a potential overload. Connect the
printer to one of the two sockets not covered by the Battery Backup it
will still have the all important surge protection. During a test I did
connect a switched on printer during a power on sequence and the
audible battery overload alarm occurred almost instantly.
As the cost of this unit is only a little more than other reputable
surge strips and it has a £50,000 equipment damage via surge protection
it is something that I doubt will leave me in the foreseeable future.
Dabs have the unit for £81.
Link: http://www.apcc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BF500%2DUK
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