APC BE550G Back-UPS ES 8 Outlet 550VA 120V
by APC
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of APC BE550G Back-UPS ES 8 Outlet 550VA 120V
Customer Review: Decent entry level no-frills UPS
Summary: 3 Stars
Product: APC Backup-UPS ES 8-Outlet 550VA
Rating: 3/5 (good)
I bought one of these units several years ago at my local computer/electronics stores ... not to protect a PC, but rather to protect my phone answering machine, cable box, and most importantly my new (and then quite expensive) Flatscreen TV. It's done a very admirable job, and I only recently re-gifted it to a family member, after replacing it with a newer model 1300.
Advantages:
* Easy to use, right out of the box.
* Multiple connection types and outlets.
* Low space-saving profile, easily fitting inside or under small cabinets and tables.
Disadvantages:
* Small battery offers very limited runtime (figure 7-10 mins).
* Lacks built-in digital display showing load and remaining runtime.
* Lacks manual bypass for loud audible power-outtage alarm.
Bottom line: this is a very decent no-frills unit if you're on a budget. However, an increasing array of newer units with status displays are becoming cost competitive. Lastly, if your power blinks frequently, the lack of an alarm bypass can become annoying.
TIP: Most UPSs have limited runtime. For example, the XS-1300 I replaced 550 with only holds 7AH of power (which will run my PC for just under 1 hour). To greatly extend this, I bought a big 55AH sealed marine gel battery, a trickle charger, and a 400W inverter. When the power goes out, that gives me the option of plugging either my UPS/PC or my UPS/TV setups into the 55AH battery for an additional 8+ hours of runtime.
Customer Review: great UPS device.
Summary: 5 Stars
I had bought this because i needed something to put in the closet for my ReadyNAS Duo and my DIR-655 router.
I wanted the ReadyNAS and the router out of view so i placed it in the closet. Previously they were both on my desk and connected to another UPS (the 10 plug one, Apc Back-ups Es BE750G 10 Outlet 750VA 120V Master Control, which is also an excellent UPS).
It's big and heavy, maybe 2/3 the size of the 10 outlet APC and it does it's job well. I plugged in the battery (not very hard to do at all, only that the battery is very heavy and you might have to make a bit of effort to take out the battery from the UPS) and let it charge for about an hour. Connected the router and the NAS to the UPS and then turned on the UPS. Everything was green.
I then ran a test to see if the UPS kicked in by unplugging the power cable from the wall electrical outlet. It beeped loudly and went into battery mode. That's the only indication you will get (the beep) and it will keep beeping until the power is restored.
The UPS is connected to my ReadyNAS Duo's USB port and the ReadyNAS has UPS support/detection. I opened the ReadyNAS's setup and it states it's connected to a UPS and has 33 mins of battery power left.
Before that I had connected the UPS to my laptop USB port and configured the UPS via the PowerCute software (supplied with the UPS via CD).
One note is that the 10 outlet one allows for software diagnoses via PowerCute, but this one (8 outlet) does not allow for software diagnoses.
Overall, 5 out of 5 product!
Customer Review: does the job for a good price
Summary: 4 Stars
it does the job very well. Comes with software and connects to the computer, it shuts down the computer automatically if you're not able to. You can check the status and history of all the times it has intervened due to high or low voltage or total loss of voltage. It tells you what the incoming voltage is and the source. This feature alerted me that the utility power coming into my home was too high and I had the power company fix it. It has lots of outlets for all the peripheral equipment with a total of eight, all are surge protected and four have battery backup. There are two transformer outlets one backed up & one not. The battery can be changed easily which my last UPS did not have. In fact my last UPS was purposely made to make it hard to change. My complaints are that the cables to the battery are too short. It came with the battery unhooked and when I hooked it up it was hard to do since the cable was so short. If they added even one more inch it would be much easier. It's also bigger than I thought so if you buy this you should plan on where to put it. One last complaint is that the high voltage from my utility caused the UPS to shut down my computer instead of going to battery back up until the voltage came back into the range I had it set to. I called their tech support. They responded that they would check into the possible causes and get back to me. They never did get back to me. I solved the problem by calling my power company and they came and fixed the high voltage problem. it has worked fine since then.Customer Review: Perfect for Home
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this product with the express interest in using it to back-up my homes wireless router. There are a couple quirks with it though:
1 For some reason, the particular product that I received had an extremely short battery connect cord. Which made it a slight nightmare to attach the battery. However, when I finally pushed hard enough, the battery connected and started to charge. I have not read of anyone having this kind of problem though, so I believe that I just received the odd-ball.
2 For some reason, mine decides to randomly switch to battery power for about 3-4 seconds even when the power is not out. The software on the computer says: "AC Power Restored", but does not give a reason for the device switching the power. It does not interrupt the power to my router, but it does occasionally click when the relay switches to battery power.
3 The computer software gives you an approximate amount of time that you have left on the battery. Oddly for me, it is about 40 minutes off. The software says that I have 24 minutes left, and when we had a blackout the other day it kept my router running for a little more than an hour. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, just strange.
The device has solid construction, a fairly large capacity, and though has some strange quirks, works fine for me. I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a UPS. The only reason it is not a 5 star product is how the battery connections were so hard for me to attach.
Customer Review: Worth It!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been using a regular surge protector for a long time at my home office desk but with all my data becoming more precious it seemed to be a good idea to get a step up in protection. So, I invested a very reasonable amount and got an APC Back-UPS ES 8 Outlet 550VA. I have attached to the battery back up my PC, monitor, DSL modem, and router. The other outlets are surge protection only so I have a fax machine, external hard drive and a couple of other peripherals on those. Now the battery in this is now going to last a long time so I wouldn't count on it for that although the included Parachute software indicated that with what I have connected it will run on battery for about 20 minutes. Not bad. One of the big reasons I got it was to 'clean' the power going to my electronics. It is supposed to keep the voltage right around the 120V mark so your stuff stays protected from big swings in voltage. Thats what a 'surge' protector does I suppose. The included software works well. It tells you when and how many times and for how long it has kicked in in a log for you to read. Pretty cool. Within the first day or so it kicked in for 18 seconds once. So it kept my computer from just cutting off suddenly. Computers don't like that, it can screw up the hard drive.
Overall, recommended for small applications.