UPS question

[MercyInYou]

Hey!

My parents are planning on switching to iMac (from a PC) soon and there's one thing bothering them. I've been a MacBook user for 2 years but I don't have any experience with iMac so I hope someone can help.

So, we happen to have power outages every once in a while here so my parents have been using UPS for quite a long time. Since iMac is somewhat expensive, they don't want to take any risks so they want to continue using the UPS. The question is, is it possible to keep their old UPS, will it work with iMac properly? From pictured of iMacs we've googled, our UPS cable should fit into iMac 's power port. So if we connect it like this and then connect UPS to power, will iMac work?

I hope I made myself clear - English is not my first language so sorry if the text is somewhat complicated or has mistakes Thanks in advance!

 

[GoCubsGo]

You can use a UPS with your Mac but it's hard to say yes to your specific model because you didn't list your specific model.

 

[old-wiz]

Usually a UPS just appears as a box with outlets. All you need to do is plug the Mac into it just as if it was a wall outlet. Some UPS devices also have a small cable that plugs into the Mac USB port and provides the Mac with a signal if power goes down so the Mac can shutdown.

 

[SandboxGeneral]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 4S: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

I use an APC UPS for my iMac. Just as the others said, you just plug it in as you would a wall outlet. The monitor cable on mine is USB so I would imagine yours could be too.

So if your UPS is of a standard type, it should work fine.

 

[Spike88]

For iMacs and their more sensitive internal power supplies, its best to use a UPS unit that uses "pure sine" output. Many UPS brands use "Step Approximation" output. When using Step Approximation on an iMac and UPS battery kicks in, the iMac will have a slight hum. Thus, proving it doesn't like its dirty power. Always best to use UPS that has "pure sine / Sine Wave" - which is much cleaner power output (that sensitive electronics love much better).

If using APC brand, focus on their "smart UPS" models. For example: APC Smart-UPS 750 to 1000VA range. re: http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=sua1000i or the http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=SMT750 unit.

Hope this helps…

 

[MercyInYou]

Thanks for responses1

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 4S: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

I use an APC UPS for my iMac. Just as the others said, you just plug it in as you would a wall outlet. The monitor cable on mine is USB so I would imagine yours could be too.

So if your UPS is of a standard type, it should work fine.

No, it's not USB. It is a quite old APC UPS, I can't find what model it is unfortunately. One cable goes to a power outlet and the end of the other cable looks something like this: http://www.allthings.com.au/PC MAC APPLE/UPS DVR uniterruptible power supply IEC C13 C14 Cable.gif (C-13)
We figured (by pictures) that it should fit to iMac's power port.
I can take a picture of our UPS if it might help because it is pretty important for us

 

[creeman]

Thanks for responses1


No, it's not USB. It is a quite old APC UPS, I can't find what model it is unfortunately. One cable goes to a power outlet and the end of the other cable looks something like this: http://www.allthings.com.au/PC MAC APPLE/UPS DVR uniterruptible power supply IEC C13 C14 Cable.gif (C-13)
We figured (by pictures) that it should fit to iMac's power port.
I can take a picture of our UPS if it might help because it is pretty important for us

I would recommend buying a new UPS. A couple hundred dollars isn't a lot to spend when protecting a $2000 machine.

 

[Le Big Mac]

I am pretty sure that the APC products that had a power cable directly to a computer do not work with Macs made in the last few years, or at least are not designed specifically to do so.

Purchase a new UPS device that you plug the computer into. It's really not a burden.

 

[SandboxGeneral]

Thanks for responses1


No, it's not USB. It is a quite old APC UPS, I can't find what model it is unfortunately. One cable goes to a power outlet and the end of the other cable looks something like this: http://www.allthings.com.au/PC MAC APPLE/UPS DVR uniterruptible power supply IEC C13 C14 Cable.gif (C-13)
We figured (by pictures) that it should fit to iMac's power port.
I can take a picture of our UPS if it might help because it is pretty important for us

I echo what they're saying as well. You're probably better off getting a new UPS rather than fiddle with this older one that may or may not work.

I would recommend buying a new UPS. A couple hundred dollars isn't a lot to spend when protecting a $2000 machine.

I am pretty sure that the APC products that had a power cable directly to a computer do not work with Macs made in the last few years, or at least are not designed specifically to do so.

Purchase a new UPS device that you plug the computer into. It's really not a burden.

 

[MercyInYou]

I would recommend buying a new UPS. A couple hundred dollars isn't a lot to spend when protecting a $2000 machine.

True, I guess that's what we'll do. Thanks for answers everyone!