APC BE500R Back-UPS 500VA for Home/Office Computers

Average customer rating: 4.5

Back up
K, I guess
Great little UPS
Security
Use the APC software

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APC BE500R Back-UPS 500VA for Home/Office Computers

Manufacturer: APC
Product Group: CE
Binding: Electronics
ASIN: B000BFWJM6

Related Categories:

Uninterrupted Power Supplies

| Batteries, Chargers & Power Supplies | Accessories & Supplies | Categories | Electronics

Accessories & Supplies

| Refurbished & Used | Special Features | Electronics Features | Electronics

Product Description

The Back-UPS ES offers affordable battery backup and surge protection for home computers. With enough power outlets to protect your entire system, built-in phone/fax/modem line (DSL compatible) protection and easy-to-install safe system shutdown software all make this power protection solution the best value for home and home office computers.

Customer Reviews:

Back up.......2007-05-13

It is working fine even though we havent had an outage since installing the new one.

K, I guess.......2007-05-03

The real test of UPS backups is how well they work three years down the road. I can only vouch for the product over the past month or so.

Good things:
USB for monitoring the health of the UPS and your electrical system
The alarm is quiet compared to other UPS systems
Plugs are plentiful and spaced out decently

Bad things
Power switch is a button. I prefer toggles.
Plugs aren't spaced out enough.

Great little UPS.......2007-04-13

Easy to install and on my test the software/backup worked great. I pulled the plug and the computer/monitor didn't flicker at all. After the set amount of time, it put the computer into hibernation as expected.

I did discover that having the UPS' USB connected through a 4-port USB hub prevented the computer from resuming from hiberation. No idea why, but once I moved the plug to a port on the computer itself, this stopped being a problem.

I contacted APC about this problem and they were quick to respond with further questions to help diagnose it. While debugging for their mail, I solved the problem myself.

Security.......2007-03-26

Living in an area with a lot of electrical interuptions and surges, this product protects all my important electronics. Easy to use and very reliable.

Use the APC software.......2007-02-18

You should note that all the APC BExxxR products seem to be pretty much the same except for the size of their battery. The bigger the battery, the more time that the power supply can keep your computer going with the power out. These products also surge protect your cable and telephone lines. I actually have a BE 750, which has 5 each protected and unprotected outlets.

When I first installed the product, I installed but then removed the associated APC software. I figured the Windows software was good enough to do the job. Well, it is and it isn't.

This strategy worked fine for the quick outages, but didn't work when the power once went and stayed out. After that, the UPS would only scream at me whenever I tried to turn it back on. I couldn't boot because the UPC would turn itself off. I tried everything. Finally I plugged the hardware into the wall and reinstalled the APC software.

I used their software to change the sensitivity to low, and only then was able to get it to restore its battery. Once the battery recharged, I reset the sensitivity back to high where it has stayed ever since. I think the unit is overly sensitive when the battery is completely depleted.

In normal operation, the UPS kicks in 10-15 times per month. Normally these are just short term events that most hardware doesn't even see. But when the lights flicker, this UPS always does its job. I have my primary CPU, monitor, modem, and router on the UPS and it works really well. I also have another CPU on this UPS, but that doesn't count because it's off most of the time. I use the surge suppressor outlets for my printer and for a few other devices that are off most of the time.

Even though this is a fine product, I'm thinking of getting the smaller APC BE350 to protect my wife's computer. You don't get all that much backup time anyway, and here the short power glitches happen much more often than failures. When the power really fails, it's pretty much time to shut down anyway.

Electronics:

Electronics

Electronics