Looks like I am considering the CyberPower CP1350PFCLCD. Seems like a nice top end model. I rather always get more than I need (as you can see with the 32 gb of ram I am putting in the system). I have never used a UPS though. Right now I just use a Furman line conditioner that I used to use for my high end DJ equipment. I have my iMac, Speakers, and a few other things plugged into it. I guess I will just move everything over to the new UPS. A few questions.
1. Does the UPS make noise? Will I have a fan running in the background? I don't want it to affect any professional recordings I need to do in my studio.
2. Does it give off a lot of heat?
3. Where do you put your UPS? On top of the desk near the computer? Under the desk? I was planning on keeping it on top.
4. I can use this as a regular surge protector, right? I just plug everything into this and I am safe?
5. Can I plug too much into it? I was thinking my iMac, KRK Speakers, phone, cable box, external hard drive, router, etc. I want to have my old iMac running too, just to have another workspace although I can plug that one in to a normal surge protector because it has already taken a beating. Can I plug everything into the UPS at the same time? Will that draw too much power? Heck, I wonder if it will draw too much power from the wall outlet. I don't want to trip any fuses.
6. I see it comes with software called PowerPanel Personal. Do I need to install this on my computer for the UPS to work? I was hoping just to plug the computer in and thats it.
1. When I had mine, I noticed no noise at all from it. The only time it would make noise (the fan cutting on, and it isn't that loud at all) was when there was an issue, like if there was an outage, or if the voltage dropped to an unusable level and it had to use battery power. Though, in the reviews on Amazon, I HAVE seen a couple reviews where the people said theirs had a loud fan or it caused some clicking/vibrations within the unit itself. But I wouldn't worry about it, as any company can ship an occasional defective product, and plus Amazon has a really good return/exchange policy and fast/friendly service.
2. Does give off much heat at all. When I would occasionally rest my foot on the unit, it barely felt warm. The only time I would see it getting warmer is if it was relying heavily on the battery during an outage, hence the fan kicking in to cool the unit.
3. I actually kept mine on the floor next to my desk most of the time, though a few times I changed things around a bit a couple times and had it on the top of the desk and on the shelf to the left (my desk has attached shelves on the left side). If you are asking this, curious about the units size, these units are definitely a lot smaller than the common APC units you see at Staples and such. My 600W unit was very small, about 9" H x 4" W x 11" D. They are definitely small enough to sit on your desktop next to other components. Here are the measurements for the unit I have currently, the same one you are considering. 10" H x 4" W x 14" D.. That is the CP1350PFCLCD (810W) model, which is slightly larger than my old CP1000PFCLCD (600W) model. Now, they have another model, which is the CP1500PFCLCD (900W) model, so if you are looking to connect more things, or things that draw more power, I would go with that, but it IS a little more expensive, at $191, versus the $160 for the CP1350PFCLCD (810W).
4. Yes, the units do have built in surge protection. And actually, with these units, you get more surge protection than you would with the more common APC non sine-wafe units. The APC units only give you about 350 joules of protection, these CyberPower units give you around 1000 joules. I can't remember the exact figure, but you can look up the products specs and it'll tell you. The CP1350PFCLCD unit has a total of ten (10) outlets, five are with battery back-up and surge protection, and the other five are only with surge protection.
5. You CAN over power these units, as you can over power any units. For example. There's a warning in the instructions that warn you not to plug a laser printer into the battery protected side, because laser printers consume too much power while printing (there is a heated element inside the unit that draws a butt load of power I believe, though I'm not familiar with the goings on of laser printers), also you should plug a space heater into the unit as they draw 1000W-1500W, lol. As for electronics, you would know before you overloaded it, because on the display of the unit, it shows you the load you have on the unit, for example, I had my Mid-2011 27" iMac plugged into the 600W unit, and it showed there was a 10% load on the unit, though I doubt that it was a full 10% load on the unit, because it display is 10% increments. Chances are it was like a 6% load or something. I actually saw a youtube video, where a guy had his CP1350PFCLCD plugged into all his professional home-audio equipment, amplifiers and all, and had the music BLASTING, and was running the unit on battery power when he unplugged the unit from the wall, and the CP1350PFCLCD pushed it all no problem, and displayed a 6 minute run time. And we're talking big, power hungry audio equipment. But if you want the most capacity you can have, instead of getting the CP1350PFCLCD, purchase the CP1500PFCLCD, which is a 1500VA/900W unit. I just checked and it has a $191 price tag versus the CP1350PFCLCD's $161 price tag. Because you can never have too much capacity.
6. Good news. Yes, the unit does come with software, but that software is mainly for PC/Windows users. Since you are using this unit on your Mac, all you have to do is literally plug your Mac, and components into the unit, plug the provided USB connection cable into the back of the unit, and then to one of your Mac USB connections and you're set. These units automatically work with OS X's Energy Saver features. Once you have everything connected, go into you "System Preferences" and then to the "Energy Saver" icon, which will bring up the Energy Saver section. Then there will be a tab at the top that will say "UPS". Simply click on that and you can configure your Mac to your Back-UPS unit. You can set it to automatically shut down you Mac after running on battery power for a certain amount of time, or to shut down your Mac once the Back-UPS's battery reaches a certain percentage level and such. It's a pretty sweet set up. It's all really straight forward, no extra software needed.
So like I was saying, if you want to spend the extra $30, go with the CP1500PFCLCD (900W) unit, and that will give you the most capacity out of any of these units. It'll give you an extra 90W to work with over the CP1350PFCLCD. Personally I don't know what kind of equipment you're hooking up, and the power consumption of the equipment, so if you have any question, just go with the 900W unit, it's only $30 more. Also, I think the CP1500PFCLCD is the same exact size as the CP1350PFCLCD unit, as they are both packaged in the same retail packaging with the same foam inserts. Just as the CP850PFCLCD is the same size as the CP1000PFCLCD unit.