A compact & powerful worksaver
Pros:
Small footprint, great protection, reliable. Great for a basic PC.
Cons:
Not good for a packed system with many drives & add ons.
The Bottom Line:
Small compact UPS, great for the home or business user. Saves your data in the event of power loss. Excellent for businesses or home users.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
The APC 350CS is a low cost UPS that's great for the business workstation OR the home user who cares about their work.
This UPS unit is about 5 inches high by 4 inches wide and 1 foot long - pretty compact by UPS Standards. But, don't let the size fool you! This unit can power a full P4/Athlon system for about 15-20 minutes!
The 350 CS comes with a USB Datalink for a connection to APC's "Power Chute" software. Power Chute is included free with the UPS, and helps to manage how the UPS is utilized by your system. Power Chute includes data on the UPS - such as a load estimate (For answers like - Are you using the UPS at 50% capacity or 90%?), a status log (last activation for brownout, surge, power loss, etc), electric service line status information (detect line faults, power fluxuations, the actual voltage of your 110 electric service lines, etc), and more. It also shuts down your system when you specify - either when your system has gone on battery for X minutes (1,5,10 etc) or when your UPS only has a certain percentage of power left (maximize battery use).
The UPS also notifies you when your computer has lost hard electric service with a status beep - every minute or so while your computer is on battery. A status light on the front of the UPS Will also light up to indicate that the power service has been lost. The UPS will indicate an overload warning or bad battery with the status lights as well.
If you're in business, this unit is a *must* for your workstations. This has saved my business a great deal of time, and money when it's kicked in during a momentary power loss ... or even a blackout. On a side note, I'm located up in the Northeast - and this unit saved my work during the big blackout that just happened, so - it did pay off very well.
The UPS also has surge protection for your telephone/Modem line and up to 3 add on devices - laser printers, fax machines, etc- so there's no need for an additional surge protector to clutter your workspace.
APC also makes Linux versions of their Power Chute drivers - and has an optional Serial port connector for the status port (available by order - free of charge - online or by mail. Takes a couple weeks for delivery.)
Another nice bonus is APC includes a set of velcro cable ties with the APC logo on them. A handy addtion to the kit.
Overview :
Weight: about 10 lbs
350va (Runs a standard PC with 15-17" Monitor for about 15-20 minutes.)
3 Surge Protected outlets
3 UPS Battery outlets
1 Telephone IN/1 Telephone OUT
1 Serial Status (for USB cable or Serial cable)
