ok one of my neighbors is moving and asked me if I wanted this, so I said sure.

APC Smart-UPS 700VA 120V

I understand that its a battery backup for when the power goes out. But I have a laptop, so if the power goes out I am on the laptops battery for about an hour. (17 inch wide screen) So what I am wondering about is the following.

If I have this thing fully charged, and the power goes out, can I then use the laptop until its battery is low, and then switch over to this UPS to recharge the laptop?

oh and does it affect the electricity bill much? how much?

thanks

I have 3 UPS' myself. One powers two PCs, one powers another PC and one is on my wireless telephone and answering machine.

They won't affect your energy bill a noticable amount. I would recommend you keep the laptop plugged into the UPS when the power first goes out until its batter is dead, then run on the laptop's battery after that. The reason is that it is not very efficient to use one battery to charge another battery.

ok great.

Now this is probably a silly question but most everything in this house is on power strips. Does the UPS need to be plugged directly into the wall?

[This message has been edited by Gecko (edited 05-25-2009).]

quote Originally posted by Gecko: ok great. Now this is probably a silly question but most everything in this house is on power strips. Does the UPS need to be plugged directly into the wall?

You can plug it into a power strip. Just think of it as another power strip. So don't go overboard plugging a ton of things into the UPS because you can still overload the circuit.

Seems he may have left out a small detail when giving it to me. It doesn't power up/turn on. lol

quote Originally posted by Gecko: Seems he may have left out a small detail when giving it to me. It doesn't power up/turn on. lol

That could be a problem. Open it up and see if there is a fuse blown. Then plug it in and let it charge up. If it doesn't hold a charge, then pull the battery out and take it to a RadioShack, Fry's or some other electronics/battery place. Many UPS' use "common" batteries.

Might need to charge it before you can use it... Not sure.

We used to buy the SLA battery packs for those at Batteries + . You can take your old batteries there for disposal too without paying a fee. Usually there is a plug on the back of the unit that you can pull that disconnects the battery from the UPS for replacement. If it won't turn on it's probably fubar.

[This message has been edited by spark1 (edited 05-25-2009).]

The UPS doesn't require a power strip. A UPS is basically a heavy duty power strip with a battery backup. (it's more than that, but you get the idea)
Also, a 700VA UPS isn't very big. That's roughly 700 Watts. Plenty for your laptop, but I wouldn't load it down with a lot of stuff. Also, if you have a Laser printer, do NOT plug it into the UPS. Laser printers pull a LOT of power when warming up and will overload most UPSes.

quote Originally posted by Formula88: The UPS doesn't require a power strip. A UPS is basically a heavy duty power strip with a battery backup. (it's more than that, but you get the idea) Also, a 700VA UPS isn't very big. That's roughly 700 Watts. Plenty for your laptop, but I wouldn't load it down with a lot of stuff. Also, if you have a Laser printer, do NOT plug it into the UPS. Laser printers pull a LOT of power when warming up and will overload most UPSes.

I witnessed a paper shredder kill a UPS once. Victimless crime.

[This message has been edited by spark1 (edited 05-26-2009).]

The replacement batteries might cost almost as much as a new ups...I swapped a bunch at my job once, they were small, with a little connector. Don't recall how much they cost, but I do remember them costing as much as my home UPC...

I've got a UPS on my tv, a 55" Sony HD rear projection LCD. The illumination lamp in the tv is cooled by a fan, which continues to run for 2 minutes after you turn the tv off. If the power goes out, the tv...and the fan...go out, and the lamp sits there and cooks. I was told that is the reason for a majority of lamp failures on the LCD rear projection sets. With the UPS, I have time to shut the tv off, and the fan will keep running, and cool the lamp down as it's supposed to. It IS a bit strange to have the power go out in the house, and still have the tv up and running. But, at $150-200 for a lamp, it's cheap insurance.

[This message has been edited by litespd (edited 05-28-2009).]

If I remember correctly, that UPS has some ports flagged as battery, and some as surge. Basically, a UPS will provide "uninterrupted" power to your laptop, meaning that for all intents and purposes your laptop won't know there's no external power- it'll run off the UPS until it runs dry, then start on it's own battery. Between the two, I'd generally rather the UPS battery accumulate a high number of cycles than a laptop battery, as the UPS refresh kits are generally very reasonably priced. A UPS does a good job as a line conditioner as well.

Gecko

It is a common error that most people make with the APC Smart UPS line. Replace the batteries with new ones and it should be good to go.