Product Description

Ensure your office and computer gear a healthy diet of stable current, even amidst power interruptions up to 110 minutes in duration, with the AMERICAN POWER CONVERSION ( APC ) Back-UPS XS 1500 Battery Backup Unit. Free protection trial offers $150,000 Equipment Protection Policy and Data Recovery Warranty Two Year Product Warranty

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38397 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: APC
• Model: BX1500
• Dimensions: 8.25" h x 16.50" w x 17.75" l, 28.45 pounds

Features

• 8 power outlets
• Telephone line surge protection
• Automatic Voltage Regulation ( AVR ) technology
• USB & Serial connectivity
• Includes PowerChute Personal Edition auto-shutdown software

From the Manufacturer
This 8-outlet UPS provides high-performance power protection for home and business computers, protecting your data and hardware from surges, spikes, and power failures. It provides up to 110 minutes of battery back-up time for safe shutdown when power is lost. Other features include:

• PowerChute personal edition software for safe system shutdown USB connectivity
• 8 power outlets with a 6' cord
• Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR) technology
• USB and serial ports
• Protects system from surges traveling on a telephone, fax or modem
• APC $150,000 equipment protection policy and data recovery warranty
• Unit covered by two-year warranty

Customer Reviews

Elegant, Functional UPS
I own a couple of APC UPS and surge protection products. So far this is the most functional. The features:

1. The unit can be positioned vertically (best for saving space) or horizontally (lay flat or mounted to a server rack).
2. It has a very excellent boxy design that gives an elegant and modern feel.
3. There are 8 outlets in total (6 outlets are battery protected and voltage regulated, which means less dependency on the battery and longer replacement life; 2 outlets are surge-protected for printers and office machines).
4. The included PowerChute Personal Edition is to be combined with the data cable that, when connected to your computer via USB, provides excellent control and communication between the UPS, computer and user/administrator.
a. You will know exactly how much load is taxing the UPS in real-time; Turn on/off equipment to check.
b. Shut-down function to preserve data or battery.
c. Audible and visual alarm indication on current condition.
5. Hot-swap battery without turning off the UPS.

The cons? Heavy! But then of course it only needs to be set and forget. Expensive! Not for a typcial user. Although the features should be made available for everyone.

This particular model is a little overkill. I connected a P4 3GHz (with 3 internal SATA HDD, DVDROM, DVD-RW), 21" CRT, Apple PBG4 laptop, 2 external LaCie HDD and 1 external CD-R and I still haven't reached half of the available power. Buy this only if they offer a special price/rebate. Otherwise, go with the lower model XS/RS1000 and it will suite an power user just perfectly.

NOT RECOMENDED!!
I purchased this unit last April 2005. After 2 months it quit working and the overload light came on. I unplugged my computer and monitor, (only things plugged into it), and it still wouldn't work and light said "overloaded". I called APC and had to send it back for $25.00 shipping. Their policy is to send a "refurbished" unit. Took a month to get. Second unit did the same thing. Sent back again, received another in about a month. Now this one just went out also. Same problem and booklet says it is an internal error, when it does this. Not a "fault" in my wiring or "reverse polarity, or anything else on my part. My last unit a "Contaxt" lasted over 8 years. Basically in my humble opinion, this a piece of junk. As is their return policy, where you pay the shipping and only receive a refurbished unit. States so in their "warranty". Of course you can't read it till you get it home or to the office. Not very reputable. Used to be a good company with good products. Not any longer!

Great Product, Neg Posters should have read manual
We have several of these APC UPSs at work. They all have worked wonderfully. We did however had a small problem with one of them on a Pentium D with dual monitors. The fix, quoted in this post was quite simple and easy to follow. Since at least two other posters for this product have given unwarranted poor ratings I felt compelled to post it here.

"I discovered the problem, which may be affecting other folk. This sort of UPS has "AVR" - automatic Voltage Regulation - when the wall voltage drops, the UPS boosts it. When the wall volts drops too far, the UPS starts using battery power in an attempt to keep its output voltage at 120V. One time, when restarting, I had the Kill-A-Watt meter measuring the Mac Pro's current - it hit 5 Amps and the UPS went onto battery, and then moments later into overload, and then shut down. Re-reading the UPS instructions, it appears that these machines can be set to respond to very minor wall voltage variations, average voltage variations, or only crass, major variations. There's a simple way of setting this (read the instructions for full info - available on the APC website). Mine was set to respond to the tiniest of wall-voltage variations - and that meant it saw the small voltage drop caused by the inrush current to the Mac Pro, went onto battery power, and commited elegant suicide.
Resetting it to allow crass, major variations has completely cured the problem. I may yet set it to respond to "average" variations."