Originally Posted by suthurn
So my three home desktop PC's have older APC Brand uninterruptible power supplies (UPS's). "Older" means two of them have failed batteries, and none of them have USB links to shut down the PC's automatically. Some might call my power distribution situation good: I live close enough to a nuclear power plant that I have signed permission slips for the schools to flood my kids' thyroids with iodide; power outages are nearly nonexistant; surges are almost as rare.
Do you advise that I:
replace the batteries locally, such as Batteries Plus?
replace the batteries through APC?
replace the entire devices with APC?
replace the entire devices with something else?
or now, for something completely different, you advise?
If I were you, I would take this opportunity to analyse the current and
future need for the power for your computing devices.
replacing batteries is lot more econimical, and usually its a good idea.
I've used UPSes from 1997/1998 with batteries replaced a few times.
On the internet and some retail stores, you may find rebates and deal
for the UPSes which would make them much cheaper.
(keep an eye on
http://thedailydeals.com)
If you think you can wait.. look around for the best deals.
Personally I use multiple UPSes. I use decicated UPSes for
routers and switches so that can stay up for hours before the
batteries run out. my VoIP phone depends on that.
(yes my cordless phones are also on UPS)