Best uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for MacBook Pro + Cinema Display?

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hallux

hallux

macrumors 68030
Apr 25, 2012
2,777
485
I have two APC units, one is a 1500VA for my desktop and network gear and the other is a 800VA protecting my home theater gear. I had a warranty claim on the big one and had zero issues getting it replaced. APC has long been regarded as a leading UPS company but there are others. The company I work for has a ton of Tripp-Lite PDU's (power distribution units) in their datacenters, they can't be all that bad.

As a point of reference, the 1500 will hold the desktop (with an 850W power supply) for about 25-30 minutes with no major processing happening on the computer. It'll go FOREVER with just the network gear (router and modem).

Which one you need entirely depends on what your goal is. If you intend to continue working using the CD as long as possible with the power out, get the biggest you can afford. Remember, your MBP has a battery and should last several hours on that battery, even if you have a modest processing load on it.
 
T

takeshi74

macrumors 601
Feb 9, 2011
4,972
68
hallux said:
Which one you need entirely depends on what your goal is.
Click to expand...
This. Never assume that your notion of "best" is the same as everyone else. Be very clear regarding your goals, priorities, budget, etc. How long do you intend to use the equipment and under what sort of load?
 
Yahooligan

Yahooligan

macrumors 6502a
Aug 7, 2011
965
113
Illinois
I have both APC and CyberPower UPS units and I don't have any real complaints about either brand.

Do you want the UPS to keep you covered in the event of power blips, dips and spikes or do you want the UPS to keep everything running for a while, at least long enough to casually finish/save your work and shutdown?

I have a 1300VA APC unit for the home theater, a 1350VA CyperPower unit for my home office, and a little 450VA APC unit for network gear in the middle of the house.

The 1350VA CyberPower unit has the following connected...

27" Thunderbolt display (Using it now)
cMBP (Using it now as well)
rMBP (On but not being used)
Synology DS1511+ NAS (5 HDD bays, active)
4TB USB3 HDD - Powered on
Cordless phone/answering machine
Multi-function printer (Sleeping)
17" HP laptop (Sleeping)
Bose PC speaker system w/ sub, but no music or sound playing currently
8-port gig-e switch

And with the current load the UPS is at 25% load with an estimated 20 minutes of runtime. The UPS also says that the current power draw for all those devices is 200 watts.

Estimate your load and think about why you want a UPS, that will help you determine how big you need.

As for why I chose CyberPower over APC most recently, it came down to the warranty. APC has a 2-year warranty, CyberPower has a 3-year warranty.
 

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