APC BACK-UPS RS BR1500LCD 1500VA/865W UPS System
by APC
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Our Price: $368.50 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $100.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of APC BACK-UPS RS BR1500LCD 1500VA/865W UPS System
Customer Review: Great UPS! APC does it again!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was in the market for a new UPS to replace an old Eaton PowerWare 5115 750VA that was terribly annoying when on battery. ESPECIALLY when hooked to generator power (More on this in a minute). Plus, I power my whole office(I'm talking EVERYTHING, TV, fish tank, printer, computer, Directv DVR, etc) via UPS(es) and this one was starting to show it's lack of available wattage, so off I went looking for a replacement.
I bought both this unit and the Cyberpower CP1350AVRLCD (which I have also reviewed), with the intention of keeping the best one and returning the one that's lacking. Needless to say, I now have 3 UPS(es). The old Eaton, the new Cyberware and the new APC. I couldn't decide between the Cyberpower and APC, so I kept both.
Now, which one is powering the Computer/HT/Office setup is a different story. Long story short, the APC powers my desk(computer, 32" LCD, router, cable modem, 3 ext. hard drives, bluray player, DirecTV dvr, HP OJ 8500 Pro). The Cyberpower powers my fish tank setup(filter, heater and florescent light), 2 lights and Dirt Devil Curve batt recharger. And the old Eaton powers 2 more low watt lights, and a bunch of other misc stuff(electric candle air freshener, Makita battery charger, etc).
My reasons for making the APC the "king of my desk", in lieu of the Cyberpower, might be pretty petty to some, but they make a large difference to me.
----First a foremost is the APC's ability to manually adjust it's sensitivity to line noise, as well as it's switchover-to-battery threshold. This is important to me, as I have a 3500 watt backup generator that while it's actually pretty stable for a non-inverter type, it still has a tendency to fluctuate, causing the Cyberpower to "click" every couple of minutes. This is not only annoying, but it could end up depleting its battery, causing power cycling to the connected equipment and causing possible damage. The APC just hums along without a care in the world. And this is even on "medium" sensitivity.
On the same topic, I realize that some UPS's take issue with the modified sign waves "inverter generators" produce, but I am happy to report both UPSes work 100% fine with my smaller, 1000 watt inverter generator without any battery switchover, as well.
----And second, I know some are going to chuckle when I say this as it's petty, but I want the LCD to stay on all the time. The APC lets you set this, the Cyberpower doesnt. Again, this is just personal preference.
I seriously cannot find any negatives at this time. I'm sure something will pop up along the way, but for the moment this thing fits my needs perfectly. The unit itself, the software, the run time (using 230 watts right now with 24 mins of battery runtime showing), everything. The only thing this doesnt have that the Cyberpower (software) does, is the ability to set a power down/power up schedule. This may be important to others, but to me it makes no diffrence as most of the equipment I have plugged into it, goes to sleep when not in use.
Customer Review: Outstanding Back-up and Great Company
Summary: 5 Stars
I have 2 Back-UPS RS 1500's (and an older Back UPS Pro 650 - 5 years old (?) with the original battery) and they have been in service for over 1 year. The performance has been flawless. This area seems to get a fair number of brown outs. Drops in utility power have never created a need to stop working. A few months ago, there was a bad storm that knocked out power. The RS 1500's gave me nearly 30 minutes to complete work and shut the workstations down normally. There was an earlier comment about only having a few minutes to shut down. I suspect that person has an enormous load on their UPS; if that's true, the UPS is undersized for the requirement or a multiple UPS solution may be appropriate.
Over the years I have purchased more than a dozen APC units. I have NEVER had a problem with any of them. Some one mentioned the batteries are expensive. I guess it depends on how you look at it. They ship a new battery to you along with a label to send to old battery back. APC claims the batteries are disposed of in a safe manner. Considering the two way shipping and safe disposal (green if you will), I don't think the cost is excessive.
I read some people love the LED display. To be honest, the only times I have looked at the display were when I first plugged them in so I could see when they were fully charges, and the second time was during the black out to confirm how much time I had.
One should keep in mind APC offers free downloads of new firmware, new software, or new versions of software. I agree with an earlier comment that they have way too many models making the selection process harder than it should be. I don't trust the online "selection wizard" to make the choice for me. I have called the 800 service line more than once to get product advice from a human; I've never been dissatisfied.
Maybe I missed it in other comments, but APC offers an upgrade program. After you have owned your unit for a few years or so, they offer significant discounts to trade your older UPS for new UPS. As I have added hardware in the office and the power needs have increased, the upgrade program has saved money. The old unit is either refurbished for resale or disposed appropriately.
The bottom line for me is that I have used APC products for over 25 years. I've never had a problem. Battery exchanges have always gone smoothly. The upgrade program allows me to get new units that reflect my current needs at a discount. Assuming APC's claims of safe disposal are correct, I feel better knowing the batteries and other pieces aren't in a landfill somewhere. I have no reason to consider any other brand.
Customer Review: I'm happy with it.
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this UPS to maintain clean power and for graceful shutdowns during blackouts after a power problem that fried 2 of my hard drives at once (smoke came out!!). It could have just been my power supply that caused it, but I'm not taking any chances.
My hard drive setup was only redundant for losing 1 hard drive at once (raid 5) so I lost data. :( To help prevent this from happening again I bought a PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 1KW-SR power supply (http://www.amazon.com/PC-Power-Cooling-Turbo-Cool-1KW-SR/dp/B000VMPGDS) and this UPS.
I'll never buy anything but the best power supply nor go without a UPS again after my toasted hard drive experience.
Anyways, back to the review: My only complaint is that the idle power draw from my computer (quad core processor (Intel QX6700), 2x Nvidia 8800 GTX graphics cards, etc.) + my 37 inch LCD screen is about 490 watts. That means I get about 7-8 minutes of power before the battery is depleted. That's enough time to serve for a graceful shutdown and to survive random power fluctuations, but not any time to actually use the PC during a real blackout.
But that's just the nature of battery power.
So I still give this 5 stars for the great realtime LCD and software. There is a Windows Vista enabled version of the PowerChute management software that can be downloaded from the APC website for free.
The software allows for tweaking a wide range of settings and even keeps a log of when the battery was used and why (overvoltage, undervoltage, blackout, and electrical noise. And you can even tweak when the battery should kick in based on an under/over volt range and electrical noise. Those features give it 5 stars for me. Without the software or LCD I'd give it 3 stars.
Customer Review: Takes a Licking and Keeps on Ticking;
Summary: 5 Stars
Be careful where you place this unit. I have an office in my home with a desk that has a secretary extension on one side. I placed the APC RS 1500 under my desk where the display could easily be seen and I could access the outlets and controls without too much trouble. The perfect spot seemed to be under the secretary extension below by monitor and keyboard. That worked great for a year or so until I accidentally knocked over a glass of iced tea. While I ran to get a towel to wipe up the mess, the tea dripped over the edge of the secretary extension and into the vents located on the top of the APC RS 1500 unit. Things went down hill quickly from that point. The unit dropped power as one might expect. After unplugging the unit, opening it and disconnecting the battery. I tried to dry as much as I could. A week or so later when I expected the unit to be completely dry, I tried to put it back together. To my surprise the APC RS 1500 took a licking and kept on ticking. It came up immediately and appears to be working perfectly. I thank APC and the good Lord for giving me a second chance. The APC UPS system is now in a safer place. Lesson learned.
I have an HP Pavilion Elite e9280t with 2 500 GB drives configured as a one terabyte drive. I have two monitors (22in and 17in) and two external hard drives (1tb and 350gb) Once I have a power failure the APC RS 1500 gives me about 20 minutes to save files and shutdown. That is all one can expect from the lower priced units. If you want extended work time then you should purchase a high end APC UPS system.
I highly recommend this UPS system
Customer Review: the APC UPS to get
Summary: 5 Stars
If you have a computer with alot of power, and a large monitor than this is the UPS to get. I have a quad core machine that's used for development and some gaming so the power requirements can get up into the 300-400 watt range. I also have a 30inch monitor connected to the UPS and it draws another 100 watts of power. I have several other devices connected to this UPS so the 800 watts is about 200 watts higher than I needed but I'd rather have extra power than under. My last UPS was also an APC but it was severly under power and rated only for 300 watts of output, it would turn off at times when my computer/monitor would draw excess power; I believe it also attributed to the UPS dying.
After that UPS died I decided it was time to get a better one and spend more. This is a really good UPS. I don't like the fact that Amazon has a no return policy on this unit but I took the chance and found that it works very good. The front LCD can be turned on and left to any readout you wish - percentage of output, output in watts, input voltage, output voltage, battery time. I have it set to be constantly lit to read out the percentage of power output to get an idea how much power is being drained and also because it looks neat.
This is a really big and heavy unit, when you get it you have to connect the battery. It's fairly easy but the battery is heavy so lay the unit on it's side, slide out the battery and connect the red wire to it's electrical pin, slide the cover back on and plug the unit into a wall. It's not complicated at all and ensures you get a battery that is not drained.