I would guess that most of us are updating our office computers and peripheals more often then we want, but are you making sure during the process to update the protection these highter voltage systems require?
I am upgrading once again and just ran out to purchase a new UPS backup for the new system. The sale going on at the office supply store seemed perfectly timed so I grabbed two, one for the router and air rave and one for the desktop, monitor and external hard drive. The boxes appeared to indicate they were sized large enough to give me 18 minutes to shut down my critical equipment. Wrong.
There are varying types of these UPS units, some will shut down a system if you are away from the network..excellent choice in unpredictable weather. Some will give you a few minutes to shut down gracefully. The one I purchased for the computer at my new power requirement may protect me from a surge, but if I get four minutes, I will be lucky.
The life of many electronic devices can be shortened drastically by power surges and interruptions. The life of a realtor can be shortened by crashing hard drives and lost data. When health insurance is not an option, electronic insurance looks more affordable!
APC, one of the larger manufacturers of back up power supplies, has a calculation page for determining your needs. I just used it to find out how underpowered and unprotected my new system will be.
http://www.apc.com/tools/ups_selector/index.cfm
Off to the office supply store to have a talk with the high school expert who assured me my new baby would be safe..and return the second unit for a refund.
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